''Geistliche Gesänge'' (''Sacred songs''),
Op. 110, are three
motet
In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...
s 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, a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University Chu ...
. He composed them between 1909 and 1912:
* No. 1: Mein Odem ist schwach (My spirit is weak), 1909
* No. 2: Ach Herr, strafe mich nicht! (O Lord, chasten me not), 1910
* No. 3: O Tod, wie bitter bist du (O death, how bitter are you), 1912
Mein Odem ist schwach
Reger composed the first motet for an eight-part choir (
SSAATTBB) 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 26,000 (2024). in July 1909. He dedicated it "Dem Thomanerchor und seinem Dirigenten Gustav Schreck" (To the
Thomanerchor and its conductor
Gustav Schreck). The text is taken from the
Book of Job
The Book of Job (), or simply Job, is a book found in the Ketuvim ("Writings") section of the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Poetic Books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The language of the Book of Job, combining post-Babylonia ...
( ). The score and parts were printed in September that year by
Bote & Bock in Berlin, including a translation to English by Mrs. Bertram Shapleigh. The motet was first performed on 13 November 1909 by the Thomanerchor, conducted by Kurt Kranz.
Ach, Herr, strafe mich nicht
Reger composed the second motet for an eight-part choir (
SSAATTBB) in Leipzig and
Tegernsee
Tegernsee () is a Town#Germany, town in the Miesbach (district), Miesbach district of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the banks of Tegernsee (lake), Lake Tegernsee, which is 747 m (2,451 ft) AMSL, above sea level. A spa town, it is su ...
in July and August 1911. His dedication reads "Der Musikalischen Gesellschaft in Dortmund und ihrem Dirigenten Carl Holtschneider" (To the Musical Association in
Dortmund
Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...
and their conductor Carl Holtschneider). The text is taken from the
Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament.
The book is an anthology of B ...
. The score and parts were printed in October that year by Bote & Bock. The motet was first performed on 13 December 1913 in
Aachen
Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants.
Aachen is locat ...
by the Städtischer Gesangverein (Municipal Singing Association), conducted by
Fritz Busch.
O Tod, wie bitter bist du
Reger composed the third motet for a five-part choir (
SSATB) in Leipzig in July 1912. The text is taken from the Book
Ecclesiasticus
The Book of Sirach (), also known as The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, The Wisdom of Jesus son of Eleazar, or Ecclesiasticus (), is a Jewish literary work originally written in Biblical Hebrew. The longest extant wisdom book from antiqui ...
(''Jesus Sirach''). Reger dedicated the work to Lili Wach. The score and parts were printed in October that year by Bote & Bock in Berlin, supplying also an anonymous translation to English. The motet was first performed on 10 November 1912 by the church choir of St. Lukas in
Chemnitz
Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...
, conducted by Georg Stolz.
References
Bibliography
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External links
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Mein Odem ist schwach, Op. 110, No. 1 (Max Reger)ChoralWiki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geistliche Gesange
Motets by Max Reger