Five Easy Preludes and Fugues op. 56
for organ
- No. 1 Präludium und Fuge E-Dur
- No. 2 Präludium und Fuge d-Moll
- No. 3 Präludium und Fuge G-Dur
- No. 4 Präludium und Fuge C-Dur
- No. 5 Präludium und Fuge h-Moll
Richard Braungart zu eigen.
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- -
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1.
| Reger-Werkausgabe | Bd. I/6: Orgelstücke II, S. 134–176. |
| Herausgeber | Alexander Becker, Christopher Grafschmidt, Stefan König, Stefanie Steiner-Grage. |
| Verlag | Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart; Verlagsnummer: CV 52.806. |
| Erscheinungsdatum | Oktober 2014. |
| Notensatz | Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart. |
| Copyright | 2014 by Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart and Max-Reger-Institut, Karlsruhe – CV 52.806. Vervielfältigungen jeglicher Art sind gesetzlich verboten. / Any unauthorized reproduction is prohibited by law. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. / All rights reserved. |
| ISMN | M-007-14353-4. |
| ISBN | 978-3-89948-211-9. |
1. Composition
When Reger changed to the publisher Lauterbach & Kuhn on 1 January 1903, he had, amongst other things, “promised Jos. Aibl Verlag in Munich an organ work op 56 […] NB. The works for Aibl & Hug were promised before we even knew each other!” (Letter dated 19 December 1902 to Lauterbach & Kuhn) However, he only found the necessary time for this “low-calibre organ work”1 in June: “I’ll tell you in advance that I am soon going to write 5 new Preludes and Fugues for Organ!” (Postcard to Walter Fischer) As the dedicatee Reger chose a good friend, the Munich writer Richard Braungart. By the end of the month he handed the completed manuscript over for printing.
2. Publication
Reger signed the coyright agreement on 30 June 1903. The lower opus number – Reger was working on Gesang der Verklärten op. 71 at the same time (see Kompositionsdaten) – can be explained by the fact that Jos. Aibl Verlag returned the Piano Quintet in C minor submitted as op. 56 in June 1901 (see coyright agreement), to Reger’s surprise in May 1902 (it subsequently appeared as op. 64 in November 1902 with C.F. Peters). As the Piano Quartet had already been paid for (and Reger therefore owed the publisher a work), the royalty receipt statement for the Five Easy Preludes and Fugues, which were given the now free opus number, was backdated to 30 June 1901.
The preparation of the work for print was evidently delayed, so that Reger could only begin working on the proofs at the beginning of 1904 and probably returned them during February.2 On 13 March he enquired: “When is op 56 coming?” 3 On 1 April he thanked the publisher for “such beautiful presentation” 4, and the dedicatee Richard Braungart received a copy the following day. (Postcard)
3.
Translation by Elizabeth Robinson.
1. Reception
Straight after the publication of the Five Easy Preludes and Fugues Reger had a copy sent to his friend Karl Straube: “[…] I hope this little work will please you; […] Op 56 should be regarded as a bridge which will probably pave the way to the true Reger for some organists.” 1 For reviewers, however, this private assessment of the work as of “lesser rank” was not evident in the music, at least in the sense that, according to Robert Frenzel, op. 56 was “particularly valuable” for liturgical use. Frenzel counted it, together with the Chorale Preludes op. 67, as amongst “the most poetic utterances of the latest organ literature” and held in high regard their “true German, powerful and contemplative spirit, which speaks to the sympathetic listener from these compositions” (review). For Alexander Wilhelm Gottschalg the “sparkling, spirited” Fugue from no. 2 “had no equal in the whole of organ literature” (review). But he did not agree with the level of difficulty suggested by Reger (“the present organ gems of an abundant creative fantasy are by no means that easy”), nor did the experienced Reger interpreter Otto Burkert, who listed op. 56 in his Führer durch die Orgelliteratur under the categories “medium difficulty” and “difficult” (see Recommendations).
2.
Translation by Elizabeth Robinson.
1. Stemma
2. Quellenbewertung
Der Edition liegt als Leitquelle der Erstdruck zugrunde. Als zusätzliche Quellen wurden die autographe Stichvorlage sowie der Entwurf herangezogen.
3. Sources
Object reference
Max Reger: Five Easy Preludes and Fugues op. 56, in: Reger-Werkausgabe, www.reger-werkausgabe.de/mri_work_00056.html, last check: 19th May 2024.
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