''Eine romantische Suite'' (''A Romantic Suite''), Op. 125, is a suite for orchestra by

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 ...

, based on poems 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: '' ...

. Reger described this suite, composed and first performed in 1912, and the ''

Vier Tondichtungen nach A. Böcklin ''Vier Tondichtungen nach A. Böcklin'' (Four tone poems after Arnold Böcklin), Op. 128, is a composition in four parts for orchestra by Max Reger, based on four paintings by Arnold Böcklin, including ''Die Toteninsel'' ('' ''Isle of the Dead ...

'', Op. 128, as "Ausflug in das Gebiet der Programmusik" (Excursion in the realm of

program music Program music or programatic music is a type of instrumental art music that attempts to musically render an extramusical narrative. The narrative itself might be offered to the audience through the piece's title, or in the form of program note ...

History

Reger composed the suite 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).

during May and June 1912. He was director of music of the Hofkapelle there from 1911 to 1914, and wrote most of his compositions for orchestra during this time. He dedicated the work to Hugo Grüters. During composition time, Reger already offered the premiere to

Ernst von Schuch Ernst Edler von Schuch, born Ernst Gottfried Schuch (23 November 1846, Graz – 10 May 1914, Niederlößnitz/Radebeul Dresden) was an Austrian conductor who became famous through his working collaborations with Richard Strauss at the Dresden ...

, who had successfully conducted the premiere of ''

Der Rosenkavalier (''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel ''Les amours du chevalier de Faublas'' ...

'' in 1911, and who had a passion for contemporary music. Schuch programmed works by Regers regularly from 1906 for the Königliche musikalische Kapelle (Royal Chapel) in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, and had engaged Reger as the pianist for Bach's

Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 Johann Sebastian Bach wrote his fifth ''Brandenburg Concertos, Brandenburg Concerto'', BWV 1050.2 (formerly 1050), for harpsichord, flauto traverso, flute and violin as soloists, and an orchestral accompaniment consisting of string section, ...

in 1911. Reger dedicated his '' Lustspiel-Ouvertüre'', Op. 120, to the conductor in return. The score and parts of ''Eine romantische Suite'' were published 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 ...

in September 1912. The suite was first performed on 11 October 1912 in the first symphony concert of the Royal Chapel that season, conducted by

Arnold Schönberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

wrote in 1920 an arrangement of the suite for chamber ensemble. Reger's suite was published as part of his complete works in volume 4, orchestral works IV (''Sämtliche Werke, Band 4: Orchesterwerke IV'') by

Breitkopf & Härtel Breitkopf & Härtel is the world's oldest music publishing house. The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf. The catalogue currently contains over 1,000 composers, 8,000 works and 15,000 music editions or books on ...

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

in 1962.

Structure and scoring

The suite is structured in three movements, with two slow movements framing a vivid

scherzo A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often ref ...

. # Notturno (Molto sostenuto) # Scherzo (Vivace) # Finale (Molto sostenuto) The three movements correspond to three poems by

, "Nachtzauber" (Night magic), "Elfe" (Fairy) and "Adler" (Eagle). While Reger originally wanted to name the movements as the poems, he thought about similar titles ("Mondnacht", "Elfentanz" and "Helios") but finally chose neutral titles. Reger scored the work for a symphonic orchestra of three flutes, two oboes, cor Anglais, two clarinets, two bassoons, three trumpets, four horns, three trombones, tuba, harp, three timpani, cymbal and strings.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Romantische Suite, Eine Suites (music) Compositions by Max Reger Adaptations of works by Joseph von Eichendorff