Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue for Organ

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Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue in E minor , op. 127, is a large-scale organ composition by Max Reger , which he dedicated in 1913 to his friend, the Protestant organist and director of the St. Thomas' Choir , Karl Straube . This played the world premiere on September 24th that year at the opening of the Centennial Hall in Wroclaw . The Walcker organ was the world's largest organ with 200 registers at the time . The work was published by Bote & Bock in Berlin in November 1913 .

history

Centennial Hall in Wroclaw

Reger composed the work in Meiningen in April and May 1913. It was deliberately an organ work for the concert hall, a composition "on a grand scale". Reger wrote it as a commission for the opening of the Centennial Hall in Breslau. Although Reger had been brought up Catholic, he was fascinated by the Protestant liturgy with its chorales and richness of melodies from his youth. This melodic, song-like composition technique is a style-defining feature for Reger and is also reflected in this work.

Reger's organ works enlivened concert organ playing , which had become out of date. In Karl Straube he had an organist and friend who could play the technically demanding works and influence the composition. Straube is said to have had a significant influence on the composition. Above all, the lecture instructions should come from him. After Ein 'Solid Castle is our God (op. 27) Reger dedicated a further composition to him with op. 127 . It premiered in Breslau on September 24, 1913. The work was published in November of that year in Berlin by Ed. Bote & G. Bock .

music

The work consists of three sections: an introduction, a passacaglia with 26 variations and a double fugue .

Organist David Goode wrote in his analysis that the introduction begins with dense chromaticism and lush figuration. The Passacaglia is based on a theme that contains eleven of the twelve notes of the chromatic scale . The 26 variations are divided into a beginning, in which speed and texture are increased, then a meditative middle section, and the end, which intensifies again towards the fugue. Goode emphasizes Reger's mastery of determining the sequence in movement and stimulation (effective control of pace and excitement) .

Autograph and edition

The Max Reger Institute owns Reger's autograph , the printing copy.

  • Max Reger: Complete Organ Works , Volume 6. Choral Fantasies. Breitkopf & Härtel , Wiesbaden / Leipzig / Paris, pp. 91–147.

Idol

The Canadian composer Healey Willan heard the work played by his friend Dalton Baker. Baker's remark, such a work could only have been composed by a 'German philosophical mind' (“ such a work could only be composed by a German philosophical mind ”) challenged Willan to write a work of similar structure, which he finished in 1916 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Volume I / 2-3 Fantasies and Fugues, Variations, Sonatas, Suites . Max Reger Institute . 2016.
  2. ^ A b Paul Thissen: Notes on Max Reger's Organ Music (Part 1) . Diocese of Paderborn . 2016.
  3. ↑ 1913 . Max Reger Institute . 2016.
  4. ↑ Max Reger, curriculum vitae . Max Reger Institute . 2016.
  5. ↑ a b Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue in E minor Op. 127 / for organ . Max Reger Institute . 2016.
  6. ^ Andrew Clements: Reger: Introduction, Variations and Fugue; etc - review ( English ) 2013. Accessed December 10, 2018th
  7. ^ Richard Hörnicke: Organ Winter Games in St.Bonifatius opened with Reger's "Fantasy and Fugue on BACH" . 2015. Accessed December 10, 2018.
  8. ^ David Goode: Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue in E minor, Op 127 ( English ) Hyperion Records . 2013. Accessed December 10, 2018.
  9. ↑ Music autographs ( English ) Max Reger Institute . 2016.
  10. ↑ Chris Dawes: Theatricality in Healey Willan's Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue for organ (1916) ( English ) 2005. Accessed December 10, 2018.