Holzdorf was again the scene of the Quartet's September rehearsals, as Dr Krebs did not take it amiss that the Busches had forsaken the house designed for them in Darmstadt. The sessions were evidently congenial: the four were photographed in various mock-acrobatic poses, including one where they pretended to stand on one another's shoulders – they found it hilarious that on their travels they were occasionally mistaken for employees of the famed Zirkus Busch. The more serious side of their work was interrupted by a trip to Dresden, to hear Fritz conduct Otello and give a morning run-through with the Staatskapelle of Adolf's new Symphony in E minor, which Fritz found ‘magnificent’. This rehearsal afforded the composer the opportunity to hear his music in conditions akin to a performance and make adjustments to the orchestration. Hans Gál, who was present, noted that Fritz had his own suggestions to make and was able to bring his practical experience to bear on Adolf's work, modifying the written dynamics in certain passages so as to clarify the texture and reveal the structure.

On 20 September, Wilhelm Schmitz-Scholl died in the Munich hospital; and around the time of the funeral, the Busches spent several days with his widow in Düsseldorf. The best of sponsors, who never made undue demands on his chosen beneficiary but was always inordinately proud of Adolf's achievements, Schmitz-Scholl had lived to see his judgment vindicated and his kindness bear abundant fruit.

The new concert season brought a novelty, Serkin's String Quartet in One Movement, a skilful construction packing a variety of moods into about a quarter of an hour. On holiday that summer, Busch had encouraged his protégé to write a work for the Quartet; and it received its premiere at the Berlin Singakademie on 14 October. A few more performances were given, including one in Darmstadt, and the piece stayed in the Quartet's repertoire for private occasions – it became quite a joke to say ‘Now we’re going to play Rudi's Op. 1’, the point being that there was never an Op. 2. But the lone opus had an excellent reception whenever it was aired and Serkin took the sallies about his compositional prowess in good heart.