"Perhaps you found it frivolous that I dared, in such uncertain times, to undertake a tour of several days with my family... my wife was entirely against the idea. But I wanted to give her and the children a little pleasure; therefore I did not give in to her... It is impossible to describe what a beneficial influence the stay at such height has had upon all of us. Without exaggeration: the purest physical rebirth... I carried Christl across snow fields, in an icy mountain storm, almost to the summit of the Hochschwab. In a shepherd's hut we warmed our frozen limbs by the fire. Never before has it seemed to me as beautiful 'up there' as this time with my family..."

Webern to Schoenberg (translated by Malcolm Hayes)