' (''The Hermit'') Op. 144a, is a composition for baritone soloist, five-part choir and orchestra by Max Reger, written in 1915. The German text is a poem by

Joseph von Eichendorff Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (10 March 178826 November 1857) was a German poet, novelist, playwright, literary critic, translator, and anthologist. Eichendorff was one of the major writers and critics of Romanticism.Cf. J. A. Cuddon: ' ...

, beginning "" (Come, consolation of the world, you quiet night). The composition was published in 1916 after Reger's death by N. Simrock, combined with the '' Hebbel Requiem'', as ' (Two songs for mixed chorus with orchestra), .

History

Reger composed the work in

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

, dating it 15 July 1915, setting a poem by

. He dedicated it to the Bach-Verein Heidelberg and its founder and conductor Philipp Wolfrum, writing "dem hochverehrlichen 'Bach-Verein Heidelberg' und seinem ausgezeichneten Dirigenten Herrn Geheimrat, Generalmusikdirektor, Professor Dr. Philipp Wolfrum" (to the praise-worthy 'Bach-Verein Heidelberg' and its excellent conductor,

Geheimrat ''Geheimrat'' was the title of the highest advising officials at the Imperial, royal or princely courts of the Holy Roman Empire, who jointly formed the ''Geheimer Rat'' reporting to the ruler. The term remained in use during subsequent monarchic r ...

, Generalmusikdirektor, Professor Dr. Philipp Wolfrum). Reger sent two works to the publisher , ''Der Einsiedler'' and '' Hebbel Requiem''. He wrote to Simrock on : "I've finished two choral works (Der Einsiedler and Requiem). I think I can safely say that they're both among the most beautiful things I've ever written." ("Ich habe nun zwei Chorwerke (Der Einsiedler und Requiem) fertig. Ich glaube sagen zu dürfen, daß diese beiden Chorwerke mit das Schönste sind, was ich je geschrieben habe.") The two works were as ' (Two songs for mixed chorus with orchestra), . Reger himself had edited the piano version. The ''Hebbel Requiem'' was first performed in Heidelberg on 16 July 1916, after the composer's death, as part of a memorial concert for Reger, with Rolf Ligniez, the choirs Bachverein and Akademischer Gesangverein, and the enlarged Städtisches Orchester (Municipal orchestra), conducted by Philipp Wolfrum.

Lyrics

The German text is poem in three stanzas of six lines each by Joseph von Eichendorff. The poem was first published in 1837 in the anthology '' Deutscher Musenalmanach'' (German

Musen-Almanach A ''Musen-Almanach'' ("Muses' Almanac") was a kind of literary annual, popular in Germany from 1770 into the mid-19th century. They were modelled on the '' Almanach des Muses'' published in Paris from 1765. Development in the 1770s The first exam ...

). The first stanza is based on the "Lied des Einsiedlers" (The hermit's song) from Grimmelshausens's '' Der Abentheuerliche Simplizissimus Teutsch'' (1669). A solitary person, forgotten by the world, addresses the night as consolation, reflecting tiredness of day, desire and need, and expecting an eternal dawn. The poem was set to music by other composers, such as a ''Lied'' by Robert Schumann, Op. 83, No 3.

References

External links

*
Max Reger: Der 100. Psalm; Der Einsiedler; Requiem (Hebbel)

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Einsiedler, Der Motets Compositions by Max Reger 1915 compositions Adaptations of works by Joseph von Eichendorff