Program notes for The Works of Max Reger: An Organ Concert with Matthias Maierhofer

Nine Pieces for Organ, op. 129

Reger’s Nine Pieces for Organ were published in 1913, near the end of his life. Throughout his life, Reger was inspired by Baroque forms as well as those of his day. As such, he often wrote pieces that were highly polyphonic, in the vein of Bach’s fugues, but that were in the musical language of his time.

The Toccata is a flashy, virtuoso piece which counterintuitively ends very quietly, showing Reger’s tendency to feature drastic dynamic contrasts.. The Fuge exemplifies Reger’s complex polyphonic tastes, starting quietly as he often does and getting louder until the climax of the work. Canons are also common in Reger’s output, as they are related to fugues in their imitative qualities. Melodia is one of the more “Romantic” works in the collection, using complicated, chromatic harmonies underneath a luscious melody. Reger’s Capriccio is a quick piece based on repeated manual figurations with a melody in slower note values in the pedal. Similar to the opening Toccata, it begins loudly and ends quietly. The Basso Ostinato is built on another older Baroque form, the Passacaglia. Reger wrote many pieces in this style, using a repeated bass pattern throughout the entire work and varying the accompaniment in the manuals to add interest. The Intermezzo is another lyric piece in a vocal style. Finally, the Praeludium and Fuge form another contrasting set, where the sparkling, quick notes of the prelude contrast with the quiet, dolorous fugue which follows.

Trauerode

Trauerode, or “ode of grief” is the first of seven organ works contained in Reger’s Opus 145. This collection, published in three installments from 1915-16, was Reger’s last work for organ. The collection features works dedicated to war themes and to major Christian feast days such as Christmas and Easter.

Trauerode is dedicated to those who had fallen in the war from 1914 onwards. Reger, although Catholic, appreciated Lutheran chorales and used them in his works. Trauerode features the Lutheran chorale melody, “What God ordains is always good,” which is a major-mode hymn of trust. In a review of this work in 1916, the Süddeutsche Zeitung described the work as “a rhapsodic piece full of serious brooding questions and sounds of distress, which are balanced by the consoling and other-worldly music of the chorale.”

What God ordains is always good;
His will is just and holy.
As He directs my life for me,
I follow meek and lowly.
My God indeed in ev’ry need
Knows well how He will shield me;
To Him, then, I will yield me. ~ trans. TLH, 1941

Komm, Süßer Tod (1894)

This work is part of a collection of six chorale preludes for organ. As Reger often used forms and styles from the past, this piece takes on the guise of an ornamented chorale prelude such as Bach or Buxtehude would have composed. The right hand features a florid melodic line which heavily embellishes the melody of Bach’s work of the same title. This melody is almost unrecognizable with all of the added ornamentation, but the work still paints the text of the aria:

Come, sweet death, come blessed rest!
Come, lead me to peace,
For I am weary of the world.
Oh, come! I wait for you,
Come soon and lead me,
Close my eyes.
Come, blessed rest! ~ Trans. CPDL

Phantasie und Fuge, op. 135b

Reger’s Phantasie und Fuge dates from 1915. The Phantasie alternates soft and loud passages, exploring the dynamic range of the organ while building up dramatic tension. This work is noticeably more straightforward than the Toccata or Praeludium in his Nine Pieces, something Reger strove for in his later works.

The Fugue begins on very soft stops, contrasting with the grandiose ending of the Phantasie. As the work unfolds, the rhythm of the fugue increases from simple quarter notes to triplets, coinciding with an increase in volume. As the work builds towards its first climax, it continues to get louder and the note values again speed up to sixteenth note pulses, before resetting into lighter triplet theme. This theme is then combined with the original theme as the work builds into its second and final climax.

— Notes by David Preston