Leicht ausführbare Kompositionen zum gottesdienstlichen Gebrauch op. 61
Six Mourning Songs op. 61g
Funeral Songs for mixed voice unaccompanied choir
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No. 1 [Du hast geduldet…]
Text: Ludwig Ferdinand Noack
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No. 2 [Weinend still blick hinab…]
Text: Hermann Schaffer
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No. 3 [Wie sie so sanft ruhn…]
Text: unknown
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No. 4 [Über den Sternen…]
Text: Ida Gräfin von Hahn-Hahn
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No. 5 [Da unten ist Frieden…]
Text: Carl Sauppe
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No. 6 [Trauernd senken wir die Hülle nieder…]
Text: unknown
- Leicht ausführbare Kompositionen zum gottesdienstlichen
Gebrauch op. 61
Other parts:- Eight “Tantum ergo” op. 61a for four- or five-part mixed voice unaccompanied choir
- Four “Tantum ergo” op. 61b for sprano, alto (or tenor, bass) and organ
- Four “Tantum ergo” op. 61c for mixed voice choir and organ
- Eight Marian Songs op. 61d for mixed voice unaccompanied choir
- Four Marian Songs op. 61e for soprano, alto (or tenor, bass) and organ
- Four Marian Songs op. 61f for mixed voice choir and organ
- –
- –
1.
| Reger-Werkausgabe | Bd. II/8: Werke für gemischten Chor a cappella I, S. 154–158. |
| Herausgeber | Alexander Becker, Christopher Grafschmidt, Stefan König, Stefanie Steiner-Grage. |
| Verlag | Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart; Verlagsnummer: CV 52.815. |
| Erscheinungsdatum | Juni 2018. |
| Notensatz | Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart. |
| Copyright | 2018 by Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart and Max-Reger-Institut, Karlsruhe – CV 52.815. Vervielfältigungen jeglicher Art sind gesetzlich verboten. / Any unauthorized reproduction is prohibited by law. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. / All rights reserved. |
| ISMN | M-007-18831-3. |
| ISBN | 978-3-89948-302-4. |
No. 1 [Du hast geduldet…]
unknown
No. 2 [Weinend still blick hinab…]
unknown
No. 3 [Wie sie so sanft ruhn…]
unknown
Used for comparison purposes in RWA: [Wie sie so sanft ruh’n…], in:
Erk’s Deutscher Liederschatz. Eine Auswahl der beliebtesten Volks-, Vaterlands-, Soldaten-, Jäger- und Studenten-Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, vol. 1, ed. by Ludwig Erk, Leipzig
Copy shown in RWA: DE, Karlsruhe, Max-Reger-Institut/Elsa-Reger-Stiftung.
Note: Erstausgabe unbekannt. Teilweise Übereinstimmung (Anfang der 1. und Schluss der 2. Strophe) mit August Cornelius Stockmann (1751–1821), “Der Gottesacker”.
Erschienen in: ders., Leipziger Musenalmanach auf das Jahr 1780, Leipzig, S. 214 (laut Ludwig Erk, Neue Sammlung deutscher Volkslieder, Berlin 1844, S. 95).
No. 4 [Über den Sternen…]
unknown
No. 5 [Da unten ist Frieden…]
Carl Sauppe: Die Ruhe des Grabes, in: Zeitung für die elegante Welt, 21. Jg. (1821), issue 220 (9th November 1821), Mainz, p. 1758.
[Possibly] Carl Sauppe: Frieden, Nr. 6, in:
Troubadour. Sammlung ausgewählter Chöre und Volkslieder […], 4th edition, ed. by August Reiser, P. J. Tonger’s Verlag, Köln
Copy shown in RWA: DE, Karlsruhe, Max-Reger-Institut/Elsa-Reger-Stiftung.
Note: 1. Strophe, 4. Zeile: bei Sauppe “Da ruht er aus” statt “schläft”. 3. Strophe, 4. Zeile: bei Sauppe “Steht hier das Herz” statt “nun”.
No. 6 [Trauernd senken wir die Hülle nieder…]
unknown
1. Composition
1.1.
Following on in a sense from the collection Der evangelische Kirchenchor. Vierzig leicht ausführbare Gesänge zu allen Festen etc. WoO VI/17, and after he had completed the Twelve Pieces for organ op. 59, which at any rate included four sacred pieces, Reger turned to the composition of further Leicht ausführbare Kompositionen zum gottesdienstlichen Gebrauche, probably in July 1901. And with this, he explicitly turned to the Catholic denomination this time.1
He announced a corresponding larger Catholic collection to Josef Loritz with the words: “[…] I am going to write – (and don’t fall over) a few Tantum ergo’s & Marian Songs” (letter dated 24 June 1901). According to Adalbert Lindner Reger composed the collection “at the special request of the owner of the publisher R. Linnemann”, and the pieces were “really so, as they should be according to the commission of the customer, or publisher, that is easy to perform, suitable for the practical requirements of less able Catholic church choirs”.2 Such a commission cannot be deduced from Reger’s surviving correspondence with Linnemann particularly since no details survive of the compositional process. Only Lindner reported that Reger had “written his Opus 61 a, b, c, d, e, f, g in summer 1901, & in Weiden, not in Munich. He was not very enthusiastic about the pieces, & particularly with the 16 Tantum ergos [op. 61a, b, c], he was happy that he had finished them.” (Postcard by Lindner from 5 September 1937 to Fritz Stein)
Reger responded to a request from Richard Linnemann on 20 November 1901: “I have at present completed for choir: […] 38 songs, which are the simplest & easiest imaginable and entirely suited to church use in the Catholic church; the choruses have just the right length & would certainly sell in great quantity, as the music is very simple & religious; the organ accompaniment is kept as simple as possible throughout, so that even the most unpractised organist can play the same without trouble. […] as a royalty, I would suggest a total of 300 M (three hundred marks) to you; they are only original compositions. The things must, however, be published at the end of February, so that they can still be sung this coming May at the May devotions (the Marian Songs)!” (Letter)
2. Publication
2.1.
After Reger had made further enquiries a few days after his offer (see postcard dated 25 November 1901), he sent the engraver’s copies on 29 November 1901 to C.F.W. Siegel’s Musikalienhandlung, recommended the less expensive metal type (which the publisher did not agree to) and referred once more to the publication date he desired: “I am including with this letter a design for the overall title page, which makes it quite simple; if you would like an opus number, then please place op 61 at the top with subdivisions op 61a, 61b etc. […] & if the work is published by February, then there will still be enough time to introduce it properly. I am always on the case of making new connections for these op 61 things & know the appropriate ways which lead to this goal very well.” (Brief)
On 11 December Reger confirmed the receipt of the royalty, sent the copyright agreement back signed, and declared his approval of the overall title (“not sacred church music – but: compositions for church use in the Catholic church by Max Reger”) and hinted at a sequel: “please leave space on the overall title for supplements” (letter).3
On 14 February 1902 Reger was still looking forward “with great impatience […] to the proofs of my op 61; it is really high time if we do not want to be too late with the Marian Songs for this year (because the Marian Songs will be needed mainly in May)!” (Letter) When he was able to return the corrected proofs on 13 March, in his covering letter he made a request “regarding the breath marks, which I have marked in the manuscript thus ’; now this has largely been engraved so ||, which is very conspicuous; I have therefore always altered or corrected it to ’ (short mark)!” (Letter) The publisher, however, did not comply with his requests, and Reger gave in (postcard dated 15 March). On 6 April Reger expressed his thanks for the complimentary copies and “such beautiful presentation”. (Letter).
3.
Translation by Elizabeth Robinson.
1. Early Reception
1.1. The catalogue of the Cäcilienverein
An important step for Reger in the success of his Leicht ausführbare Kompositionen zum gottesdienstlichen Gebrauche op. 61 was their inclusion in the Cäcilienvereins-Katalog, whose recommendations carried a certain weight in the circles of Catholic church musicians. Following the rejection of the choral work Maria, Himmelsfreud WoO VI/12 for recommendation (see WoO VI/12 – Early reception), Opus 61 found a more favorable reception from General President Franz Xaver Haberl (see below, review in Musica sacra), and so on 29 May 1902 Reger sent him “my most grateful thanks for the kind review of my op 61 which greatly pleased me […] combined with my most humble plea that you take care that my op 61 will soon be included in the catalog of the Cäcilienverein” (letter). But writing to Richard Linnemann, he could not resist taking a sideswipe at Haberl: “[…] if you consider the petty, completely antiquated point of view of this gentleman, who watches over like a hawk, so that no free spirit stirs in the Cäcilienverein, then you will and must probably be very content with this review; for with this review the door and gateway is now opened for op 61!” (Letter dated 30 May)
Shortly afterwards Reger thanked Linnemann “for kindly sending the copies [of Opus 61] to the gentlemen assessors” (Postcard dated 6 June 1902), but enquired of Haberl on 15 August “whether my op 61 has already been included in the catalog of the Cäcilienverein & when the reports on them will appear” (letter), and finally he reported to his publisher on 22 September: “I have just received the news that my Op 61 has officially been included in the catalog of the Cäcilienverein & that the double number (No 9 & 10) of the Cäcilienverein publication has just featured a 4-page long article on op 61; […] I am very pleased to be able to let you know this, & the way for op 61 is now clear through its inclusion in the catalog.” (Letter)
1.2. Reviews
In publications linked with the church, the reviewers, as expected, had stricter standards than their secular colleagues, but did not arrive at any less positive judgements. In Musica sacra, Franz Xaver Haberl who, although he was not held in high regard by Reger was courted for strategic reasons, stated that the Tantum ergo compositions had “a definite individual character”. However with regard to “average choirs”, despite Reger’s “assurance that they were ‘easily performable’” he emphasized “the unexpected, the surprising, and the often rather too rapid harmonic sequences”. He criticized a couple of passages – which Reger dismissed to his publisher as “completely irrelevant” (letter dated 30 May 1902) – but ultimately recommended performance to “those choirs which have a great need for Eucharistic texts, and have singers who are secure, rhythmically accurate, and follow the conductor compliantly, for not a single one of the numbers, composed with great seriousness and powerful talent is ordinary, unsuitable, or unworthy” (review). With the Marian Songs Haberl recognized “that the composer, with his rich harmonies and imagination, carefully avoided any sentimentality, droning melodies and the so-called folksy Marian Songs tonality”, but criticized Opus 61f no. 1 (“Es klingt durch Wald und Feld und Auen”) as “almost too pastoral in style for May devotions” and emphasized with regard to all the Marian Songs and Mourning Songs: “The assessor does not want as a matter of principle to criticize the out-of-the-ordinary, indeed unusual harmonic sounds and cadences, but believes they must be mentioned in order to not drive choirs mad which are not looking for highly challenging material with new kinds of chords and intervals which cannot be sung effortlessly.” (Review) The assessors who decided on the inclusion of works in the Cäcilienvereins-Katalog, based on strict criteria, followed Haberl. Hermann Müller also reinforced his criticism of Opus 61f no. 1: “Text and rhythm and organ accompaniment do not commend this number for performance in church” (review). The co-assessor Johann Georg Mayer even added the “explicit statement”, that his overall positive assessment “for [Opus 61f] no. 1 only applies if it is sung in a place of worship without the accompaniment provided. Tone-painting, such as the imitation of pealing bells by the organ (see measures 3–16), is never ever appropriate in a church” (ibid.).
With op. 61e the assessor Müller assumed that “these songs will sound splendid with the melodious sounds and flow of their melodies and the stylish framework provided by the organ accompaniment” (ibid.). Nevertheless the organ part was also critically received. Writing about the same work, his colleague Mayer found: “In the four-part writing of the accompaniment the composer’s efforts to steer in entirely new directions are evident. He almost completely refrained from having the upper voice in the organ part doubling the upper vocal part, and gave preference to writing a quite different melody for the instrument, mainly above the vocal cantilena almost throughout. The accomplished composer went out to shape each voice in the homophonically-written organ part as melodically as possible by using the full range of the chords. In so doing, he seems to have aspired less to support the singers and much more to an impressive sonority” (ibid.). Similar applies to op. 61f.
The alternative scoring indications for the Marian Songs op. 61e met with less understanding from Hermann Müller: “They were evidently originally intended for 2 upper voices; and I can hardly believe that the note on the title page ‘or Tenor and Bass’ came from the composer.” (ibid.)
In the periodical Die Sängerhalle published by C.F.W. Siegel’s Musikalienhandlung, Carl Kipke found Opus 61 to be entirely suitable for church use: “Even the most impassioned Cecilian will not be able to raise any justified objections against the strict church-like character and the true religious means of expression of these mainly very short compositions; but, in all the simplicity of the pieces the musician will enjoy the captivating, expert compositional style revealing the outstanding harmonist, and the uniformly noble style of invention, avoiding all platitudes. The composer probably expresses himself most subjectively, and therefore most directly, in the warmly-felt Marian Songs” (review). Several reviewers stressed the agreeable simplicity of the composition, for example Ernst Günther in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik: “Reger has forced himself to write simply. And he has managed to do this without resorting to well-worn clichés. […] Without being particularly quirky in terms of invention, the individual pieces match their purpose of being used in worship services really well.” (Review)
2.
Translation by Elizabeth Robinson.
1. Stemma
2. Quellenbewertung
Der Edition liegt als Leitquelle der Erstdruck zugrunde. Als zusätzliche Quelle wurde die Stichvorlage herangezogen.
3. Sources
- Stichvorlage
- Erstdruck
Object reference
Max Reger: Six Mourning Songs op. 61g, in: Reger-Werkausgabe, www.reger-werkausgabe.de/mri_work_01106.html, version 4.0, 18th December 2025.
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