RWA Volume I/2 – Fantasias and Fugues, Variations, Sonatas, Suites I; The conception of the works
Alexander Becker, Stefan König, Christopher Grafschmidt, Stefanie Steiner-Grage
1. Opus 16
The beginning of the composition of the Suite in E minor op. 16 coincided with the publication of Heinrich Reimann’s series of articles , a detailed retrospective of organ sonatas written since Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s op. 65, and was intently studied by Reger. In a letter to the publisher Augener, Reger made explicit reference to this series of articles by announcing that he would “not [write] in the style of Best, Widor, Guilmant, who […] Dr. Reimann […] subjected to a rather devastating critique”. Reimann’s articles contained, among other things, examples of those flexible and varied conceptions of form of the accessible idea of the organ sonata also used by Reger. These, depending on the instrument, represented “everything but the sonata form in the well-known idiom of Haydn-Mozart-Beethoven” (see Reimann, p. 517). Reger’s dedication, rich in associations, of his op. 16, finally entitled Suite, to the “spirit of Joh. Seb. Bach” seems to refer both to the repertoire of forms and (particularly) to a “romantically understood deep layer of composing”.1 In accord with the ideals of the time held in many quarters, Reger wrote his first major organ work with the claim of achieving the further development of compositional technique through intensive study of the works of Bach. He wrote to Hugo Riemann: “As your pupil I won’t bring you any disrepute. In return you must get to know my Organ Suite (with Passacaglia). (In his, Bach varied the theme 21 x – I’ve done 32 x)” (letter)2.
Reger could find structural starting points from the recent past for his work in Johannes Brahms’s famous Passacaglia finale from his fourth symphony, in Josef Rheinberger’s organ sonatas, and other works.3 In addition, in the slow movement, he quoted chorales which are highlighted through the compositional techniques: in the beginning and closing sections, the chorale “Es ist das Heil uns kommen her” is elaborated; in the middle section the fugal first verse of “Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu Dir” is followed as an answer in recitative style by the chorale “O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden”, often named after its penultimate verse “Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden”. Certain orthographical peculiarities4 in op. 16, scarcely found in Reger’s later organ works, also distinguish this as a work which should be regarded separately from the group of Weiden works. In a letter dated February 1909 Reger recommended the organist Karl Breidenstein to play the original four movement Suite thus: “Introduction (to the 1st movement) then finish immediately with the Passacaglia.”
2. Opus 29
In the Fantasia and Fugue in C minor op. 29, for the first time, Reger tried out the interrelated sequence of fantasia and fugue in his organ works, which frequently returns from then onwards as “a polarity in Reger’s compositions”.5 In a contemporary review, Karl Straube endeavored to make a comparison with Bach’s Fantasia and Fugue in G minor BWV 542, to which Reger’s friend and biographer Adalbert Lindner, among others, later referred.6 Although the freely-composed op. 29 differed conceptionally from the Chorale Fantasias op. 27 and 30, Reger saw no distinction on a stylistic level between these works; indeed all three were united by the same artistic claim. To Hugo Riemann he even explained their very close relationship to each other: “inexorable logic of composition, the soundness of the part writing, the deliberate avoidance of all so-called lyrical, i.e. often for the most part sentimental moments; never a playing with the sound effects of the different registers, but a purposeful true composing for organ. I have now attempted to employ this style in my opp. 27, 29, 30” (Letter).
3. Opus 33
Reger repeatedly described the 1st Sonata in F sharp minor op. 33 as his “excursion into the romantic!” (Letter to Gustav Beckmann, as well as letters to Alexander Wilhelm Gottschalg and Josef Rheinberger) In his shaping of the work he also relied on “the pure organ-like forms”.7 A definition of the genre via the classical-romantic sonata form remained, on the other hand, out of the question: “The title is only a collective title here” he let Arthur Egidi know on completion of the work (Letter).8 The “collective title” may at the same time also suggest the overarching connections between movements which differentiate Reger’s works from, for example, the suite-type arrangement of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s organ sonatas.9 Reger built his cyclical cross-references above all from the center of the work: in the central part of the Intermezzo the main theme of the Fantasia returns and a passage from the Passacaglia is anticipated, more in terms of gesture than as a motif.10 Furthermore analogies between the main theme of the opening movement and the passacaglia theme reveal the uniformity of the basic musical ideas. Reger defended the tonal language of his op. 33 to Josef Rheinberger: “It is really difficult to make the work ‘enjoyable’ and it takes a very brilliant organist to achieve this.” (Letter to Josef Rheinberger)
4. WoO IV/6
In this occasional work which Alexander W. Gottschalg, editor of the organ periodical Urania, categorized as “witty, but difficult” (review), Reger combined the movement types of introduction and passacaglia for the first time. Although he had already preceded the fugue in the first movement of op. 16 with an introduction and written a passacaglia as the final movement, the works which may have inspired him to try this combination were the recently completed Chorale Fantasia op. 40 no. 1, which begins with an introduction similar in scope to the one in WoO IV/6, and the 1st Sonata in F sharp minor op. 33, composed in spring, with its concluding passacaglia. In the Monologe op. 63 written a year later, Reger also had these two movements follow each other in succession. In his large-scale works, he only returned to this combination twice more – in op. 96 (for two pianos) and 127 – but each time in combination with a fugue as the third movement.
5. Opus 46
Compositions on the alphabetic names of the notes B-A-C-H had a long tradition, particularly in organ music. Notable examples from the 19th century are the Six Fugues on the name BACH op. 60 for organ or pedal piano by Robert Schumann, the Prelude and Fugue on the name BACH (S 260) for organ by Franz Liszt and the comparatively small-scale fugue on B-A-C-H from Zwölf Fughetten strengen Stils für die Orgel op. 123a by Josef Rheinberger.
Reger admitted to the Regensburg church musician Joseph Renner that with op. 46 he had “gone to the furthest frontiers of harmonic and technical ‘possibilities’” (Letter) in the work. In his fugue Reger employed metronome markings for the first time in his organ works; they give an “approximate idea of the gradual acceleration of the tempo”.
6. WoO IV/7
Reger had already composed variation movements in his Piano Trio op. 2 (1891) and the Piano Quintet in C minor WoO II/9 (1897/98), which was not published during his lifetime, however, until then he had not composed such a movement with a concluding fugue. He returned to the sequence of introduction–theme–variations–fugue, first attempted in WoO IV/7, two years later in his op. 73, admittedly in a grander style. The basic combination of variations and fugue played a major role in Reger’s later oeuvre, particularly in the piano and orchestral music.
7. Opus 57
Not until 1904 Reger referred to an extra-musical connection which was to explain the work: “Op. 57 is inspired by Dante’s ‘Inferno!’ That should probably tell you everything worth knowing; op. 57 is probably the most difficult of my organ works to date. I can’t say anything more about it, as it goes against the grain for me to provide ‘programs’ to my things!”. (Card to Gustav Beckmann.) Reger stated his views to Roderich von Mojsisovics more precisely, which the latter published in an analysis of the work in 1906: “As the composer was kind enough to explain to me, his stimulus only relates to the c h a r a c t e r of the work. […] ‘No special scenery, rather the general emotional content’ Reger wrote further; in other words, we have a similar phenomenon here to his chorale fantasias; where, likewise, the meaning of the emotion of the verses is recast into musical mood pictures.” (Review)
During the writing of the Symphonic Fantasia in Weiden – and probably also afterwards – he kept to himself the stimulus he received from Dante’s depiction of the inferno. Thus Adalbert Lindner reported that Reger had “borrowed Dante’s poem from my library during the last years of his stay in Weiden […]. But I don’t remember him ever saying that Dante’s work had given him stimulus here”.11 Only after a controversial performance of the work at the Tonkünstlerfest of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Musikverein in Basel in 1903 could people “still learn, as a s u b s e q u e n t explanation and justification, as it were […] how this work was written by the composer on the motto ‘Inferno’!” (Review)12 The assumption of the report’s writer Arthur Seidl, that the giving of the “motto” was to “justify” the work may have been correct. Even at the first performance of the work in February 1902 in Berlin, op. 57 received some very negative reviews. Evidently – and not without reason – Reger feared that there might be a repetition of this in Basel (see Early reception).
About this Blogpost
Authors:
Alexander Becker, Stefan König, Christopher Grafschmidt, Stefanie Steiner-Grage
Translations:
Elizabeth Robinson (en)
Date:
15th December 2011
Tags:
Module IVol. I/2
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Citation
Alexander Becker, Stefan König, Christopher Grafschmidt, Stefanie Steiner-Grage: RWA Volume I/2 – Fantasias and Fugues, Variations, Sonatas, Suites I; The conception of the works, in: Reger-Werkausgabe, www.reger-werkausgabe.de/rwa_post_00046, version 3.1.0-rc3, 20th December 2024.
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