Three chorale fantasies (Max Reger)

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Max Reger in 1901

The three chorale fantasias for organ composed Max Reger are as Opus 52 in the second half of September 1900. Specifically, this the Fantasy on the Chorale " All men must die " (op. 52 no. 1), Fantasy on the Chorale " on Awake , the voice calls us ” (op. 52 No. 2) as well as the fantasy about the chorale“ Hallelujah! To praise God remain my soul joy ” (op. 52 No. 3).

Work data

Date of origin: September 1900 in Weiden in the Upper Palatinate ; No. 2 is dated September 15, 1900; Sent to the publisher on October 22, 1900.

Premiere:

Dedication:

  • No. 1: “Sr. Revered Professor Dr. Sincerely yours to Julius Smend "
  • No. 2: "Given to my friend Karl Straube with deepest gratitude"
  • No. 3: "Respectfully dedicated to Mr. Friedrich L. Schnackenberg"
Schnackenberg was a senior seminar teacher in Plauen and worked for the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik . The dedication can be seen as a thank you for the review of Neue Orgelwerke and some other things by Max Reger in the NZfM.

Instrumentation: organ solo

Duration:

  • No. 1: 16-17 min.
  • No. 2: 17-19 min.
  • No. 3: 15-17 min.

History of origin

Immediately after completing Opus 49 (two sonatas for clarinet and pianoforte) Reger announced on May 24, 1900 in a letter to Alexander Wilhelm Gottschalg "three organ fantasies on a grand scale". He completed this project four months later in just ten days. They are also to be understood as a reaction to a criticism of Georg Göhler in the September issue of the magazine Der Kunstwart : Göhler's accusation - "inventive weakness, lack of inner strength and personality" - seemed to have hurt Reger deeply: According to Adalbert Lindner's report , "[ barely ten days after their publication [...] my friend brought the above-mentioned three chorale fantasies into the house, ready to go, and threw them at him with the bitter words: 'There is the Reger who has no imagination and no invention' Wing. ” Guido Bagier even suspects a“ mystical compulsion ”as the mainspring of their creation.

No. 1: Fantasy about the chant All people have to die

The text for this fantasy is a poem by Johann Georg Albini from 1652; the melody probably comes from Jakob Hintze (1678):

Choral All people must die. Svg

The fantasy can be broken down into six sections:

  1. introduction
  2. Verse I "All people must die"
  3. Intermediate part
  4. Verse III "Jesus died for me"
  5. Verse VI "O Jerusalem, you beautiful"
  6. Verse VII "Oh, I've already seen"

Reger does not set all seven stanzas of the chorale to music, but selects four verses specifically. In contrast to most of Reger's chorale fantasies, the work does not end with a fugue ; Choral and free stanzas alternate. The beginning of the work, titled Introduzione , already brings the most important musical motifs of the work: As a death motif, a large descending interval and a resurrection motif made up of descending chords.

No. 2: Fantasy on the chorale "Wake up, the voice calls us"

The work is the most popular of the three fantasies and “Reger's most beautiful, second or most beautiful chorale fantasy” as Martin Weyer writes; Straube called it the “greatest achievement”. It is based on the Philipp Nicolais chorale from 1599; the text is based on Matt. 25, 1–3 and Isa. 52, 8.

Wake up, the voice calls us

Reger uses the last lines of the text of the third stanza in a modified form, which can also be found in the Protestant church hymn book (EKG) from 1950. The Christmas reference of the originals is missing here:

Philipp Nicolai 1599 Op. 52, 2

We are so happy / jo / jo
Eternal in dulci iubilo.

We shout for joy and sing
the Hallelujah for and for you.

The fantasy is divided into four parts:

  1. Introduzione
  2. Verse I “Wake up! the voice calls us "
  3. Verse II "Zion Hears the Guardians Singing"
  4. Fugue and verse III “Gloria be sung to you”.

It begins with an introduzione in a grave assai. In "very 'dark [r]' registration" with 16 'and 8' registers, a gloomy, wavy four-fold pianissimo begins, which initially leaves the listener in the dark about form and rhythm for a long time. The gloomy, subdued mood is only interrupted twice by brief inserts - "thundering lightning bolts" - in triple fortissimo . Weyer sees this as contrasting levels of nocturnal silence and the beginning of judgment.

The chorale theme appears for the first time in bar 11, accompanied by “very clear registration”. The lines of verse are interrupted by interludes - the “heavenly glory” stands out from “earthly darkness”. Karl Straube writes about this:

“Max Reger referred to the introduction to 'Wachet auf' as the 'Kirchhof' and the chorale melody is the voice of an angel, the dead are gradually being awakened; Dis-E-Dis [bars 18 ff.] In the pedal symbolically indicates how they stir in the graves. This is how my friend interpreted his artistic intentions for me. "

- Karl Straube : Letter to Hans Klotz dated June 28, 1944

No. 3: Fantasy on the chorale Hallelujah! Praise God

The fantasy is based on the following chorale by Johann Georg Bätzler ; the text comes from Matthias Jorissen and is based on Psalm 146 .

Chorale Hallelujah! To praise God

Reger's Fantasy consists of an introduction and seven chorale stanzas and ends with a coda :

  1. Introduction Vivace assai - Vivacissimo
  2. Verse I “Hallelujah! To praise God "
  3. Verse II "Don't trust princes"
  4. Verse III "Hail to him who lives on earth"
  5. Verse IV "He, the sky, sea and earth"
  6. Stanzas V "It is he who protects the stranger" and VI "He, the Lord, it is he who protects the blind"
  7. Fugue and stanza VII “He is God and Lord and King”; In the coda, the first two lines of the chorale melody are performed as an octave canon in soprano and bass.

Work editions

Title page of Fantasy No. 3, Universal Edition 1901
  • Max Reger: Complete organ works . tape 6 . Choral fantasies. Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden / Leipzig / Paris, p. 91–147 (Breitkopf Edition 8496; based on the Reger Complete Edition).
  • Max Reger: Fantasy about the chorale "All people must die" . Universaledition, Vienna, ISBN 978-3-7024-4050-3 (UE 1247; new edition of the edition of Aibl 1901 - ISMN = 979-0-008-01291-4).
  • Max Reger: Fantasy about the chorale “Wake up, the voice calls us” . Universaledition, Vienna, ISBN 978-3-7024-4053-4 (UE 1248; new edition of the Aibl 1901 edition - ISMN = 979-0-008-01292-1).
  • Max Reger: Fantasy about the chorale “Halleluja! To praise God ” . Universaledition, Vienna (UE 1249; new edition of the Aibl 1901 edition).
  • Max Reger: Reger-Werkausgabe, Vol. I / 1: Choral fantasies for organ . Carus, Stuttgart 2010, pp. 80-140 (CV 52.801 / 00); also single edition.

Sources

T. 80–83 of Fantasy No. 2 with the entries for the articulation (above) in the Straube copy

As with most of his organ works, Reger produced two fair copies of Opus 52: one for the publisher and another for Karl Straube. The second fair copy for Straube was intended to guarantee the latter the privilege of listing the work before it went to press. The accuracy of the Straube autographs decreases gradually from No. 1 to No. 3: The fantasy about “All people must die” largely corresponds to the copy in the Straube copy. It contains the dedication that is characteristic of Reger's humor: “Very heartfelt pleasure, dear Carl! In the event that someone died while listening to this 'crime', I will pay the funeral expenses. Best regards, your old organist Max Reger ”. The copy contains neither entries nor signs of use: Straube denied the work the full interpretation of the depth of the chorale (cf. letter to Hans Klotz from November 20, 1944) and only listed it after it went to press.

In contrast, the autograph for No. 2 intended for Straube is more superficial: both the chorale text and, from bar 131, all performance designations are missing. This trend intensifies with chorale no. 3: Here all performance names are missing from the beginning; seven bars before the end, the manuscript breaks off with the comment: “From here, composed straight into the print copy. This original manuscript is the property of Mr. Karl Straube. Max Reger. ”The first performance of“ Wachet auf ”took place on April 28, 1901 from Straube's copy; it therefore contains entries on Straube's interpretation. The first performance of the third fantasy took place after going to press in November 1901. The gradual neglect of the duplicates for Straube can be interpreted as a process of emancipation from Straube's influence.

The first printed edition of the three fantasies appeared in 1901 by the Munich publisher Joseph Aibl , which Universal Edition Actiengesellschaft from Vienna took over in 1904 . This edition is still available in stores today without any changes. There is also an edition as part of the seven-volume complete edition of Reger's organ works by Breitkopf & Härtel ; this is based on the musical text of the Reger Complete Edition, edited by Hans Klotz . Klotz changes are based on the standards of the organ movement and have the performance on a (neo-) baroque factory organ in mind; Klotz's interventions are neither noted in the musical text nor in a critical apparatus. The Reger edition, which has been produced at the Max Reger Institute since 2008 , is the first to present a musical text that meets today's scientific standards.

literature

  • Guido Bagier : Max Reger . Stuttgart / Berlin 1923, p. 132 sqq .
  • John Wesley Barker : The Organ Works of Max Reger . University of Adelaide, 1965, pp. 58 sqq .
  • Hermann J. Busch: On the interpretation of Max Reger's organ music . 2nd Edition. Merseburger Verlag, Kassel 2007.
  • Emanuel Gatscher : Max Reger's joint technology in its development. A contribution to the knowledge of the Regerer fugue style . Stuttgart 1925, p. 110 sqq . (see Diss. Bonn 1924).
  • Else von Hase-Koehler (ed.): Max Reger - letters from a German master . Leipzig 1928.
  • Hans Haselböck : Max Reger: Complete organ works. Preface . tape 6 . Choral fantasies. Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden / Leipzig / Paris, p. 6 .
  • Hermann Keller : Max Reger and the organ . Munich 1923, p. 246 sqq .
  • Adalbert Lindner: Max Reger. A picture of his youth and artistic development . Stuttgart 1922, p. 206 sqq .
  • Paul Martin Marki: The three Choral-Fhantasies op. 52 of Max Reger. Commentary and a practical edition . Ann Arbor / Me. 1976 (Zugl. Diss. Univ. Of Rochester, Eastman School of Music 1975).
  • Hugo Ernst Rahner : Max Reger's Choral Fantasies for the Organ. A study of the basics and development of Reger's organ style . Kassel 1936, p. 46 sqq .
  • Hans Peter Reiners , Wolfram Syré : Max Reger and the organ . In: Rainer Cadenbach (Ed.): Max Reger in his time . Bonn 1973, p. 31-44 .
  • Martin Sander : Max Reger: The three choral fantasies op.52 . In: HfK aktuell . October 2008, p. 22-26 .
  • Hayko Siemens : The "Chorale Fantasy on 'Wake up, call us the voice' op. 52 n ° 2" by Max Reger — The Perfecting of Symphonic Cantus-Firmus Form . In: Music and Church . tape 57 , no. 5 , 1987, pp. 215-233 .
  • Kari Vuola: Supplement to Max Reger - Organ Works. Three Fantasies for Organ Op. 52 . Alba Records, ABCD 175, 2002.
  • Martin Weyer : Max Reger's organ works . Noetzel, Heinrichshofen-Bücher, Wilhelmshaven 1992.
  • Max Reger: Reger-Werkausgabe, Vol. I / 1: Choral fantasies for organ . Carus, Stuttgart 2010.

Sound carrier

on original instruments from the Reger period:

  • Christoph Bossert : Max Reger. Three Choral Fantasies Op. 52. Recorded in 1990 on the Link organ of the Evangelical Church in Giengen an der Brenz. Intercord 5440292. 1 CD.
  • Christoph Bossert: Max Reger. Three Choral Fantasies Op. 52. Recorded in 2006 on the Link organ of the Evangelical Church in Giengen an der Brenz. organum 261111. 1 CD.
  • Martin Sander : Max Reger. Organ Works Vol. 2. (Organ of the Riga Cathedral ; Op. 52 No. 2)
  • Balázs Szabó : Max Reger. The 7 Choral Fantasies , SACD No. 2: Op. 52, recorded in 2015 on the Kuhn organ (1914) of the St. Anton Church in Zurich. MDG 920 1945-6. 2 SACD.
  • Gerhard Weinberger : Max Reger: Organ Works Vol. 3. Recorded in 2011 on the Sauer organ of the St. Petri Cathedral in Bremen. 2 SACD.

on modern organs:

  • Jean-Baptiste Dupont: Max Reger. Complete Organ Works Vol. 1. (Organ of Magdeburg Cathedral ; Op. 52 No. 1–3; Hortus, 2012, Hortus 086)
  • Kari Vuola: Max Reger: Organ Works. Three Fantasies for Organ Op. 52. (Organ of Tampere Cathedral; Op. 52 No. 1–3)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Hermann J. Book : Directory of Max Reger's organ works . In: Hermann J. Busch (Ed.): On the interpretation of Max Reger's organ music . 2nd Edition. Merseburger Verlag, Kassel 2007, p. 85 sq .
  2. ↑ Hans Haselböck : Max Reger: Complete Organ Works. Preface . tape 6 . Choral fantasies. Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden / Leipzig / Paris, p. 6 .
  3. ↑ Letters, p. 72.
  4. ↑ Lindner, p. 207.
  5. ↑ Guido Bagier : Max Reger . Stuttgart 1923, p. 120 .
  6. ↑ Kari Vuola : Supplement to Max Reger - Organ Works. Three Fantasies for Organ Op. 52 . Alba Records, ABCD 175, 2002, pp. 6-9 .
  7. ↑ Hans Peter Reiners , Wolfram Syré : Max Reger and the organ . In: Rainer Cadenabch (Ed.): Max Reger and his time . Laaber-Verlag, 1991. probably accidentally write eight verses.
  8. ↑ Hans Peter Reiners, Wolfram Syré: Max Reger and the organ . In: Rainer Cadenabch (Ed.): Max Reger and his time . Laaber-Verlag, 1991.
  9. ↑ Karl Straube (Ed.): Letters from a Thomaskantor . Stuttgart 1952, p. 236 .
  10. ↑ a b Kari Vuola : Supplement to Max Reger - Organ Works. Three Fantasies for Organ Op. 52 . Alba Records, ABCD 175, 2002, pp. 9-13 .
  11. ^ A b c Martin Weyer : Max Reger's organ works . Noetzel, Heinrichshofen-Bücher, Wilhelmshaven 1992, p. 264-267 .
  12. ↑ Griffin.
  13. ↑ a b Kari Vuola: Supplement to Max Reger - Organ Works. Three Fantasies for Organ Op. 52 . Alba Records, ABCD 175, 2002, pp. 14-17 .
  14. ^ A b Susanne Popp : On the sources of the Regers organ work . In: Hermann J. Busch (Ed.): On the interpretation of Max Reger's organ music . 2nd Edition. Merseburger Verlag, Kassel 2007, p. 37 sq .
  15. ↑ Susanne Shigihara : Endless Challenge - Max Reger's Organ Works and Their Editions . In: Hermann J. Busch (Ed.): On the interpretation of Max Reger's organ music . 2nd Edition. Merseburger Verlag, Kassel 2007, p. 43-54 .
  16. ↑ Max Reger. The 7 Choral Fantasies , SACD No. 2: Op. 52, recorded in 2015 on the Kuhn organ (1914) of the St. Anton Church in Zurich. MDG 920 1945-6. 2 SACD.