Requiem (Reger)

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The Requiem op.144b by Max Reger , also known as Hebbel Requiem , is a setting of Friedrich Hebbel's poem Requiem . Reger wrote the work in 1915 for alto (or baritone ), choir and orchestra. It is Reger's last completed choral work.

As early as 1912 he had written a requiem for male choir on the same text to conclude his Op. 83 . He had started to set the liturgical Latin Requiem to music in 1914 , but the work remained unfinished and was later given the name Latin Requiem op.145a.

history

Already Brahms had A German Requiem composed, and not the rest of the dead did not liturgically on Latin treated but the lyrics Luther Bible sets based. In the work which as Reger Requiem (op. 144b) is known, this is also set to music non-Latin Requiem , but a poem "Requiem" of the dramatist Friedrich Hebbel , which begins with the words: "soul, they do not forget, / soul , don't forget the dead. ”In 1863, in response to the poet's death, Peter Cornelius composed a requiem motet for six-part choir for this poem. Reger wrote his first sentence on the poem in Meiningen in 1912 , where he had been the court music director of Duke Georg II of Saxony-Meiningen from 1911 . Under the title Requiem , it formed the conclusion of his Ten Songs for Male Choir, Op. 83. After the outbreak of war in 1914, he began to set the Latin Requiem to music, which he wanted to dedicate to the soldiers who died in the war. However, he only composed a Kyrie and a fragment of the Dies Irae . The Kyrie was later referred to as the Latin Requiem op.145a. Fritz Stein , Reger's friend and biographer, premiered it in Berlin in 1938.

Two chants for mixed choir with orchestra , first page of No.2) Requiem

In 1915, a year before his death, Reger moved to Jena and set the poem to music again, this time for solo voice (alto or baritone), choir and orchestra. The Requiem op.144b was combined with Der Einsiedler op.144a, based on words by Joseph von Eichendorff, to create two songs for mixed choir with orchestra op.144. Reger wrote as a dedication: "In memory of the German heroes who died in the war."

The Requiem was first performed on July 16, 1916, after the composer's death. The work was first published by N. Simrock in 1916 and in 1928 by Edition Peters . The duration of the performance is given as 18 minutes.

poem

The title of Hebbel's poem “Requiem” alludes to Requiem aeternam (eternal rest), the beginning of the funeral mass . Hebbel also writes about rest for the dead, but in a different sense. In the first lines “Soul, don't forget it / Soul, don't forget the dead” the speaker addresses his own soul and exhorts it not to forget the dead. The address to the soul is reminiscent of some psalms , such as Psalm 103: “Praise the Lord, my soul.” The opening lines are repeated in the middle and at the end of the poem. The first section framed in this way describes the dead souls as "floating around", "shuddering, abandoned" and depicts how they, nourished by love, enjoy their dying life one last time. The second section describes what happens when they are forgotten: first they freeze, then they are seized by the storm of the night.

music

Reger's Requiem consists of a sentence, which takes up the structure of the poem in different sections:

A soul, don't forget it
B See, they're floating around you
C And in the holy gluten
A ' soul, don't forget it
B ' See, they are floating around you
D And when you close yourself to them when you get cold
E Then she grabs the storm the night
A '' soul, don't forget it

The key is D minor as in Mozart's Requiem . The tempo of the 4/4 time is Molto sostenuto , constant with small fluctuations through stringendo / ritardando up to the most dramatic passage E, which is headed Più mosso (moving) and later Allegro . In the final part the starting tempo is resumed.

The short instrumental introduction develops over an organ point that recalls the introductions to Bach's St. John and St. Matthew Passions . In a pattern that resembles the beginning of Ein deutsches Requiem , the bass notes are repeated evenly, here on the low D, lower than the E flat at the beginning of Wagner's Rheingold . In his handwriting, Reger wrote out the many necessary auxiliary lines (instead of octaving), perhaps to emphasize the depth. The solo part alone sings the intimate call (A) “Soul, don't forget it”, a simple chorale-like melody, and repeats the words of the first line after the second. The solo part only sings this warning throughout the piece. The eight-part choir describes the floating through mostly homophonic chords, called ppp . In C the choir is composed of four to six voices in more independent movement. In A 'the solo part sings similarly to the first time, but it also repeats the second line while the choir is already singing B'. In D the choir literally “freezes” on a dissonant five-part fortissimo chord . In great contrast, the storm is shown dramatically in E through the rapid sequence of action of a moving subject in triplets . The final part begins again with the solo part, but then the choir also sings the call. The solo part changes the words slightly: “Don't forget them, the dead.” The choir repeats these words ( espressivo , dolcissimo) on the melody of the chorale O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden , of which Bach used five stanzas in his St. Matthew Passion. The first section is not repeated, only half a line is heard from the second. Reger is known for chant quotes in general and this in particular, mostly with reference to his last verse "When I should part". The quoted words would then be: “If I am to suffer death, then you stand for it. When I'm most afraid. "Reger finishes the chorale in his own way for the choir, while the solo part repeats:" Soul, don't forget the dead. "

Organ version

The Requiem requires a large romantic orchestra and a correspondingly large choir. Therefore it is rarely listed. In order to make the remarkable music more accessible, the Munich composer and organist Max Beckschäfer arranged the work for solo, choir and organ in 1985. The organ version was premiered in the Marktkirche Wiesbaden , where Reger had played the organ himself when he lived there from 1891. Gabriel Dessauer led a project choir that became known as the Reger Choir , Beckschäfer played the organ part. The choir, expanded by choirists from Belgium to the Reger-Chor-International, performed the work again in 2001 with the organist Ignace Michiels from the Sint-Salvatorskathedraal in Bruges , both in St. Bonifatius in Wiesbaden (live recording) and in the cathedral from Bruges up.

Recordings

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Friedrich Hebbel: "Requiem" . German poetry library. 2010. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  2. ↑ Requiem . The Lied and Art Song Texts Page. 2010. Archived from the original on October 5, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 13, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.recmusic.org
  3. ↑ Peter Cornelius (1824–1874) soul, don't forget it Requiem ( English ) musicweb-international.com. 2004. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
  4. ↑ Max Reger Chronology 1911 . Max Reger Institute. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 13, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www1.karlsruhe.de
  5. ↑ Max Reger: Requiem , Op. 83/10 ( English ) Boosey & Hawkes . 2010. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  6. ↑ Max Reger Chronology 1914 . Max Reger Institute. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 13, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www1.karlsruhe.de
  7. ↑ a b c Max Reger (1873–1916) Requiem op.144b / op. 145a / Dies irae ( English ) classics-glaucus. 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  8. ↑ Max Reger Chronology 1915 . Max Reger Institute. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 13, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www1.karlsruhe.de
  9. ^ Christian Katzschmann: Max Reger (1873–1916) Requiem op.144b (Hebbel) . musiktext.de. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 10, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musiktext.de
  10. ↑ Two chants for mixed choir with orchestra . The Moldenhauer Archives of the Library of Congress . Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  11. ↑ Requiem, song for alto or baritone, chorus & orchestra, Op. 144b ( English ) allmusic.com. 2010. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  12. ^ Max Reger works - vocal music . Max Reger Institute. Archived from the original on February 13, 2010. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 10, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www1.karlsruhe.de
  13. ↑ a b Requiem , Op. 144b ( English ) Edition Peters . 2010. Archived from the original on June 10, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 13, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.edition-peters.com
  14. ^ Reger, Max: Requiem , Op. 144b . Edition Peters. 2010. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 13, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.edition-peters.de
  15. ↑ Rolf Schönstedt : 7. Max Reger - The spiritual song as an organ song - a genre emerges . Herford University. 2002. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved on July 13, 2010: “In the 2nd part, the soprano quotes the original cf. O head full of blood and wounds , without repetition up to the first half line after the Stollen […] Reger always found the 9th verse Wenn for the epitome of this passion song I'm supposed to divorce [...], which appears to be proven from a quote from a letter to Arthur Seidl in 1913: 'Didn't you notice how the chorale rang through all of my things: When I'm supposed to divorce ?' " @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hochschule-herford.de
  16. ↑ Max Reger compositions . maxreger.de. 2010. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 10, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.maxreger.de
  17. ↑ Max Reger Chronology 1892 . Max Reger Institute. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 13, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www1.karlsruhe.de
  18. ↑ a b Richard Hoernicke: When friends make music . Wiesbadener Tagblatt. Archived from the original on March 2, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 12, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wiesbadener-tagblatt.de
  19. ↑ # 2 Gabriel Dessauer, Ignace Michiels ( French ) France Orgue. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  20. ^ Max Reger, Choir Pieces (1969) . Junge-kantorei.de. 2010. Archived from the original on April 22, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 10, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.junge-kantorei.de
  21. ↑ Reger. Requiem , Op. 144b ( English ) Gramophone. 1982. Accessed on July 10, 2010.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.gramophone.net  
  22. ^ Reger: Requiem ( English ) prestoclassical.co. 2010. Retrieved July 10, 2010.

Web links