Two sacred Songs WoO VII/30

for medium voice and organ

Content

No. 1 Wenn in bangen, trüben Stunden

Text: Novalis
No. 2 Heimweh

Text: Julius Sturm

Creation

Komponiert in Weiden, September/Oktober 1900

Status

–

Dedication

–

Performance medium

Middle voice; Organ

Work collection

Original work

Versions

1.

Reger-Werkausgabe	Bd. II/7: Vokalwerke mit Orgelbegleitung und weiteren Instrumenten, S. 16–21.
Herausgeber	Alexander Becker, Christopher Grafschmidt, Stefan König. Unter Mitarbeit von Dennis Ried und Stefanie Steiner-Grage.
Verlag	Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart; Verlagsnummer: CV 52.814.
Erscheinungsdatum	Mai 2019.
Notensatz	Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart.
Copyright	2019 by Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart and Max-Reger-Institut, Karlsruhe – CV 52.814. Vervielfältigungen jeglicher Art sind gesetzlich verboten. / Any unauthorized reproduction is prohibited by law. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. / All rights reserved.
ISMN	M-007-18850-4.
ISBN	978-3-89948-318-5.

No. 1

Werk

[Wenn in bangen trüben Stunden…]

by Novalis

No. 2

Werk

Heimweh

by Julius Sturm

1. Composition and Publication

The Two Sacred Songs, later described by Reger as “little occasional songs” (letter dated 29 January 1902 to Theodor Kroyer), were probably composed for a church concert on 14 October 1900 in the St. Marien Kirche in Zwickau, a concert which also included works by Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel (program). The organist there and dedicatee of Reger’s Chorale Fantasia “Straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn” op. 40 no. 2, Paul Gerhardt, had been in Weiden before with his colleague Richard Jung from Greiz in order to “meet Reger in person and to ask for first-hand information about the performance of technically complicated passages” ¹. The small delegation could also have included Reinhard Vollhardt as director of the church choir at St. Marien, and it must be assumed that the concert program for October was also discussed on this occasion.²

In addition to the engraver’s copy, an autograph made for Karl Straube has also been preserved.³ This contains a date of completion for no. 1 (Wenn in bangen, trüben Stunden) of 25 September 1900. While the last written engraver’s copy remained with Reger until 21 October 1900 and was submitted with opp. 49–53 to the publisher Jos. Aibl (see letter to Caesar Hochstetter), the premiere by Gerhardt and the Leipzig singer “Frl. Dudensing”⁴ probably took place from another manuscript that no longer exists. On 4 November Reger received the copyright agreement and signed the royalty receipt statement.

The preparation of works for print, which is not mentioned in Reger’s correspondence, extended until spring 1901. On 15 May Reger was able to send a first review copy to the Munich critic Theodor Kroyer (letter); in June he was also able to send copies of the new publication to Ernst Rabich, editor of the Blätter für Haus- und Kirchenmusik (see letter dated 5 June 1901), and Julius Smend, editor of the Monatschrift für Gottesdienst und kirchliche Kunst (see letter dated 10 June 1901).

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Composition and publication · Early reception

2.

Translation by Elizabeth Robinson.

Lindner 1938, p. 230.

Vollhardt also invited Reger to the church concert organised by him, then planned for 19 October. Reger made his attendance dependent “upon the health” of his mother Philomena, and ultimately did not travel to Zwickau (see correspondence to Vollhardt).

The autograph for Straube differs considerably from the engraver’s copy (see Kritischer Bericht). In particular it explicitly requires a three-manual organ – appropriate for the Sauer instrument in Wesel as well as for the Jehmlich instrument in Zwickau which had been enlarged shortly before. However, in the engraver’s copy the second manual is indicated in the musical text (with the third manual indicated in the footnote as a preferred alternative, where one was available).

In Leipzig concert reports of those years, the name of the Leipzig soprano “C. Dudensing” was sometimes mentioned. Possibly it is Clara Dudensing (cf. Leipzig telephone directory of 1899/1900 as the only female entry of this surname).

1. Reception

On 26 January 1902 Reger appeared in a concert in the newly-built Erlöserkirche in Munich as performer of his two Sacred Songs and accompanied the baritone Josef Loritz on the organ. Theodor Kroyer wrote appreciatively of this in the Munich Allgemeine Zeitung: “These are warm-blooded creations, of unusual power of declamation and design. They go, like all works by this tremendously gifted composer, virtually to the heart.” (Review) In his music review in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, Friedrich L. Schnackenberg was disturbed by the “ascetic, unworldly spirit in a young man […], who expresses the wealth of vitality through unremitting creative work.” (Review) He could only explain this characteristic in a biographical context, i.e. that of the illness which “laid Reger very low” – a reference to his physical-psychological crisis following his one-year voluntary military service in 1896/97¹.

–––––––––––––––––
Composition and publication · Early reception

2.

Translation by Elizabeth Robinson.

Reger had been released from military service in October 1897. Significant debts as a result of lack of income, alcohol problems, and an ulcer on his neck which had to be operated on twice led to a crisis which continued to get worse. In March 1898 he returned to Weiden from Wiesbaden, where he was able to recover and concentrate fully on his work.

This text is currently only available in German.

1. Stemma

Die in Klammern gesetzten Quellen sind verschollen.

2. Quellenbewertung

Der Edition liegt als Leitquelle der Erstdruck zugrunde. Als zusätzliche Quellen wurden die Zweitschrift sowie die Stichvorlage herangezogen.

3. Sources

Erstschrift(en)
Vermutliche Zweitschrift, wohl für Karl Straube
Stichvorlage
Erstdruck

Object reference

Max Reger: Two sacred Songs WoO VII/30, in: Reger-Werkausgabe, www.reger-werkausgabe.de/mri_work_00240.html, last check: 8th September 2024.

Information

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