Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue (german: Introduction, Passacaglia und Fuge) in

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: : Changes needed ...

, Op. 127, is an extended composition for

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...

, composed in 1913 and dedicated to

Karl Straube Montgomery Rufus Karl Siegfried Straube (6 January 1873 – 27 April 1950) was a German church musician, organist, and choral conducting, conductor, famous above all for championing the abundant organ music of Max Reger. Career Born in Berlin, ...

who played the premiere in Breslau on 24 September. It was published in November that year in Berlin by

Bote & Bock Bote & Bock is a German publishing house founded in Berlin in 1838 by Eduard Bote and Gustav Bock (1813-1863). The first Gustav Bock was a musically gifted publisher with an eye for opera. Eduard Bote withdrew from the business in 1847, after the ...

History

Reger composed the work in

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 25,000 (2021).

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

, Germany in April and May 1913. He wrote the organ piece with the intent for it to be performed for organ concerts, rather than for church services, called "in grand style" ("ganz großen Stils"). Reger composed the work on a commission for the opening celebrations of a new concert hall in Breslau, the

Centennial Hall Centennial Hall (german: Jahrhunderthalle) may refer to: in Canada * Centennial Hall (London, Ontario), London, Ontario, Canada * Centennial Concert Hall, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada * Saskatoon Centennial Auditorium, former name of TCU Place in ...

(''Jahrhunderthalle''). Reger revived organ concert music which had become unfashionable. In

, he had an organist and friend who was able to play technically difficult music, and to influence the composition. The markings for expression are believed to have been influenced by Straube. Reger dedicated the work to Straube who played the first performance in Breslau on 24 September 1913. The composition was published in November 2013 in Berlin by Ed. Bote & G. Bock.

Music

The work is structured in three sections, the introduction, a

passacaglia The passacaglia (; ) is a musical form that originated in early seventeenth-century Spain and is still used today by composers. It is usually of a serious character and is often based on a bass-ostinato and written in triple metre. Origin The ter ...

with 26 variations, and a

double fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...

. The variations build in intensity towards the fugue. The organist David Goode wrote that the introduction begins with dense chromaticism and flourishing figuration. The passacaglia is based on a

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...

which uses eleven of the twelve notes of the chromatic scale. 26 variations are grouped in the sections: a first, intensifying speed and texture, a second as a meditative centre, and a third, again intensifying towards the fugue. He notes Reger's "effective control of pace and excitement".

Manuscript and edition

The Max-Reger-Institute holds Reger's manuscript of the work which was intended for the engraver. *

Legacy

The Canadian composer

Healey Willan James Healey Willan (12 October 1880 – 16 February 1968) was an Anglo-Canadian organist and composer. He composed more than 800 works including operas, symphonies, chamber music, a concerto, and pieces for band, orchestra, organ, and ...

heard the work, played by his friend Dalton Baker. When Baker said "that such a work could only have been composed by a 'German philosophical mind'" Willan was challenged to write a composition of the same structure, completed in 1916.

References

Bibliography

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External links

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Max Reger / Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue for organ in E minor, Op. 127

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Max Reger (1873-1916) / Organ Works

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{{Authority control Compositions for organ 1913 compositions Compositions by Max Reger Compositions in E minor