Max Reger

b. Brand, Bavaria, March 19, 1873
d. Leipzig, Germany, May 11, 1916

Biography

Born in Brand, Max Reger's family moved to Weider, Germay in 1874. He studied at the Realschiule, but his earliest training in harmonium and piano was from his father. He received organ lessons from Lindner.

In 1889 Reger received an acceptance letter from the great organ teacher Hugo Reinen at the Sonderhausen Conservatory, and in April of 1890 Reger left home to study with Reiner, even changing schools when Reiner left Sonderhausen for the Weisbaden Conservatore in April 1891.

Reger settled again in Weiden in 1896, and began composing. Five years passed before he started gaining recognition for his work. From 1905 to 1906 he worked additionally as a professor of counterpoint at Königliche Akademie der Tonkunst. In 1907 he was appointed music director at the University of Leipzig and conductor of the University Chorus St. Pauli. From 1911-1915 he was the Hofkappellmeister in Meininger.

Reger was the first German composer since J.S. Bach to devote so much of his compositional output to the organ. He believed strongly in absolute music, an ideal shared by Bach. Reger's pieces are incredibly pianistic and virtuosic, while still exploring the symphonic colors of the organ.

Points of Interest

He received an honorary doctorate at the University Jena in 1911.
The great organist Karl Straube continually challenged Reger to write him music that could not be played. Though Reger tried, Straube consistently thwarted his attempts, learning everything Reger set before him. (And now we organists are paying the price!)

Selected Works

7 chorale fantasias
70 small chorale preludes
Nine Pieces, Op. 129
Ten Pieces for Organ, Op. 69
Introduction, Passacaglia & Fugue in e minor
Numerous free works