RWA Volume II/1 – Biographical context
Alexander Becker, Stefan König, Christopher Grafschmidt, Stefanie Steiner-Grage
1.
The strong impressions which Reger acquired on a visit in August 1888 to the Bayreuth Festival, made possible by his uncle Johann Baptist Ulrich (Parsifal conducted by Felix Mottl, Meistersinger by Hans Richter), triggered the desire in the 15-year-old to become a musician. An Overture in B minor (WoO I/1) composed shortly afterwards was sent by his teacher Adalbert Lindner to Hugo Riemann for assessment. He recognized Reger’s talent, but found: “Bayreuth is poison for him.” (letter by Riemann dated 26 November 1888 to Lindner) A String Quartet in D minor (WoO II/2) and a Largo in D major for piano trio (WoO II/3), favorably assessed by Riemann, were also presented to Josef Rheinberger in summer 1889, who recognised in these works “sufficient talent, despite their immaturity [for Reger] to devote himself to a musical career” 1. This contributed to Reger being able to pursue his preferred choice of career (letter dated 3 September 1889 to Riemann), and in April 1890 he began studies with Riemann at Sondershausen in Thuringia, where he experienced many musical stimuli. He found a warm welcome in the Riemann family, but Reger’s (later) fondness for alcohol led to conflicts, in particular with Elisabeth Riemann. In September, Reger followed his teacher to the Wiesbaden Conservatoire where, alongside his studies, he was engaged as a teacher of piano and organ. His compositions were now influenced by the music of Johannes Brahms, whom Riemann regarded highly.
Riemann recommended his student to the English publisher George Augener, who signed a seven-year contract with Reger. In 1893 Reger’s works appeared for the first time in print (including the Songs op. 4). After completing his studies, Reger remained at the Conservatoire as a lecturer and also taught the piano privately. As a teacher, he visited families including the Bagenski family, where in summer 1893 he met Elsa von Bercken, his future wife. In the Allgemeinen Musik-Zeitung a first article appeared about his compositions, written by Heinrich Reimann. Reger increasingly distanced himself from Riemann’s influence, and subsequently also from that of Brahms. On 14 February 1894 the first concert exclusively devoted to Reger’s works took place, with the composer’s involvement, in the Sing-Akademie Berlin, and included songs. However, artistic success continued to elude him and this, coupled with private problems (see Opus 15), led to a crisis. Reacting explosively to articles in the press, in autumn Reger drew new motivation from Arthur Smolian’s favorable introduction to his first works in Musikalisches Wochenblatt 2. Hugo Riemann described him in the 4th edition of his Musik-Lexikon as a “rich, very promising compositional talent” 3. In April 1895 Reger made contact with Ferruccio Busoni and exchanged arrangements and original compositions with him. The following year he met Richard Strauss and corresponded with Johannes Brahms, promising to dedicate his (now missing) Symphony WoO I/5 to him.
In October 1896 Reger began his military service as a one-year volunteer, which flung him into deep difficulties both financially and personally: “One loses the will to live. And this is how it will be year-in, year-out. No, I am not losing heart; I live and die for my holy, sacrosanct art – and if I find no recognition, I should simp-ly be buried thus.” (letter dated 19 December 1896 to August Doering) In order to help him find additional sources of income, in summer 1897 Richard Strauss recommended Reger “(organ and piano composer, very competent) as a skillful arranger” 4 to Eugen Spitzweg, the co-owner of the publisher Jos. Aibl in Munich.
Deeply in debt and in very poor health, Reger was released from military service on 1 October. Various piano works remained unprinted by Augener and were only published years later. At the beginning of 1898 Reger applied for music director positions in Heidelberg and Bonn, but without success. In mid-June Emma Reger succeeded in getting her unkempt, alcohol and cigarette-addicted brother back to the family home.
The isolation in Weiden improved Reger’s artistic productivity. Above all, as a major interpreter of Reger’s organ works, Karl Straube helped to bring them to public notice. And for the first time for four years, a detailed article appeared about him with a photograph and résumé of his career,5 written by the Wiesbaden Conservatoire lecturer and critic Caesar Hochstetter, with whom Reger remained in contact. After his split from Augener, in Aibl Reger ultimately found a new principal publisher for the following years. He maintained contact with the Bagenski family and brought pleasure to Elsa, who was languishing with her husband “in the icy wastes on the Russian border”, by dedicating the Wiegenlied WoO VII/19 to her. When she returned to Wiesbaden in August 1898, Reger was already in Weiden and she “missed making music with him endlessly”.6
About this Blogpost
Authors:
Alexander Becker, Stefan König, Christopher Grafschmidt, Stefanie Steiner-Grage
Translations:
Elizabeth Robinson (en)
Date:
30th June 2017
Tags:
Module IISongsVol. II/1
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Citation
Alexander Becker, Stefan König, Christopher Grafschmidt, Stefanie Steiner-Grage: RWA Volume II/1 – Biographical context, in: Reger-Werkausgabe, www.reger-werkausgabe.de/rwa_post_00033, version 3.1.0-rc3, 20th December 2024.
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