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Reger's parallel settings with Richard Strauss

Stefan König, Dennis Ried

1.

One aspect that reviewers focused on in particular was a comparison of Reger’s songs with those of Richard Strauss. Reviewing a concert in Heidelberg at the end of 1899, a reviewer compared Reger’s Traum durch die Dämmerung with a setting of the same text by Strauss; in his opinion, Reger’s “surpasses in its illustration of the words through idiosyncratic harmonisation, but in return forfeits easier comprehensibility”. (Review by H. N.) Karl Straube distinguished Reger’s song output “in the strongest possible terms from Richard Strauß.” (Article “Max Reger”, in , p. 177) Comparing the two settings of Glückes genug he wrote: “Whereas the first [Strauss] pursues the meaning of the individual verses and gives a musically detailed portrayal of the poetic subject, the other [Reger] envelops everything in the scent and shimmer of an unvarying, floating accompanying motif, over which the voice drifts by with the peacefully written melodic line of its song.” (Ibid., p. 178)

Reger had provoked comparisons of this kind “with unmistakable calculation” 1 by setting 13 poems which Strauss had previously set to music. Six were composed in his period in Weiden, but were written with a view to performances in the musical center of Munich: Traum durch die Dämmerung op. 35 no. 3, Glückes genug op. 37 no. 3, Meinem Kinde op. 43 no. 3, Leise Lieder op. 48 no. 2, Träume, träume, du mein süßes Leben op. 51 no. 3 and Nachtgang op. 51 no. 7; a further seven followed during his time in Munich.2 In the case of Wiegenlied by Dehmel, Reger’s setting (op. 43 no. 5) preceded Strauss’s.

Reger’s study of Strauss’s song output served “to determine his own position and to find a personal song style”.3 It began with acquiring a practical familiarity through the arrangement of Ausgewählter Lieder von Richard Strauss für Klavier allein (RWV Strauss-B1). As early as March 1899 he had arranged the first six songs, commissioned by the publisher Jos. Aibl, to whom Strauss had recommended the young composer a year earlier (see Biographical context). He then used four of the texts for his own song settings: , and , as well as Morgen op. 66 no. 10. At the end of 1903 the publisher commissioned him to arrange a further six Strauss songs, including to the poem by Bierbaum, which Reger had already set as part of his op. 51.4

Reger’s parallel settings with those by Strauss show “the receptive and at the same time independent Reger” in the sense of a “homage as rivalry”.5 In contrast to the powerful “Podiumslied”6 by his famous contemporary they are “music for the small chamber music hall, not for a large auditorium” 7.

1
Susanne Popp, “Der Provokateur – Max Reger und München”, in Facetten II. Kleine Studien – Edition und Interpretation bei Chopin – Die Münchner Schule und Max Reger, ed. Claus Bockmaier, Munich 2016 (= Musikwissenschaftliche Schriften der Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, Vol. 10), pp. 161–178; here: p. 161.
2
Waldseligkeit op. 62 no. 2, Ich schwebe op. 62 no. 14, Freundliche Vision op. 66 no. 2, Morgen op. 66 no. 10, All mein Gedanken op. 75 no. 9, Hat gesagt – bleibt’s nicht dabei op. 75 no. 12 and Du meines Herzens Krönelein op. 76 no. 1. – In the case of Waldseligkeit, however, it seems unlikely that Reger knew the song by Strauss. Reger’s composition was written in December 1901, whereas Strauss’s was first published in 1902.
3
“Einführung”, in Max Reger. Blick in die Lieder. Ausgewählte Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Klavierbegleitung, ed. Susanne Popp, Stuttgart 1996, p. VI.
4
In the case of All mein Gedanken and Du meines Herzens Krönelein Reger made both an arrangement and a setting of his own.
5
Wolfram Steinbeck, “Hommage als Wettstreit. Regers Lieder nach Strauss”, in Reger-Studien 6. Musikalische Moderne und Tradition. Internationaler Reger-Kongress Karlsruhe 1998, ed. Alexander Becker, Gabriele Gefäller and Susanne Popp, Wiesbaden 2000 (= Schriftenreihe des Max-Reger-Instituts, Vol. XIII), pp. 213–234; citations p. 213 and 233. – Of the numerous analyses of the parallel settings, as well as Steinbeck’s essay, two newer publications are listed: Christian Schaper, “Parallelvertonung oder Gegenlied? Über Strauss’ und Regers Nachtgang und die Aporien des Liedvergleichs”, in Reger-Studien 10, pp. 201–222 and Jürgen Schaarwächter, “Strauss und die Komponisten seiner Zeit”, in Richard Strauss Handbuch, ed. Walter Werbeck, Stuttgart etc. 2014, pp. 512–530, especially pp. 523–526.
6
Werner Oehlmann, “Richard Strauss”, in Reclams Liedführer, ed. Axel Bauni et al, Stuttgart 2008, pp. 630–637; here: p. 630.
7
Thomas Seedorf, “Max Reger und die deutsche Liedkultur der Jahrhundertwende”, in Reger-Studien 10, pp. 13–28; here: p. 26.
About this Blogpost

Authors:
Stefan König, Dennis Ried

Translations:
Elizabeth Robinson (en)

Date:
18th October 2021

Tags:
Module IISongsVol. II/2

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Citation

Stefan König, Dennis Ried: Reger's parallel settings with Richard Strauss, in: Reger-Werkausgabe, www.reger-werkausgabe.de/rwa_post_00024, version 3.1.0-rc3, 20th December 2024.

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