73-518: Max Reger 's 1915 Requiem (or the Hebbel Requiem ), Op. 144b , is a late Romantic setting of Friedrich Hebbel's poem "Requiem" for alto or baritone solo, chorus and orchestra. It is Reger's last completed work for chorus and orchestra, dedicated in the autograph as Dem Andenken der im Kriege 1914/15 gefallenen deutschen Helden (To the memory of the German heroes who fell in
146-530: A motet for unaccompanied male choir, which was published as No. 10 of his collection Op. 83 . In 1913 he composed four tone poems on paintings by Arnold Böcklin ( Vier Tondichtungen nach A. Böcklin ), including the painting Die Toteninsel ( Isle of the Dead ), as his Op. 128 . He gave up the court position in 1914 for health reasons. That year, in response to the World War, he set out to compose
219-609: A choral work to commemorate the soldiers who had died or were mortally wounded. He began to set the Latin Requiem but abandoned the work as a fragment. In 1915 he moved to Jena but continued teaching in Leipzig. In Jena, he composed the Hebbel Requiem for soloist, choir and orchestra, Op. 144b, again on Hebbel's poem, as in the setting for men's chorus. Following a full day of teaching in Leipzig, Reger died of
292-516: A chorus to match. Reger himself wrote a version for piano. To make the music more accessible, the composer and organist Max Beckschäfer arranged the work for voice, chorus and organ in 1985. The organ version was premiered in the Marktkirche in Wiesbaden, where Reger had played the organ himself when he studied there in the 1890s. Gabriel Dessauer conducted a project choir, later known as
365-414: A collection of songs. The scoring is given if it cannot be recognized from the title or the genre : for example songs ( Lieder , Gesänge ) are normally for voice and piano, in a sonata the named solo instrument is usually accompanied by piano, and choral works are for four-part choir a cappella , unless otherwise noted. When the opus number provides a link, it leads to more details about a work, such as
438-568: A dramatic compactness, and [of] economy of musical means" in which the composer's "mastery of impulse, technique, and material is apparent". Reger was a German composer, born in Brand in 1873 and raised in Weiden in der Oberpfalz . He studied music theory from April to July 1890 with Hugo Riemann at the royal conservatory in Sondershausen and continued his studies, in piano and theory, at
511-438: A final decrescendo for the line "erstarren sie bis hinein in das Tiefste" (they stiffen, up to the deepest). On the word " erstarren " (stiffens), the chorus settles on a dissonant 5-part chord, held for two measures, suddenly fortissimo with a crescendo at the end, then repeated pianissimo , an octave lower, motionless. In great contrast, in " Dann ergreift sie der Sturm der Nacht " (The storm of night then grips them),
584-532: A funeral motet for a six-part chorus, in response to the author's death. Reger composed his first setting of Hebbel's poem as a motet for unaccompanied male choir in 1912 in Meiningen , where he had worked from 1911. He composed it for the Basler Liedertafel, conducted by Hermann Suter , who performed it on 18 May 1912 to celebrate their 60th anniversary before giving the official premiere at
657-587: A genius.)" 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 . 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
730-479: A heart attack while staying at a hotel there on 11 May 1916. In 1840 the playwright Friedrich Hebbel wrote a poem in German titled "Requiem", its Latin title alluding to " Requiem aeternam " (eternal rest), the first words of the Mass for the Dead . The poem opens with an apostrophe to a "soul" in a plea, " Seele, vergiß sie nicht, Seele, vergiß nicht die Toten " (Soul, forget them not, soul, forget not
803-493: A lyrical beauty, a dramatic compactness, and an economy of musical means. The central theme of both is mortality and death. In these challenging works, his mastery of impulse, technique, and material is apparent. Op. 144 constitutes both a continuation of Reger's choral/orchestral style in earlier works and, by dint of the composer's death as a mid-aged man, the culmination of it. Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 1873 – 11 May 1916)
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#1732773201929876-548: A music career. In late summer of that year, Reger wrote his first major composition, the Overture in B minor, an unpublished work for orchestra with 120 pages. Lindner sent the score to Hugo Riemann , who replied positively but warned him against Wagner's influence and to write melodies instead of motifs. Reger finished the preparatory school in June 1889. Also that year, he composed a Scherzo for string quartet and flute in G minor,
949-467: A musical expression of "pain, fear, death, and suffering—common associations with chromaticism since the sixteenth century", according to FitzGibbon. Both the recurring refrain and the descending chords reappear in the later setting of the poem in the Hebbel Requiem . The motet was published under the title Requiem as the closing part of Zehn Lieder für Männerchor (Ten songs for men's chorus), Op. 83 , with earlier compositions from 1904. After
1022-420: A pattern similar to the beginning of A German Requiem , the bass notes are repeated, here on a low D ( D1 ). The soloist alone sings the intimate appellation " Seele, vergiß sie nicht " (Soul, forget them not) on a simple melody followed by " Vergiß sie nicht, die Toten " (Forget them not, the dead); the first line then returns with a different melody. Throughout the piece the soloist sings only these words, in
1095-466: A piano transcription of the orchestral parts. Max Beckschäfer arranged the work for voice, chorus and organ in 1985. The Hebbel Requiem was first performed in Heidelberg on 16 July 1916 as part of a memorial concert for Reger, conducted by Philipp Wolfrum . Reger thought the Hebbel Requiem was "among the most beautiful things" he ever wrote. It has been described as of "lyrical beauty,
1168-541: A result he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church . In 1907 he was appointed musical director at Leipzig University and professor at the Royal Conservatory in Leipzig. In 1911 Reger was appointed Hofkapellmeister (music director) at the court of Duke Georg II of Saxe-Meiningen , while retaining his professorial duties at the Leipzig conservatory. In 1912 he set Hebbel's poem "Requiem" as
1241-597: A setting of Psalm 100 for mixed choir and orchestra, for the 350th anniversary of Jena University . Part I was premiered on 31 July that year. Reger completed the composition in 1909, premiered in 1910 simultaneously in Chemnitz and Breslau . In 1911 Reger was appointed Hofkapellmeister (music director) at the court of Duke Georg II of Saxe-Meiningen , also taking charge of music at the Meiningen Court Theatre . He continued with his master class at
1314-570: 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. His works could be considered retrospective as they followed classical and baroque compositional techniques such as fugue and continuo . The influence of
1387-401: A storm is depicted in dense motion of four parts imitating a theme in triplets . In the conclusion, the soloist repeats its phrases in the first section, but this time the chorus finally joins in the words of the appellation. The soloist introduces a new musical theme on the line about not forgetting the dead. The chorus repeats these words, marked espressivo , dolcissimo , on the melody of
1460-808: A three movement string quartet in D minor, and a Largo for violin and piano. At his father's request, he sent the latter two works to composer Josef Rheinberger , a professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich , who recognized his talents. Reger eventually sought a career in music despite his father's concerns. In 1890, Reger began studying music theory with Riemann in Sondershausen , then piano and theory in Wiesbaden . The first compositions to which he assigned opus numbers were chamber music and Lieder . A concert pianist himself, he composed works for both piano and organ. His first work for choir and piano to which he assigned an opus number
1533-468: Is Reger's only choral composition to use four soloists. The four " Klangapparate " are used like the several choirs in compositions by Heinrich Schütz . The first movement opens with a long organ pedal point , which has been compared to the beginning of Wagner's Das Rheingold and the Brahms Requiem . The work remained unfinished at Reger's death, and his publisher named the first movement
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#17327732019291606-523: Is divided in four to six parts, in more independent motion. As in works by Schütz, two or three voices often introduce new text. The soloist sings the recapitulation of the beginning similar to the first time, again on the pedal point, but repeats both lines this time, while the chorus sings about the hovering of the dead, as before. In section C, " und wenn du dich erkaltend ihnen verschließest " (and if you coldly close yourself to them, they stiffen), Reger uses word painting , by means of downward lines and
1679-622: Is sustained with only slight modifications ( stringendo and ritardando ) until the most dramatic section, marked Più mosso (faster) and later Allegro , returning to the initial tempo for the conclusion. The instrumental introduction is based on a pedal point sustained for several measures, reminiscent of pedal points in funeral music by Schütz and Bach, in Mozart's Requiem in the same key of D minor, and in Reger's previous Latin Requiem. In
1752-504: The Lateinisches Requiem ( Latin Requiem ), Op. 145a . The Hebbel Requiem was published by N. Simrock in 1916, after the composer's death, with another choral composition, Der Einsiedler ( The Hermit ), Op. 144a , to a poem by Joseph von Eichendorff . That publication was titled Zwei Gesänge für gemischten Chor mit Orchester (Two songs for mixed chorus with orchestra), Op. 144 . Reger provided
1825-645: The Lateinisches Requiem , Op. 145a . The music was first performed by Stein in Berlin on 28 May 1938 with four soloists and the enlarged choir of the Musikhochschule Berlin . For this performance, the liturgical Latin text was replaced by a German text, adapted to suit Nazi ideology. Hellmut von Hase titled his text Totenfeier (Rite of the Dead) and managed to serve "the Nazi adulation of
1898-468: The NDR Chor and NDR Sinfonieorchester , conducted by Roland Bader . The Lateinisches Requiem is officially catalogued as WoO V/9. Johannes Brahms, in his Ein deutsches Requiem ( A German Requiem ), had already opened the way for the composition of a non- liturgical Requiem , written in a language other than Latin while still addressing the traditional theme of rest ( requies ) for
1971-587: The Reger-Chor . Beckschäfer was the organist, Ulrike Buchs the vocal soloist. The choir, expanded into the Reger-Chor-International by singers from Belgium, performed the work again in 2001 with organist Ignace Michiels from St. Salvator's Cathedral , Bruges , both there and in St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden (recorded live). They performed it a third time in 2010 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of
2044-544: The Requiem was published in Vienna as a pocket score, Philharmonia-Taschenpartitur No. 284. Edition Peters published it in 1928, stating the performance duration as 25 minutes, although the duration implied by the metronome marking is 14 minutes. Reger's Hebbel Requiem is in a single movement. It follows the overall form of the narrated poem, but with variations, resulting in differing moods throughout
2117-733: The Welte Philharmonic organ , including excerpts from 52 Chorale Preludes, Op. 67 . He also composed various secular organ works, including the Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue , Op. 127. It was dedicated to Straube, who gave its first performance in 1913 to inaugurate the Wilhelm Sauer organ at the opening of the Breslau Centennial Hall . Reger was particularly attracted to the fugal form and created music in almost every genre, save for opera and
2190-531: The Wiesbaden Conservatory beginning in September of that year. He established himself as a keyboard composer, performer, and teacher of piano and organ. The first compositions to which he assigned opus numbers were chamber music . In 1891 he composed his Sechs Lieder , Op. 4 , a collection of six songs. The first, " Gebet " (Prayer), was on a text by Friedrich Hebbel , who also wrote
2263-657: The chorale " O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden ", five stanzas of which Bach used in his St Matthew Passion . The melody is not repeated as in the original, but continued for half a line. Reger is known for quoting chorales in general and this one in particular, most often referring to its last stanza " Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden ", which Bach included in the Passion right after the death of Jesus. The corresponding text would then be " Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden, so scheide nicht von mir. Wenn mir am allerbängsten ... " (When I must depart one day, do not part from me then. When
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2336-407: The late-Romantic period . His works are initially listed by Opus number (Op.), followed by works without Op. number (WoO). Other features shown are translation of titles, key , scoring, year of composition, genre , information about texts and their authors, a link to the Max-Reger-Institute , which provides detailed information about times of composition, performance and publishing, and a link to
2409-424: 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,
2482-511: 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 . Max Reger works#83 Max Reger was a German composer of
2555-513: The 1914/15 War ). Reger had composed Requiem settings before: his 1912 motet for male chorus , published as the final part of his Op. 83 , uses the same poem, and in 1914 he set out to compose a choral work in memory of the victims of the Great War . The setting is of the Latin Requiem , the Catholic service for the dead, but the work remained a fragment and was eventually designated
2628-1010: The Dead ), as his Op. 128 . He gave up the court position in 1914 for health reasons. In response to World War I , he thought in 1914 already to compose a choral work to commemorate the fallen of the war. He began to set the Latin Requiem but abandoned the work as a fragment. In 1915 he moved to Jena, still teaching in Leipzig. He composed in Jena the Hebbel Requiem for soloist, choir and orchestra. Reger died in Leipzig on 11 May 1916. Reger assigned opus numbers to major works himself. In his compositions for solo voices and for choirs, he set poems by notable lyricists, including contemporaries, such as Gabriele D'Annunzio , Otto Julius Bierbaum , Joseph von Eichendorff , Friedrich Hebbel , Detlev von Liliencron and Friedrich Rückert . Reger's works with an opus number are listed first, then works designated as WoO (work without opus number). Details to compositions follow, such as song titles and names of poets for
2701-543: The German heroes who fell in the Great War). Simrock also published a vocal score as prepared by Reger himself. The Hebbel Requiem was first performed, together with Der Einsiedler , in Heidelberg on 16 July 1916, after the composer's death, as part of a memorial concert for Reger, featuring Eva Katharina Lissmann, the choirs Bachverein and Akademischer Gesangverein, and the enlarged Städtisches Orchester (Municipal Orchestra), conducted by Philipp Wolfrum . In 1925
2774-619: The Latin Requiem but abandoned the work as a fragment. He composed eight motets as his Acht geistliche Gesänge für gemischten Chor (Eight Sacred Songs, Op. 138), embodying "a new simplicity". In 1915 he moved to Jena , commuting once a week to teach in Leipzig. In Jena he composed the Hebbel Requiem for soloist, choir and orchestra. Reger died of a heart attack while staying at a hotel in Leipzig on 11 May 1916. The proofs of Acht geistliche Gesänge , including " Der Mensch lebt und bestehet nur eine kleine Zeit ", were found next to his bed. Six years after Reger's death, his funeral urn
2847-575: The Latin Requiem fragment in the opening concert at the Thomaskirche on 10 June, and the Hebbel Requiem there on 17 June, along with Der Mensch lebt und bestehet and O Tod, wie bitter bist du . In a review of a recording of choral works by Reger, Gavin Dixon said that the Requiem is "almost mystical in its use of widely spaced chords, unusual harmonic shifts and dreamy arpeggios in
2920-409: The Leipzig conservatory. In 1913 he composed four tone poems on paintings by Arnold Böcklin ( Vier Tongedichte nach Arnold Böcklin ), including Die Toteninsel ( Isle of the Dead ), as his Op. 128 . He gave up the court position in 1914 for health reasons. In response to World War I , already in 1914 he was planning to compose a choral work, commemorating those lost in the war. He began to set
2993-709: The Reger-Chor. The Hebbel Requiem was performed as part of the Ouverture spirituelle of the 2014 Salzburg Festival , along with Bruckner's Fourth Symphony , with Plácido Domingo as baritone soloist and the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Daniel Barenboim . To mark the centenary of Reger's death in 2016, the broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk staged a concert of the Hebbel Requiem in early May, conducted by Karl-Heinz Steffens . The Bachfest Leipzig 2016 programmed several works by Reger, including
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3066-622: The accompaniment". The program notes for the recording say that in the "anguished, expressionistic evocation of the 'shuddering', 'forsaken', 'cold' souls, the piece seems determined to expose death in all its grim horror". Debra Lenssen wrote in her 2002 thesis about Reger's Op. 144 : As their composer's final completed works for chorus and orchestra, Der Einsiedler and Requiem , Op. 144a and 144b, demonstrate Max Reger's mature ability when setting poems of recognized literary merit. These powerful single-movement works from 1915 defy many stereotypes associated with their composer. They manifest
3139-576: The autograph of the piano version: Zwei Gesänge / für / gemischten Chor / mit Orchester / Nr. 2) Requiem / (Hebbel) , and he wrote the dedication: Dem Gedenken der im / Kriege 1914/15 gefallenen / deutschen Helden (To the memory of the German heroes who fell in the War 1914/15). Reger completed the composition on 25 August 1915. He wrote to the publisher N. Simrock on 8 September : "I've finished two choral works ( Der Einsiedler and Requiem ). I think I can safely say that they're both among
3212-409: The beginning and in the repeats. The chorus, here divided in eight parts, evokes the start of the spiritual ascent, " Sieh, sie umschweben dich, schauernd, verlassen " (See, they hover around you, shuddering, abandoned), in mostly homophonic chords, marked ppp , in a fashion reminiscent of Schütz. In section B, " und in den heiligen Gluten " (and in the holy glowing), the pedal point ends. The chorus
3285-425: The centre of the poem and again at its conclusion, as a refrain that sets apart two longer sections of verse. The first of these sections describes how the dead, nurtured by love, enjoy a final glow of life. In contrast, the latter section portrays a different fate for souls that have been forsaken: who are relegated to an unending, desolate struggle for renewed existence. The musicologist Katherine FitzGibbon notes that
3358-464: The dead! See, they hover around you, Shuddering, abandoned. And in the holy glow which love stokes for the poor, they breathe in relief and warm again And enjoy for a last time their dimming life. Soul, forget them not, Soul, forget not the dead! See, they hover around you, Shuddering, abandoned. And if you coldly lock yourself up to them, they stiffen up into the deepest. Then
3431-467: The dead). These words appear to echo various psalms , such as Psalm 103 , "Bless the Lord, O my soul". Hebbel, however, evokes an "eternal rest" that is distinctly non-religious: the poem offers no metaphysical reference, Christian or otherwise, but calls for remembrance as the only way to keep the dead alive. The first lines, in which the speaker calls upon the soul not to forget the dead, are repeated in
3504-577: The dead. In this tradition, Reger's 1915 Requiem , Op. 144b , is also not a setting of the Requiem in Latin, but of Hebbel's poem. He composed it in Jena, a year before his own death, this time for a solo voice (alto or baritone), chorus and orchestra. The Requiem , Op. 144b , was combined with Der Einsiedler (The Hermit), Op. 144a , a setting of a poem by Joseph von Eichendorff , as Zwei Gesänge für gemischten Chor mit Orchester (Two songs for mixed chorus with orchestra), Op. 144 . Reger titled
3577-739: The dedications of his piano pieces Aquarellen , Op. 25 , and Cinq Pièces pittoresques , Op. 34 . Reger had an acrimonious relationship with Rudolf Louis , the music critic of the Münchener Neueste Nachrichten , who usually had negative opinions of his compositions. After the first performance of the Sinfonietta in A major, Op. 90 , on 2 February 1906, Louis wrote a typically negative review on 7 February. Reger wrote back to him: " Ich sitze in dem kleinsten Zimmer in meinem Hause. Ich habe Ihre Kritik vor mir. Im nächsten Augenblick wird sie hinter mir sein! " ("I am sitting in
3650-675: The fallen war hero" (as FitzGibbon said), dropping references to the bible. He replaced for example " exaudi orationem meam, ad te omnis caro veniet " (Hear my prayer; to you shall all flesh come) by "In sorrow we mutely lower the flags, for into the grave sunk what was dear to us." This version was published in 1939 by the Max Reger Society. The unfinished Dies irae was published in 1974 and first performed in Hamburg's St. Jakobi on 3 November 1979 by Yoko Kawahara , Marga Höffgen , Hans-Dieter Bader , Nikolaus Hillebrand ,
3723-532: The free score when available. Reger was a German composer, born in Brand in 1873. He studied music theory in Sondershausen , then piano and theory, in Wiesbaden . The first compositions to which he assigned opus numbers were chamber music and Lieder . A pianist himself, he composed works for both piano and organ. Reger returned to his parental home in 1898, where he composed his first work for choir and orchestra, Hymne an den Gesang (Hymn to singing), Op. 21 . He moved to Munich in 1901. In 1907 he
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#17327732019293796-551: The greatest anxiety ...). Reger completes the chorale setting for the chorus, without further reference to the chorale melody, while the solo voice simultaneously continues to sing " Seele, vergiß nicht die Toten , concluding with a five-note passage that descends more than an octave, from the high D to the A an eleventh below. The Requiem employs an orchestra of two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, three percussionists and strings. It requires
3869-420: The latter can be heard in his chamber works which are deeply reflective and unconventional. In 1898 Caesar Hochstetter , an arranger, composer and critic, published an article entitled "Noch einmal Max Reger" ("Max Reger once again") in a music magazine ( Die redenden Künste 5 no. 49, pp. 943 f). Caesar recommended Reger as "a highly talented young composer" to the publishers. Reger thanked Hochstetter with
3942-407: The most beautiful things I've ever written." ( Ich habe nun zwei Chorwerke (Der Einsiedler und Requiem) fertig. Ich glaube sagen zu dürfen, daß diese beiden Chorwerke mit das Schönste sind, was ich je geschrieben habe. ) Requiem was first published by N. Simrock in 1916, edited by Ulrich Haverkampf, with the dedication Dem Andenken der im großen Kriege gefallenen deutschen Helden (To the memory of
4015-536: The most popular being the Benedictus from the collection Op. 59 and his Fantasy and Fugue on BACH , Op. 46 . While a student under Hugo Riemann in Wiesbaden , Reger had already met the German organist, Karl Straube ; their association as colleagues and friends began in 1898, with Straube premiering many of Reger's organ works, such as the Three chorale fantasias, Op. 52 . Reger recorded some of his works on
4088-496: The national Schweizer Eidgenössisches Sängerfest (Swiss federal song festival) in Neuchâtel on 22 July 1912. In accordance with the poem's structure, Reger used the same material for each of the refrains, in a homophonic setting. The words "ihr verglimmendes Leben" ( their dimming life ) are illustrated by "a sequence of chromatically descending sixth chords". Similar descending chords are often found in Reger's works as
4161-570: The outbreak of war, Reger intended to compose a work commemorating the soldiers who had died or were mortally wounded, a choral work of " großen Stils " (in great style). By the autumn of 1914, he was in discussion with a theologian in Giessen about a composition, tentatively titled " Die letzten Dinge (Jüngstes Gericht u. Auferstehung) " "(The Last Things [Final Judgment and Resurrection])". The organist Karl Straube , who had premiered several of Reger's organ works, recommended that Reger compose
4234-555: The parish church of the city. 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 Bayreuth Festival , where he heard Richard Wagner 's operas Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Parsifal . This left a deep impression and made Reger decide to pursue
4307-411: The piece. The beginning is recalled in the middle and at the end. The following table is based on the score and on an analysis by Katherine FitzGibbon. The translation of the incipits is given as in the liner notes of the 2009 recording in the translation by Richard Stokes. The four-part SATB chorus is often divided. The work is in D minor and common time . The tempo marking is Molto sostenuto , and
4380-405: The poem on which two of Reger's Requiem settings are based. Reger returned to his parental home in 1898, where he composed his first work for choir and orchestra, Hymne an den Gesang (Hymn to song), Op. 21 . He moved to Munich in 1901. Income from publishers, concerts and private teaching enabled him to marry in 1902. His wife, Elsa von Bercken, was a divorced Protestant , and as
4453-796: 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). 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. 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
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#17327732019294526-471: The smallest room of my house. I have your review before me. In a moment it will be behind me!"). Another source has the German composer Sigfrid Karg-Elert as the targeted critic of this letter. 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
4599-962: The speaker of this narrative is not identified, but may be "a poetic narrator, divine voice, or even the dead". Seele, vergiss sie nicht, Seele, vergiss nicht die Toten! Sieh, sie umschweben dich, Schauernd, verlassen, Und in den heiligen Gluten, Die den Armen die Liebe schürt, Atmen sie auf und erwarmen Und genießen zum letztenmal Ihr verglimmendes Leben. Seele, vergiss sie nicht, Seele, vergiss nicht die Toten! Sieh, sie umschweben dich, Schauernd, verlassen, Und wenn du dich erkaltend Ihnen verschließest, erstarren sie Bis hinein in das Tiefste. Dann ergreift sie der Sturm der Nacht, Dem sie, zusammengekrampft in sich, Trotzten im Schoße der Liebe, Und er jagt sie mit Ungestüm Durch die unendliche Wüste hin, Wo nicht Leben mehr ist, nur Kampf Losgelassener Kräfte Um erneuertes Sein! Seele, vergiss sie nicht, Seele, vergiss nicht die Toten! Soul, forget them not, Soul, forget not
4672-400: The storm of the night grips them, which they, cramped together, defied in the bosom of love. It chases them impetuously through an endless wasteland, Where there is no more life, only fight of unleashed forces for renewed existence! Soul, forget them not, Soul, forget not the dead! The poem was published in 1857. Separately, Peter Cornelius set the same poem in 1863, as
4745-506: The traditional Latin Requiem instead, because Die letzten Dinge would only be a variation on Ein deutsches Requiem by Johannes Brahms . Following his advice, Reger managed the composition of the introit and Kyrie , combining both texts into one movement. He announced the project, a composition for soloists, chorus, orchestra and organ, to his publisher on 3 October 1914. The Dies irae remained unfinished. Reger wrote to Fritz Stein , his friend and later biographer, that he
4818-749: Was Drei Chöre (1892). 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), Op. 21 . From 1899, he courted Elsa von Bercken who at first rejected him. He composed many songs including the love poems Sechs Lieder , Op. 35 . Reger moved to Munich in September 1901, where he obtained concert offers and where his rapid rise to fame began. During his first Munich season, Reger appeared in ten concerts as an organist, chamber pianist and accompanist. Income from publishers, concerts and private teaching enabled him to marry in 1902. Because his wife Elsa
4891-639: Was a divorced Protestant , he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church. He continued to compose without interruption, for example Gesang der Verklärten , Op. 71 . In 1907, Reger was appointed musical director at the Leipzig University Church , a position he held until 1908, and professor at the Royal Conservatory in Leipzig . In 1908 he began to compose Der 100. Psalm (The 100th Psalm), Op. 106,
4964-440: Was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, a musical director at the Leipzig University Church , a professor at the Royal Conservatory in Leipzig , and a music director at the court of George II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen . Reger first composed mainly Lieder , chamber music, choral music and works for piano and organ. He later turned to orchestral compositions, such as
5037-508: Was appointed musical director at the Leipzig University and professor at the Royal Conservatory in Leipzig. In 1911 Reger was appointed Hofkapellmeister (music director) at the court of Duke Georg II of Saxe-Meiningen , retaining his master class at the Leipzig conservatory. In 1913 he composed four tone poems on paintings by Arnold Böcklin ( Vier Tondichtungen nach A. Böcklin ), including Die Toteninsel ( Isle of
5110-408: Was in the middle of its composition, but had been interrupted after the line "statuens in parte dextra". The Lateinisches Requiem is scored for soloists ( soprano , alto , tenor , bass ), a four-part ( SATB ) choir, three flutes (also piccolo), two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, three percussionists and strings. It
5183-639: 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 ,
5256-540: Was the cousin of Hans von Koessler . 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 organ ,
5329-552: 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
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