|
|
|
|
|
Reger Max Reger was a German composer, born in Brand, Upper Palatinate on 19 March 1873 and died in Leipzig, 11 May 1916. He studied with Riemann (1890-95) in Munich and Wiesbaden; in 1901 he settled in Munich, and in 1907 he moved to Leipzig to take a post as professor of composition at the university, though he was also active internationally as a conductor and pianist. He was appointed conductor of the court orchestra at Meiningen in 1911 and in 1915 moved to Jena. During a composing life of little more than 20 years, he produced a large output in all genres, nearly always in abstract forms. He was a firm supporter of 'absolute' music and saw himself in a tradition going back to Bach, through Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms. His organ music, though also influenced by Liszt, was provoked by that tradition. Of his orchestral pieces, his symphonic and richly elaborate 'Hiller Variations and 'Mozart Variations are justly remembered; of his chamber music the lighter-textured trios have retained a place in the repertory, along with some of the works for solo string instruments. His late piano and two-piano music places him as a successor to Brahms in the central German tradition. He pursued intensively, and to its limits, Brahms's continuous development and free modulation, often also invoking, like Brahms, the aid of Bachian counterpoint: Many of his works are in variation and fugue forms; equally characteristic is a great energy and complexity of thematic growth. His most outstanding quote to a fierce critic who condemned his works was "I'm in the smallest room in my house, your review is before me and shortly after, it will be behind me." His works were not revolutionary and could be considered retrospective as they followed classical and baroque forms such as the fugue and continuo. The influence of the latter can be heard in his chamber works which are deeply reflective and unconventional. Reger, Max Reger, Max Reger, Max Reger, Max
|
 |
|
| Copyright 2005-2009 OnPedia.com. All Rights Reserved |
|
|