The music of Max Reger has a special position in organ repertoire, and he is regarded by many as the greatest German composer of organ music since Bach. A Catholic himself, he nevertheless drew on Lutheran tradition and the rich store of chorales, the inspiration for chorale preludes, chorale fantasias and other works. The esteem in which his organ compositions were held even in his own time owed much to the advocacy of Karl Straube, also a pupil of Riemann and from 1902 organist at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. Reger wrote his Chorale Fantasia on 'Alle Menschen m�ssen sterben', Op. 52, No. 1, (All men must die) in 1900, dedicating it to Julius Smend, then Professor of Theology at the University of Strasbourg, a pioneer in the study of earlier Lutheran music and a leading figure in research into the use of music in the Protestant liturgy. With an Introduction marked at first Assai agitato e molto espressivo (vivace), there is almost at once a reminder of Bach's Durch Adams Fall (Through Adam's fall), with the characteristic interval of a descending seventh, an aural representation of the Fall of Adam that is to recur. The characteristically dense chromatic figuration leads to the chorale melody, the score including the words of the first verse. The melody itself is shared by manuals and pedals, appearing first in the tenor register, then the bass, continuing in the soprano, followed by the pedals again and completed in the tenor. A dramatic interlude leads to more elaborate figuration with the third verse of the chorale, Jesus ist f�r mich gestorben (Jesus died for me), marked pppp and again shared by varying registers, manuals and pedals. A shorter episode is followed by a version of the melody with the words of the sixth verse superscribed, O Jerusalem, du sch�ne, ach wie helle glanzest du! (O Jerusalem, thou beautiful, how bright thou shinest!). The intervening episode again leads to a dramatic dynamic climax before the chorale, with the words of the seventh verse, Ach, ich habe schon erblicket (Ah, I have often seen this great glory), is heard in left-hand octaves, amid elaborate surrounding figuration. The fantasia mounts to a climax for the final words 'mit der goldnen Ehrenkrone steh ich' (with the golden crown of glory I stand), with a concluding apotheosis.

Reger, M.: Organ Works, Vol. 4

Our Reger Edition now again continues on its way, following three releases accompanied by rave reviews from the critics. klassik-heute wrote in 2015, "In this so very sumptuous music Gerhard Weinberger turns enthusing technical virtuosity into an audio event. We can eagerly look forward to the other volumes of this complete recording and already certify that this edition will do an outstanding job of initially introducing the Reger beginner to his organ cosmos." And Musik & Theater opined in 2016, "These albums rank with the best currently available recordings in the field of Reger’s organ music." The focus of this album is formed by Reger’s op. 57, to which he added the adjective "Symphonic," thereby making it absolutely clear that this work would represent a high point not only in his own organ oeuvre but also in the whole of the organ literature. In his op. 145 collection published in early 1916 – first designated as the "Seven Organ Pieces" in posthumous editions – all the pieces have in common the quotation of chorales corresponding in content to the particular work title. The Introduction and (above all) the Passacaglia in F minor are surely the most outstanding numbers among the twelve pieces constituting his Monologues op. 63.

Apart from the opera and the symphony, Max Reger made substantial contributions to almost every musical genre, and within chamber music his compositions for violin and piano formed the largest complex. These works are technically and musically demanding and, for one reason or another are rarely ever heard in the concert hall.

Vocal Recital: Kuhse, Hannelore - WOLF, H. / BERG, A. / REGE

Organ Recital: Ramin, Gunther - BACH, J.S. / REGER, M.

Choral Music (Sacred) - Distler, H. / Reger, M. / Mendelssoh

A new recording of two major Reger cycles, by a fast-emerging British piano talent. 'To fathom his all-powerful might, no human may accomplish' - this is the text, from a duet in Bach's Cantata BWV128, which Reger takes as the subject of his Bach Variations, and it may fairly be advanced that Reger accorded Bach a comparably divine status. At the age of just 31, Reger had by this stage assimilated not only Bachian counterpoint but it's transformation through the ears and imaginations of Schumann and Brahms and others, and he proceeds to treat the theme with astonishing freedom, testing the technique of the performer while reaching for the limits of the theme's musical possibilities over the course of 14 variations. The cycle concludes with a mighty fugue - or fugues, on separate subjects (of Reger's own devising, eventually welded with the Bach theme). In his booklet essay, Eden Walker remarks that the final bars are 'some of the most colossal and victorious of any in the entire piano repertoire.' By contrast, as a salutary demonstration of Reger's versatility, the Traume am Kamin present him at his most relaxed and intimate, and anyone who has found it hard to warm to Reger will surely find in this cycle a delightful entry-point to an often forbidding catalogue. 'Dreams by the Fireside' - Reger's knotty chromatic harmony still underpins the progress of these Romantic sketches, but now disguised by a touch of the 'lateness' that comes over many artists towards the end of their lives or careers, whether or not they were aware of it. This cycle was Reger's final piano cycle before his death in 1916, aged 41, and the mood of the cycle is perhaps also marked by a necessary escapism from the violent bloodshed around him. Born in 1995, Eden Walker has become a specialist in the ultra-virtuoso end of Romantic piano writing at the hands of composers such as Alkan, Busoni and Godowsky (and Reger). Based in Hamburg, he now teaches at the Staatliche Jugendmusikschule, as well as furthering his own studies and giving concerts across Germany and the UK.

Classical Music

Volume 9 & finale of the long-running series! The volcanic presence of composer Max Reger from the Upper Palatinate region of Germany does not make things easy for his interpreters or his listeners. Almost everything he wrote features such a bounty of musical ideas that only gradually is the persona behind it revealed. The organist Gerhard Weinberger is among those who have the proven ability to break through this facade. On his CDs no. 17 and 18, which comprise the ninth volume of this complete recording of colossal proportions, he also proves himself to be the ideal medium of a world view in which all is in continuous and inextinguishable motion. He has the organs of Chemnitz and Schwyz at his disposal – two stylistically appropriate instruments to produce the perfect Reger experience.

Ondine is pleased to announce the first release with Austrian violinist Benjamin Schmid with a performance of Reger’s Violin Concerto and the Chaconne for Solo Violin. This release invites to listen to a captivating performance of Reger’s Violin Concerto, a hugely charming big romantic work with broad sentimental gestures.

Our successful Reger edition can finally continue, and critics continue to be more than enthusiastic about the previous installments, Musik & Theater even claiming, "These recordings are among the best currently available in organ music by Reger." And now the penultimate volume No. 8. The focus is on Reger's op. 67. In May 1901, Reger informed Straube of his intention to "write 30 chorale preludes to the best-known chorales." Over time, the project grew to 52 preludes. In the letter of October 22, 1902 to the publishing house Lauterbach & Kuhn in Leipzig, Reger wrote with regard to the collection Zweiundfünfzig leicht ausführbare Vorspiele zu den gebräuchlichsten evangelischen Chorälen op. 67 that he could "probably say without arrogance that no such collection has been published since J. S. Bach." In fact, Reger is to be agreed here without any reservations: Reger's op. 67 was a work that can be compared to Bach's "Orgelbüchlein" in terms of content as well as scope and pedagogical intention.

At long last our successful Reger Edition continues on its way. The critics have been more than enthusiastic about the previous releases, and Musik & Theater even stated: “These recordings number among the best currently available in the field of Reger’s organ music.” This month we are releasing Vol. 7, again with two albums in the best SS, and this time featuring Reger’s five easy-to-play Preludes and Fugues op. 56. Although the composer termed this composition “an organ work of small caliber” in a letter to the publisher Lauterbach & Kuhn, the critics reacted positively, and the organist and composer Robert Frenzel numbered its pieces, which form anything but a secondary work, “among the most poetic phenomena in the most recent organ literature.” And we absolutely have to agree with him. The generic combination of “Prelude and Fugue” is frequently assigned to the realm of so-called absolute music, but Reger’s op. 56 does not seem to belong to this world in which only the musical structure is of significance; instead, particularly the preludes, which mostly practice dynamic moderation – like many of the “pieces” from op. 59 and other works – are distinguished by a pronounced poetic character.

Max Reger’s oeuvre occupies a unique position between the centuries. His advanced compositional techniques made him one of the most frequently performed composers at the Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen in Vienna and meant that he was held in great esteem by Arnold Schönberg. His affinity for Bach in his settings as well as in his choice of forms, architectonic techniques, and specific instrumentations was just as obvious as his grounding in Romanticism and his veneration for Beethoven and Brahms. Reger’s ties to the tradition – in this case to Mozart and Brahms – were the point of departure for his Clarinet Quintet in A major op. 146, a work radiating an ease that hardly seems to have been disturbed by the circumstances of a world war. The major tonality of the work is unusual in the chamber music from Reger’s late period and something it shares with the String Sextet op. 118. Apart from the sextet, after 1909 it is found only in the Flute Serenade in G major op. 141a and in the clarinet quintet. In contrast to these two other works, however, the sextet is of much greater complexity in formal design and material elaboration, which happens to be assigned to a very obvious thematic presentation. Even though Reger did not live to experience the publication and premiere of the clarinet quintet, the string sextet received a posthumous tribute inasmuch as the study score was immured in the base of Reger’s funerary monument in the Waldfriedhof in Munich on 11 May 1930.

Reger & Weinberger Vol. 6. Our successful Reger edition now once again continues, and the critics continue to be more than enthusiastic about the volumes released to date. Musik & Theater has even claimed, “These recordings number among the best releases currently available in the field of Reger’s organ music.” And Vol. 6 again presents two albums in the best surround sound. The thirty little chorale preludes for the most familiar numbers in the Chorales op. 135a, composed by Reger expressly with the organist’s traditional duties in mind, occupy the center stage. A glance at the countless pieces of so-called practical liturgical music composed before and after Reger demonstrates that the quality of this collection can hardly be overestimated, given the fact that it offers what might be termed “Reger en miniature.” The wealth of the compositional ideas selected by him justifies the presentation of op. 135a in its entirety.