1. Weiden
In the winter of 1889/90 Reger eagerly pursues private studies and prepares for his studies with Hugo Riemann with the latter’s textbooks (including the solution of 1000 problems in the theory of harmony). The appointment of Riemann from Hamburg to the Sondershausen Conservatoire enables him to “do my studies with him” (letter from 28 December 1889 to August Grau).
2. Sondershausen
From April to July, Reger is Hugo Riemann’s student in music theory at the Princely Conservatoire in Sondershausen, where he immediately joins the counterpoint class; he also receives private piano lessons from Riemann. In Sondershausen he is intellectually and musically stimulated in a variety of ways, visisting all of the Loh concerts (named after the concert hall where they were performed, the Loh Hall near a former Loh forest), finds a friendly reception in the Riemann house and is systematically introduced to the works of Johannes Brahms and Johann Sebastian Bach. He joins forces with other Riemann students to form the Montsalvat knighthood (fig.), which becomes notorious for its pranks.
3. Wiesbaden
In Riemann’s entourage, Reger enters the Wiesbaden Conservatoire on 20 September as student no. 172 with the main subjects piano and music theory and is simultaneously made a teacher for piano and organ in order to finance his studies and to alleviate financial problems of the parents resulted by a piano purchase. Reger is invited for lunch and dinner by the Riemanns and spends almost his whole leisure time there, including the Christmas days.
Postal items from this year whose sender or addressee is Max Reger.
Images from the Max Reger Foto Gallery that originate from this year and have a direct reference to Max Reger.
Object reference
Max Reger Biography – 1890, in: Reger-Werkausgabe, www.reger-werkausgabe.de/bio_1890.html, version 3.1.0-rc3, 20th December 2024.
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