RWA Online Blog RWA Volume I/1 – Early reception of the chorale fantasias

RWA Volume I/1 – Early reception of the chorale fantasias

Alexander Becker, Stefan König, Christopher Grafschmidt, Stefanie Steiner-Grage

1.

Five of the seven chorale fantasias – “Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott” op. 27, “Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele!” op. 30, “Wie schön leucht’t uns der Morgenstern” op. 40 No. 1, “Alle Menschen müssen sterben” op. 52 No. 1 and “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme!” op. 52 No. 2 – were given their first performances between September 1898 and summer 1901 at Willibrordi Cathedral in Wesel by Karl Straube, some played from the manuscript. “Straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn!” op. 40 No. 2 was premiered by Otto Burkert in June 1900, just a month after the appearance of the first edition, in the Deutsches Haus in Brünn. The series of premieres was rounded off by Straube in November 1901 in the Kaim-Saal, Munich with “Halleluja! Gott zu loben, bleibe meine Seelenfreud’!” op. 52 No. 3.

Like Burkert, shortly after the publication of the works, other concert organists picked up on Reger’s organ music, widely perceived to be innovative; these included Karl Beringer (Ulm), Hermann Dettmer (Quakenbrück), Hermann Gruner (Falkenstein), Paul Gerhardt (Zwickau), Andreas Hofmeier (Brünn) und Willem Petri (Utrecht). Despite the technical and musical demands, which undoubtedly challenged many interpreters to their limits, a wide discussion of Reger’s organ works followed, not least also among the press; through letters of thanks to reviewers, dedications and the extensive sending out of scores, Reger constantly took the opportunity to promote his works.1 If the premieres in Wesel had only come to the notice of the regional press (see the reviews from the Generalanzeiger für Wesel and the Weseler Zeitung), then not only Straube’s Munich and Berlin concerts,2 but also his articles in the Monatschrift für Gottesdienst und kirchliche Kunst would have brought Reger’s work to the attention of a wider public. The received view of Reger’s organ works that was established over time saw them as a translation of the “Bachian spirit so to speak into the modern period” (review by Theodor Kroyer) and the description of the chorale fantasias as program music.3 In mid-1901 Friedrich L. Schnackenberg, the dedicatee of op. 52 No. 3, summarized in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik: “even if few of these compositions are performed in public […] – every organist who strives to be of above average ability has to get to know them.” (Review)

The attention which Reger’s organ works, and particularly the chorale fantasias, brought to the previously-unknown composer within a short period of time, should, according to Hermann Wilske, be understood against the background of the “declining state of organ music”, which made these works stand out “like a beacon”.4 For that reason, they were welcomed with real enthusiasm by critics in many quarters and where they met with a lack of understanding, were at least sympathetically received. There were efforts to reform church and organ music from other directions, and influential writers such as Heinrich Reimann in the Allgemeine Musik-Zeitung had long advocated a return to the organ style of Johann Sebastian Bach as a solution, however that was understood: “Beyond this style there is no salvation! […] Bach perfectly represents the criterion of our art of composing for the organ.” (Orgel-Sonaten. Kritische Gänge, part 4)5 In response to such expectations, Reger, who himself described his chorale fantasias as “well and truly founded on Bach” (Letter to Anton Gloetzner), readily offered an ideal canvas at this favorable point in time.

1
See, for example, in autumn 1899 alone the sixteen letters to Georg Göhler, Alexander Wilhelm Gottschalg, Caesar Hochstetter, Theodor Helm and Johannes Schober (Der junge Reger, p. 438f., 441f., 446f., 453, 454f., 456f., 459f., 465f., 468f., 470f., 471f., 472ff., 474ff., 479, 480 and 482).
2
For example the performances of the fantasias opp. 27 and 40 Nos. 1 and 2 in the Kaim-Saal Munich and opp. 27 and 52 No. 2 in the Garnisonkirche in Berlin in March and May 1901.
3
So in 1901 the Musikalisches Wochenblatt reported that op. 40 No. 1 “represents a kind of program music to four verses of the old hymn, and distinguishes itself through its originality of expression, through a striking compositional talent and through the scale of the conception” (-h., Berichte. Hildesheim, loc cit., 32. Jg. [1901], Vol. 5 [24 January], p. 63). In Siona. Monatsschrift für Liturgie und Kirchenmusik a reviewer at the same time comes to the conclusion that “as ‘absolute music’ without the aid of the ideas contained in the text, op. 30 does not offer sufficient clarity” and even suggested that the cantus firmus portions could be sung by various soloists and a mixed choir: “In the form we envisage, this noble composition promises certain great success and in church, would uplift the whole congregation to solemn worship.” (W. H., Kompositionen von Max Reger. op. 30. Phantasie für Orgel über den Choral “Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele.”, loc cit., Vol. 26. [1901], Vol. 2, p. 36).
4
Wilske 1995, p. 105.
5
See also Wolfgang Rathert, Kult und Kritik. Aspekte der Bach-Rezeption vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg, in Bach und die Nachwelt, ed. Michael Heinemann and Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen, vol. 3: 1900-1950, Laaber 2000, p. 23-61.
About this Blogpost

Authors:
Alexander Becker, Stefan König, Christopher Grafschmidt, Stefanie Steiner-Grage

Translations:
Elizabeth Robinson (en)

Date:
22nd February 2010

Tags:
Module IVol. I/1

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Citation

Alexander Becker, Stefan König, Christopher Grafschmidt, Stefanie Steiner-Grage: RWA Volume I/1 – Early reception of the chorale fantasias, in: Reger-Werkausgabe, www.reger-werkausgabe.de/rwa_post_00043, version 3.1.0-rc3, 20th December 2024.

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