RWA Volume II/6 – Biographical context
Christopher Grafschmidt, Claudia Seidl
1.
When Wilhelm Berger, the conductor of the renowned Meiningen Court Orchestra (the “Hofkapelle”), died on 15 January 1911, Duke Georg II of Saxe-Meiningen toyed with the idea of dissolving the orchestra. However, unsolicited applications for the post of conductor soon began arriving, and when his “Oberhofmarschall” Leo von Schleinitz (the highest administrator of his court) also raised financial and strategic objections to the cancellation of the orchestra, Georg changed his mind.1 Max Reger was based in Leipzig at the time, but no longer saw a future for himself on that city’s music scene2 (except for the composition class he ran at the Royal Conservatory). He was not among the official applicants for the post in Meiningen, but a note from von Schleinitz survives in which he states that Reger “would accept the position if it were offered to him”.3 On 21 February 1911, Reger asked the Meiningen Orchestra’s former conductor Fritz Steinbach to intercede for him (Steinbach had conducted the first performance of Reger’s Serenade op. 95, his Symphonic Prologue op. 108 and also his Hiller Variations op. 100, the last of which was dedicated to him).4 Steinbach was also a referee for Fritz Stein and his own pupil Fritz Busch, but ultimately “still considered his [Reger’s] candidature to be the most worthwhile”.5 He did not believe that Reger “will stay longer than 5–6 years. But the Hofkapelle would undoubtedly be able to learn a great deal from him – he knows the classics, namely Bach + Brahms, like no one else. […] It would also be of great advantage to his own art if he were to direct such an orchestra + could make music to his heart’s content”. The Duke followed Steinbach’s advice. Reger accordingly took up his new post on 1 December 1911. Composing for orchestra now became the prime focus of his oeuvre.6
Reger’s plan was “to raise the Ducal Court Orchestra in Meiningen once more to the impressive heights that this orchestra had attained under H. v. Bülow and Fr. Steinbach”.7 This entailed concert tours that were as extensive as they were strenuous, and which sometimes kept him away from home for weeks on end. The hard-earned success he enjoyed with the orchestra had its downsides, however. Reger collapsed after a concert in Hagen on 28 February 1914, and this compelled him to conserve his energy and to rethink his working situation. Fritz Stein accompanied him to a health cure in the spa town of Merano, and noted in his diary: “He [Reger] is thoroughly fed up with Meiningen. He hates life at the Court, the Duke rejects all his requests for increasing the musicians’ salaries, expanding the orchestra, etc.,8 he has learned what he could in M. – an orchestral technique – but his activities there prevent him from composing and from giving concerts of his own that would bring in money: Meiningen is a terrible backwater, dull, and slavishly dependent on the court”.9 So Reger submitted his resignation on 6 April 1914. It is hardly surprising that when he decided to settle in the university city of Jena – another resolution made while in Merano – he felt it to be an act of liberation: “[…] the overexertion of the last 3 winters was so great that even my colossal constitution was unable to cope. […] [I] am moving to Jena at the end of September, because it is a very comfy journey by train from Jena to Leipzig, where I have retained my post. It is naturally a pleasure to be a free man again” (letter). He did not actually move, however, until March 1915.
The outbreak of the First World War was not the only event that proved detrimental to his new, delayed beginning. Abandoning his Latin Requiem WoO V/9 in late 1914 also depressed Reger, as a “deeply sad” Elsa Reger reported to Gretel Stein: “Max is completely downcast. But such melancholy moods also harbour unspeakable dangers in other respects” (letter of 16 December 1914). There was nevertheless little time to be depressed, because Reger’s concert calendar for the first three months of 1915 was full. It was only when he moved into his villa in Jena that a little peace was restored to his life, even if only for a short time. The next winter season would take its ultimate toll, with some 60 concerts and railway journeys between Munich, Königsberg (today Kaliningrad) and Amsterdam, all naturally undertaken under wartime conditions.
About this Blogpost
Authors:
Christopher Grafschmidt, Claudia Seidl
Translations:
Chris Walton (en)
Date:
20th September 2023
Tags:
Module IISongsVol. II/6
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Citation
Christopher Grafschmidt, Claudia Seidl: RWA Volume II/6 – Biographical context, in: Reger-Werkausgabe, www.reger-werkausgabe.de/rwa_post_00038, version 3.1.0-rc3, 20th December 2024.
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