Max Reger
Max Reger | |
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Born | Brand, Bavaria, German Empire | 19 March 1873
Died | 11 May 1916 Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire | (aged 43)
Education |
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Occupations |
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Organizations |
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Works | List of compositions |
Spouse | Elsa Reger |
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Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 1873 – 11 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, a musical director at the
Reger first composed mainly Lieder, chamber music, choral music and works for piano and organ. He later turned to orchestral compositions, such as the popular Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart (1914), and to works for choir and orchestra such as Gesang der Verklärten (1903), Der 100. Psalm (1909), Der Einsiedler and the Hebbel Requiem (both 1915).
Biography
Born in Brand, Bavaria, Reger was the first child of Josef Reger, a school teacher and amateur musician, and his wife Katharina Philomena. The devout Catholic family moved to Weiden in 1874. Max had only one sister, Emma, after three other siblings died in childhood. When he turned five, Reger learned organ, violin and cello from his father and piano from his mother.[1][2] From 1884 to 1889, Reger took piano and organ lessons from Adalbert Lindner, one of his father's students. During this time, he frequently acted as substitute organist for Lindner in the parish church of the city.[1] In 1886, Reger entered into the Royal Preparatory School according to his parents' wishes to prepare for a teaching profession.
In 1888, Reger was invited by his uncle Johann Baptist Ulrich to visit the
In 1890, Reger began studying music theory with Riemann in
Reger returned to his parental home in Weiden due to illness in 1898, where he composed his first work for choir and orchestra, Hymne an den Gesang (Hymn to singing),
In 1907, Reger was appointed musical director at the
In 1911 Reger was appointed
He gave up the court position in 1914 for health reasons. In response to
Reger died of a heart attack while staying at a hotel in Leipzig on 11 May 1916.[5][8] The proofs of Acht geistliche Gesänge, including "Der Mensch lebt und bestehet nur eine kleine Zeit", were found next to his bed.[11][12] Six years after Reger's death, his funeral urn was transferred from his home in Jena to a cemetery in Weimar. In 1930, on the wishes of Reger's widow Elsa, his remains were moved to a grave of honour in Munich Waldfriedhof.
Reger had also been active internationally as a conductor and pianist. Among his students were Joseph Haas, Sándor Jemnitz, Jaroslav Kvapil, Ruben Liljefors, Aarre Merikanto, Sofie Rohnstock, George Szell and Cristòfor Taltabull. He was the cousin of Hans von Koessler.
Works
Reger produced an enormous output in just over 25 years, nearly always in abstract forms. His work was well known in Germany during his lifetime. Many of his works are fugues or in variation form, including the Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart based on the opening theme of Mozart's Piano Sonata in A major, K. 331.
Reger wrote a large amount of music for
Reger recorded some of his works on the
Reger was particularly attracted to the fugal form and created music in almost every genre, save for opera and the symphony (he did, however, compose a Sinfonietta, his Op. 90). A similarly firm supporter of absolute music, he saw himself as being part of the tradition of Beethoven and Brahms. His work often combined the classical structures of these composers with the extended harmonies of Liszt and Wagner, to which he added the complex counterpoint of Bach. Reger's organ music, though also influenced by Liszt, was provoked by that tradition.
Some of the works for solo string instruments turn up often on recordings, though less regularly in recitals. His solo piano and two-piano music places him as a successor to Brahms in the central German tradition. He pursued intensively Brahms's continuous development and free modulation, whilst being rooted in Bach-influenced polyphony.
Reger was a prolific writer of vocal works, Lieder, works for mixed chorus, men's chorus and female chorus, and extended choral works with orchestra such as Der 100. Psalm and Requiem, a setting of a poem by Friedrich Hebbel, which Reger dedicated to the soldiers of World War I. He composed music to texts by poets such as Gabriele D'Annunzio, Otto Julius Bierbaum, Adelbert von Chamisso, Joseph von Eichendorff, Emanuel Geibel, Friedrich Hebbel, Nikolaus Lenau, Detlev von Liliencron, Friedrich Rückert and Ludwig Uhland. Reger assigned opus numbers to major works himself.[5]
His works could be considered retrospective as they followed classical and baroque compositional techniques such as fugue and continuo. The influence of the latter can be heard in his chamber works which are deeply reflective and unconventional.
Reception
In 1898
Reger had an acrimonious relationship with
Arnold Schoenberg was an admirer of Reger's. A letter he sent to Alexander von Zemlinsky in 1922 states: "Reger...must in my view be done often; 1, because he has written a lot; 2, because he is already dead and people are still not clear about him. (I consider him a genius.)"[18]
Films
The documentary Max Reger – Music as a perpetual state, by Andreas Pichler and Ewald Kontschieder, Miramonte Film, was released in 2002. It was the first factually based film documentation about Max Reger. It was produced in cooperation with the Max-Reger-Institute.[19]
Max Reger: The Last Giant, a documentary film about the life and works of Max Reger, is included on a 6 DVD set entitled Maximum Reger released in December 2016 to mark the 100th anniversary of Reger's death. The set was produced by Fugue State Films and in addition to the documentary includes excerpts from Reger's most important works for orchestra, piano, chamber ensemble and organ, with performances by Frauke May, Bernhard Haas, Bernhard Buttmann and the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt.[20]
References
- ^ a b c d "Lebenslauf" (in German). Max-Reger-Institute.[dead link]
- Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft Athenaion.
- ^ Lindner, Adalbert (1922). Max Reger: Ein Bild seines Jugendlebens und künstlerischen Werdens. Stuttgart: J. Engelhorns Nachfolger.
- ^ Popp, Susanne; Shigihara, Susanne (1988). At the Turning Point to Modernism. Bonn: Bouvier Verlag Herbert Grundmann.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Biography 2012.
- ^ Lux 1963.
- ^ SWR 2016.
- ^ a b Schröder 1990.
- ^ Op106 2016.
- ^ Op138 2016.
- ^ Krumbiegel 2014.
- ^ Brock-Reger 1953.
- ISBN 0-203-14223-3
- ^ Mühle 2015.
- ^ Biography 1913 2016.
- ^ Slonimsky 1965.
- ^ Kirshnit 2006.
- ^ a b Schonberg 1973.
- ^ Muspilli 2016.
- ^ "Maximum Reger". Fugue State Films. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
Sources
- "Max Reger Curriculum vitae". Max-Reger-Institute. Retrieved 2 October 2012.[dead link]
- "1913 Max Reger Curriculum vitae". Max-Reger-Institute. 2016.[dead link]
- "Der 100. Psalm Op. 106" (in German). Max-Reger-Institute / Elsa-Reger-Stiftung. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
- "Reger: Acht geistliche Gesänge op. 138 (Carus Classics)". Carus-Verlag. Retrieved 26 November 2015.[dead link]
- "Max Reger – Music As A Perpetual State". muspillo.it. Retrieved 23 June 2016.[dead link]
- "Max-Reger-Institut in Karlsruhe / "Neue Fülle"" (in German). Südwestrundfunk (SWR). Retrieved 19 July 2016.[permanent dead link]
- Brock-Reger, Charlotte (1953). "Mein Vater Max Reger". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 26 November 2015.
- Kirshnit, Fred (2006). "Max Reger, Psalm 100, Op. 106". American Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
- ISBN 978-3-487-15145-8.
- Lux, Antonius, ed. (1963). Große Frauen der Weltgeschichte. Tausend Biographien in Wort und Bild (in German). Munich: Sebastian Lux Verlag . p. 386.
- Mühle, Eduard (2015). Breslau: Geschichte einer europäischen Metropole (in German). Cologne, Weimar: ISBN 978-3-41-250137-2.
- Schonberg, Harold C. (2 December 1973). "Nobody Wants to Play Max Reger". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
- Schröder, Heribert (1990). "Acht geistliche Gesänge / op. 138" (PDF). Carus-Verlag. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-393-32009-1.
Further reading
- Albright, Daniel, ed. (2004), Modernism and music: an anthology of sources. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-01266-2.
- Anderson, Christopher (2003). Max Reger and Karl Straube: Perspectives on an Organ Performing Tradition. Aldershot, Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 0-7546-3075-7.
- Bittmann, Antonius (2004). Max Reger and Historicist Modernisms. Baden-Baden: Koerner. ISBN 3-87320-595-5.
- Bloesch-Stöcker, Adele (1973). Erinnerungen an Max Reger. Bern: H. Bloesch.
- . Retrieved 20 March 2020.
- Brauss, Helmut, (1994), Max Reger's Music For Solo Piano. University of Alberta Press. ISBN 0-88864-255-5
- Cadenbach, Rainer (1991). Max Reger und Seine Zeit. Laaber: Laaber-Verlag. ISBN 3-89007-140-6.
- Grim, William (1988). Max Reger: A Bio-Bibliography. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-25311-0.
- Häfner, Roland (1982). Max Reger, Klarinettenquintett op. 146. Munich: W. Fink Verlag. ISBN 3-7705-1973-6.
- Mead, Andrew (2004). "Listening to Reger". The Musical Quarterly 87, no. 4 (Winter): 681–707.
- Mercier, Richard (2008). The Songs of Max Reger: A Guide and Study. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6120-6.
- Reger, Elsa von Bagenski (1930). Mein Leben mit und für Max Reger: Erinnerungen von Elsa Reger. Leipzig: Koehler & Amelang.
- Reger, Max (2006). Selected Writings of Max Reger, edited and translated by Christopher Anderson. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-97382-1.
- Rohnstock, Sofie (1960). “Memories of Max Reger” Bonn: Max Reger Institute.
- Schreiber, Ottmar, and Ingeborg Schreiber (1981). Max Reger in seinen Konzerten, 3 vols. Veröffentlichungen des Max-Reger-Institutes (Elsa-Reger-Stiftung) 7. Bonn: Dümmler. ISBN 3-427-86271-2.
- Williamson, John (2001). "Reger, (Johann Baptist Joseph) Max(imilian)". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.
- "Max Reger's works" (in German). Max-Reger-Institute / Elsa-Reger-Stiftung. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
- Special Issue on Max Reger – The Musical Quarterly, Volume 87, Issue 4
External links
- Free scores by Max Reger at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
- Free scores by Max Reger in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
- Max Reger: Werkausgabe Carus-Verlag
- The Mutopia Project has compositions by Max Reger
- Works by or about Max Reger at Internet Archive
- The Max Reger Foundation of America, New York City
- Max Reger Archive Meiningen (in German)
- Piano recital without Pianist or Max Reger plays Max Reger
- Max Reger zum 100. Todestag Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk
- The portal for the Reger-year 2016 reger2016.de