Schlichte Weisen op. 76
Schlichte Weisen op. 76 Bd. III
for voice and piano
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No. 31 Gottes Segen
Text: Joseph von Eichendorff
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No. 32 Von der Liebe
Text: Franz Karl Ginzkey
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No. 33 Das Wölklein
Text: Martin Boelitz
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No. 34 Reiterlied
Text: Martin Boelitz
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No. 35 Mittag
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No. 36 Schelmenliedchen
- Schlichte Weisen op. 76 for Singstimme und Klavier
Other parts:
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1.
| Reger-Werkausgabe | Bd. II/5: Lieder V, S. 49–65. |
| Herausgeber | Knud Breyer und Stefan König. Unter Mitarbeit von Christopher Grafschmidt und Claudia Seidl. |
| Verlag | Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart; Verlagsnummer: CV 52.812. |
| Erscheinungsdatum | Oktober 2024. |
| Notensatz | Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart. |
| Copyright | 2024 by Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart and Max-Reger-Institut, Karlsruhe – CV 52.812. Vervielfältigungen jeglicher Art sind gesetzlich verboten. / Any unauthorized reproduction is prohibited by law. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. / All rights reserved. |
| ISMN | M-007-33910-4 |
| ISBN | 978-3-89948-463-2. |
No. 31 Gottes Segen
Joseph von Eichendorff: Gottes-Seegen, in: Deutscher Musenalmanach für das Jahr 1837, ed. by Adelbert von Chamisso, Weidmann´sche Buchhandlung, Leipzig , p. 238.
unknown
Used for comparison purposes in RWA: Joseph von Eichendorff: Gottes Segen, in:
id.: Gedichte, 16th edition, C. F. Amelangs Verlag, Leipzig
Copy shown in RWA: DE, Karlsruhe, Max-Reger-Institut/Elsa-Reger-Stiftung.
Note: Regers Vorlage war wohl eine der zahlreichen zeitgenössischen Ausgaben mit Gedichten Eichendorffs.
Note: In Erstausgabe Nr. 7 der Sektion mit Eichendorff-Gedichten.
Note: Ferner in Gedichte von Joseph Freiherrn von Eichendorff, Berlin, Duncker und Humblot, 1837, S. 368 (innerhalb der Sektion “Geistliche Gedichte”). – Titel: “Das Kind”.
No. 32 Von der Liebe
Franz Karl Ginzkey: Von der Liebe, in:
id.: Das heimliche Läuten. Neue Gedichte, Staackmann, Leipzig
First edition
Copy shown in RWA: DE, Karlsruhe, Max-Reger-Institut, TB.
Note: Regers Vorlage war die Erstausgabe bzw. eine durch seinen Verleger Lauterbach & Kuhn daraus vorgenommene Abschrift. Am 23. Mai 1907 bedankte sich Reger bei Lauterbach & Kuhn für ein Gedicht, welches “sehr gut in die „Schlichten Weisen“” passe (Postkarte vom 23. Mai 1907 an Lauterbach & Kuhn, zitiert nach Max Reger. Briefe an die Verleger Lauterbach & Kuhn, Teil 2, hrsg. von Herta Müller, Bonn 1998 (=Veröffentlichungen des Max-Reger-Institutes/Elsa-Reger-Stiftung Karlsruhe, Bd. 14), S. 285). Vermutlich handelte es sich hierbei um den Text von Ginzkey.
No. 33 Das Wölklein
unknown
Note: In keinem der bekannten Gedichtbände von Boelitz nachweisbar. Möglicherweise eigens für die Schlichten Weisen geschrieben.
Note: Reger erhielt den Text vermutlich handschriftlich von dem Dichter, mit dem er befreundet war.
No. 34 Reiterlied
[Probably] Martin Boelitz: Reiterlied, in:
id.: Ausgewählte Gedichte, Fritz Eckardt, Leipzig
unknown
Used for comparison purposes in RWA: First edition
Copy shown in RWA: DE, Karlsruhe, Max-Reger-Institut, TB.
Note: Als Vorlage verwendete Reger möglicherweise ein Manuskript des noch ungedruckten Gedichtes, das er vom befreundeten Dichter erhalten hatte.
No. 35 Mittag
Ernst Ludwig Schellenberg: Mittag, in:
id.: Aus Leben und Einsamkeit. Ein Heft Gedichte, Modernes Verlagsbureau Curt Wigand, Leipzig and Berlin
[Probably] First edition
Copy shown in RWA: DE, Karlsruhe, Max-Reger-Institut/Elsa-Reger-Stiftung, G.
Note: Aus Schellenbergs im Frühjahr 1905 erschienener Gedichtsammlung (vgl. Rezension von Wilhelm Arminius in Beilage zur Allgemeinen Zeitung, München, 108. Jg., Nr. 84 (9. April 1905), S. 61f.) hatte Reger bereits im zweiten Band seiner Schlichten Weisen das Lied Glück (Nr. 16) vertont, dort jedoch wohl noch eine Abschrift des Autors verwendet (vgl. RWA Bd. II/4, S. 197). Bei der Komposition von Mittag lag ihm das Buch, das ihm der Autor versprochen hatte, vor (“[…] u. freue ich mich sehr auf Ihr nächstes Werk „Aus Leben und Einsamkeit.“ Hoffentlich finde ich in dem neuen Buch noch viel Gedichte für mich.” Postkarte Regers vom 6. Dezember 1905 an Schellenberg, Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar, Hochschularchiv/Thüringisches Landesmusikarchiv Weimar, Signatur: NELS 13/2).
Note: Reger verwendete als Vorlage vermutlich die Erstausgabe, die sich zum Zeitpunkt der Komposition des Klavierliedes in seinem Besitz befunden haben dürfte. Vgl. Postkarte Regers vom 6. Dezember 1905 an Schellenberg: “[…] u. freue ich mich sehr auf Ihr nächstes Werk „Aus Leben und Einsamkeit.“ Hoffentlich finde ich in dem neuen Buch noch viel Gedichte für mich.” (Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar, Hochschularchiv/Thüringisches Landesmusikarchiv Weimar, Signatur: NELS 13/2). Vgl. hingegen Opus 76 Nr. 16.
Note: In Erstausgabe innerhalb der Sektion “Natur”.
No. 36 Schelmenliedchen
Ernst Ludwig Schellenberg: Schelmenliedchen, in:
id.: Gedichte, Deutsche Verlagsanstalt Concordia, Berlin
First edition
Copy shown in RWA: DE, München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, P.o. germ. 1270 cf.
Note: Reger bedankte sich am 6. Dezember 1905 beim Autor für die Zusendung des Gedichtbandes, aus dem er “die 2 Liedchen „Der Dieb“ u. „Schelmenliedchen“” für seine “nächsten „Schlichten Weisen“ ausgewählt” habe (Postkarte Regers vom 6. Dezember 1905 an Schellenberg, Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar, Hochschularchiv/Thüringisches Landesmusikarchiv Weimar, Signatur: NELS 13/2). Während Schelmenliedchen wie geplant für Band III von Opus 76 in Musik gesetzt wurde (Nr. 36), wurde Der Dieb bereits zuvor als Lied für die Musik-Mappe vertont.
Note: In der Erstausgabe innerhalb der Sektion “Liebe”.
1. The genesis and publication
Reger began planning the third volume of his series of Schlichte Weisen in June 1905, even before he had completed its second volume.1 He wrote to his main publishers Lauterbach & Kuhn in Leipzig with the following request: “[...] if texts for ‘Schlichte Weisen’ should happen to come into your hands for next year, please always send them to me instantly!” (Postcard to Lauterbach & Kuhn of 18 June 1905). In December 1905, he also setout in search of new texts. After having received Ernst Ludwig Schellenberg’s volume entitled simply Gedichte (“poems”) and after having set “Der Dieb” from it to music (see above, WoO VII/38), he now chose the “Schelmenliedchen” (no. 36) from it for his Schlichte Weisen. Reger also expressed eager anticipation of Schellenberg’s next book, in which he hoped to find “many more poems”. (Postcard to Ernst Ludwig Schellenberg of 6 December 1905) Ultimately, however, he only set one of them, “Mittag” (“Midday”, no. 35). This subsequent volume of Schellenberg’s poems, Aus Leben und Einsamkeit (“From Life and loneliness”), was published in 1905, and we may assume that he sent a copy to Reger at the beginning of 1906. After this, Reger’s plan for a third volume of Schlichte Weisen came to a standstill for the moment. His time and energy were now taken up with concert tours that took him as far away as St. Petersburg by mid-December 1906. Reger’s excessive workload led to a health crisis in April 19062 that necessitated a period of recuperation. It was not until 26 December 1906 that Reger returned to the project in a letter to his publishers: “I’ve decided that it would be highly appropriate to write another volume of ‘Schlichte Weisen’ (with 10 nos.) for the coming summer; I am already looking for texts and you will receive the volume early enough for you to be able to publish it easily by 1 August!” (Letter from Reger to Lauterbach & Kuhn of 26 December 1906). In March 1907, Reger, his wife Elsa and a great-aunt together moved to Leipzig, where he had been appointed the Music Director of the university and a professor at the Royal Conservatory. On 23 May 1907, two years after Reger had asked his publishers for their help in finding texts, he was able to thank them for sending a poem that would fit “very well into the ‘Schlichte Weisen’”. (Postcard to Lauterbach & Kuhn of 23 May 1907) It was presumably “Von der Liebe” (“About love”) by Franz Karl Ginzkey, which Reger set to music as no. 32 of the volume.3 In contrast, he was personally acquainted with the poets Martin Boelitz and Ernst Ludwig Schellenberg, and the former probably sent him a manuscript copy of the two poems that he set in volume III: “Das Wölklein” (“The little cloud”, no. 33) and “Reiterlied” (“Song of the rider”, no. 34).4 As already mentioned above, the two Schellenberg poems (nos. 35 and 36) can be traced back to the books that the author had sent Reger, while “Gottes Segen” (“God’s blessing”, no. 31) is featured in a widely circulated anthology of poems by Joseph von Eichendorff that also contains the other Eichendorff texts that Reger set to music.557
It was only on 3 June 1907 that Reger finally wrote to his publishers to announce: “Volume 3 of the ‘Schlichte Weisen’ op. 76 (6 pieces!)”. Reger stressed that this was “a very fine number!”, no doubt in an effort to forestall any protests on the part of his publisher that he was delivering a smaller selection than anticipated, and half a year late at that. He added that they would receive the songs “so soon that they can be published comfortably by 1 Sept. of this year!” (Letter to Lauterbach & Kuhn of 3 June 1907) On 25 June, Reger asked Max Kuhn to come in person the next day to collect the “manuscripts of the ‘Schlichte Weisen’, which are now quite finished [...] so that they may be engraved as quickly as possible!” (Postcard to Max Kuhn of 25 June 1907) He requested a fee of 1000 marks for all six songs together. [See Reger’s letter to Lauterbach & Kuhn of 19 July 1907] No correspondence about the production or correction process has survived. “Das Wölklein”, no. 33, was originally in D-flat major (see the edition here in the appendix), but Reger had a copyist transpose it into C major for publication. Volume III of the Schlichte Weisen was accordingly published in September 1907, both as individual songs and as a complete set for high, middle and low voice.
Several of these songs were dedicated to women from Reger’s immediate circle. In addition to Elsa Reger, these included Margarete Stein (“Gottes Segen” no. 31), who was the wife of his friend Fritz Stein, and Klara Steinbach (“Von der Liebe” no. 32), the wife of the conductor Fritz Steinbach who had been a role model to Reger, and who had conducted the latter’s Sinfonietta op. 90 with success in Cologne in 1905. Reger also dedicated one song each to his friends Anna Erler-Schnaudt (“Mittag” no. 35) and Clara Rahn (“Schelmenliedchen” no. 36). The latter sang the song he had dedicated to her in Jena on 17 December 1907, at a concert in which she included further songs from the Schlichte Weisen.
2.
Translation by Chris Walton.
1. Reception of the Schlichte Weisen op. 76 vols. III–VI
Reger’s third volume of Schlichte Weisen, published in September 1907, continued a successful series that he had begun back in 1904.212 Lauterbach & Kuhn’s advertising brochure Künstlerische Hausmusik moderner Meister (“Art music for the home by modern masters”) stated the following: “The secret of the great success that the ‘Schlichte Weisen’ achieved immediately after publication lies in part in their relative simplicity (which distinguishes them from the modern art song that is almost inaccessible to a broader public) and in part in the genuinely German emotional content with which Max Reger, with his rich poetic sensibility, has infused in them. The combination of these two qualities makes the ‘Schlichte Weisen’ a treasure trove for the true music lover and indispensable to the music library of every art-loving German family.”1
As in the case of the first two volumes, III and IV were also published as complete sets and in individual editions, with versions for high, medium and low voice, and underlaid with the text in German and in English. The publisher’s aim was to ensure the songs’ widest possible distribution. And in this, they succeeded. The first volume of op. 76 was published in a print run of 4,200,2 for which Reger had proposed a fee of 400 marks. [See his letter to Lauterbach & Kuhn of 18 February 1904] For the second volume, Lauterbach & Kuhn offered Reger 1,875 marks, which he himself reduced to 1,550. [See his letter to Lauterbach & Kuhn of 3 July 1905] For the third volume, which contained just six songs where the previous two had contained 15 each, Reger was paid 1,000 marks. [See the table with fees in Reger’s letter to Lauterbach & Kuhn of 19 July 1907] The print-run of volume III can no longer be determined, but the increased fee paid to the composer indicates that his publisher now had higher expectations for turnover and profits. In the case of the “Mariä Wiegenlied”, probably Reger’s most popular song from vol. VI of the Schlichte Weisen, his publisher (now Bote & Bock) was able to claim in an advertisement of circa 1920 that they had sold “more than 100,000” copies.3
The reception of the first two volumes of Schlichte Weisen was largely dependent on concert performances, for “their popularity [...] seems to have had an impact on the sales of the sheet music [...].”4 “Waldeinsamkeit” (“Woodland solitude”, no. 3), “Wenn die Linde blüht” (“When the linden tree blossoms”, no. 4), “Mein Schätzelein” (“My little darling”, no. 14, “Glück” (“Happiness”, no. 16), “In einem Rosengärtelein” (“In a little rose garden”, no. 18) and “Des Kindes Gebet” (“A child’s prayer”, no. 22) proved to be especially popular. Contemporary statistics show that these songs enjoyed far more performances than any of the songs of volumes III and IV. Only “Von der Liebe” (no. 32) enjoyed similar popularity, followed by “Reiterlied” (no. 34), “Frühlingsregen” (no. 41) and “Der Postillon” (no. 42). Otherwise, the songs from the fourth volume in particular (nos. 37–43) tended to receive few performances in the concert hall. It is possible that by transposing “Das Wölklein” (no. 33 in vol. III) from D-flat major into C major – making it easier to perform – Reger had himself taken into account this shift from the concert hall to domestic music-making.5
The earliest known performance of any songs from the third volume of the Schlichte Weisen was on 10 October 1907, just one month after their publication. Anna Erler-Schnaudt sang “Gottes Segen” (no. 31) and “Reiterlied” (no. 34) at a recital in Munich, accompanied by Paul Aron. However, she does not ever seem to have given any concert performance of the two songs that Reger dedicated to her, namely “Mittag” (no. 35) and “Brunnensang” (no. 43). In terms of concert performances, the most popular songs from the third volume proved to be “Mittag” (no. 35) and “Schelmenliedchen” (no. 36).6 The genre piece “Reiterlied” (no. 34) was also popular.7
In contrast to volumes I–IV, complete performances of Aus der Kinderwelt were the norm on account of the songs having a common theme. On 30 November 1910, all eight songs were performed for the first time. The venue was the Singakademie in Berlin; Gertrud Fischer-Maretzki sang, accompanied this time not by Reger but by Frieda Kwast-Hodapp. In addition to Fischer-Maretzki, Vally Friedrich-Höttges and Sanna van Rhyn also took the whole cycle into their repertoire, performing it throughout Germany. It was rare for individual songs from this collection to feature on concert programmes. The exceptions include “Zwei Mäuschen” (“Two little mice” no. 48), “Ein Tänzchen” (“A little dance” no. 49), “Knecht Ruprecht” (“Servant Rupert”, no. 50) and “Die fünf Hühnerchen” (no. 51), all songs that possessed a quaintness or a distinctive quality that also attracted the praise of the critics. On occasion, “Klein Marie” (no. 44) and “Lutschemäulchen” (“Lollipop mouth” no. 45) were performed too. Reger also wrote an arrangement for concert performance of “Klein Marie” for violin and piano (op. 103c).
Aus Christas und Lottis Kinderleben (vol. VI) was unable to build on the success of Aus der Kinderwelt and we have no evidence of these songs ever having been performed as a group. “Mausefangen” (no. 58) and “Zum Schlafen” (no. 59) were performed on their own more frequently. Above all, however, this sixth volume of Reger’s Schlichten Weisen contains his most popular song of all, “Mariä Wiegenlied” no. 52, which featured on 18 concert programmes between 1912 and 1916 alone, and of which his publisher Bote & Bock was able to claim in the aforementioned advertisement that it was “the most popular encore song in concerts of the best-known women singers”.8
Reviewers showed great interest in the first two volumes of Schlichte Weisen, published in 1904 and 1905 respectively, because Reger had undergone a radical stylistic shift in them.9 But no such discussion was necessary about his subsequent volumes III and IV. In fact, it seems as if a certain weariness had set in among the critics. After a concert on 25 October 1909 in Heidelberg in which Gertrud Fischer-Maretzki and Reger performed songs from volume IV for the first time, the reviewer of the Heidelberger Tageblatt wrote: “In these ‘simple melodies’, except for the ‘Postillon’, a tender, almost overly tender mood prevails throughout. [...] This group [of songs] made less of an impact because they are too homogenous in how they move in the pianissimo regions. One shouldn’t hear them too often.”10 Arthur Smolian also wrote that, given Reger’s “tirelessness in expanding his op. 76”, it would be “less distressing” if these new Schlichte Weisen were here “heard for the last time”.11
But things turned out very differently with the fifth volume. The emphasis on children gave these songs a new focus. In the Deutsche Zeitung, Georg Schünemann wrote after their first performance in Berlin: “Reger has composed these charming verses by J. Trojan, M. Boelitz and Victor Blüthgen so prettily that they are more likely to delight the little ones in a domestic setting. How beautiful is the folksy melody of ‘Klein Marie’, how endearing the velvety soft ‘Schlaf ein’! And how the ‘two little mice’ dance a dainty minuet, while ‘Knecht Ruprecht’ stomps along with his heavy motif in the bass, and even ‘The five little chickens’ quarrel and make up. All this is quite deliciously encapsulated in the music. I got into a real Christmassy mood when hearing these little songs, and people will surely buy one or the other piece from the publisher to play to their own children. You’ll have to be a decent pianist for this, because the piano part is composed in Reger’s well-known, bold manner. But anyone who can perform these pieces as beautifully as Mrs Fischer-Maretzki will give the little ones double the pleasure.”12 Schünemann also wrote: “The concert hall certainly isn’t the right place for these pieces.”13
Reger’s singers were not at all deterred by this, as is proven by the many documented performances of these songs. And their success proved them right. When Sanna van Rhyn sang Aus der Kinderwelt in Dresden on 18 February 1912, “The tumultuous applause, which was often disruptive and made the postludes inaudible, meant that ‘Klein Marie’, ‘Schlaf’ ein’, ‘Zwei Mäuschen’, ‘Ein Tänzchen’ and ‘Die fünf Hühnerchen’ all had to be encored.”14 The reviewer of the Nordwestdeutsche Morgenzeitung, however, who reviewed a recital of van Rhyn’s in Oldenburg, found that there were “almost too many children’s songs”.15
Reger subsequently refrained from continuing his series of Schlichte Weisen and from then on fulfilled his contractual obligation to his publisher by composing recital pieces for instruments. He also explored to the full the potential of the most popular song from the Schlichte Weisen. In 1915, he created versions of “Mariä Wiegenlied” for voice and piano, for voice and organ and for piano alone as a song without words (though with text underlay).
2.
Translation by Chris Walton.
1. Stemma
2. Quellenbewertung
Der Edition liegt als Leitquelle der Erstdruck zugrunde. Einzelausgaben und Bandausgabe, die von denselben Platten gestochen wurden, unterscheiden sich nicht im Notentext. Als Referenzquellen dienten die vielfach differenzierter bezeichneten erhaltenen Stichvorlagen (Nr. 31, Nr. 32, Nr. 33, Nr. 34, Nr. 35). Insbesondere im Bereich der Vortragsanweisungen wur- de oftmals den Lesarten der Stichvorlagen der Vorzug gegeben (siehe Zu den editorischen Besonderheiten in den Liederbänden). Neben den Originalausgaben erschienen zeitgleich auch Ausgaben für tiefe und hohe Stimme (sowohl Band- als auch Einzelausgaben). In den Herstellungs- und Korrekturprozess war Reger, wie bereits bei den ersten beiden Bänden der Schlichten Weisen (siehe Opus 76 Bd. I), sicherlich eingebunden. Neben der Korrektur der aufgrund der Transposition entstandenen Stecherfehler hat Reger offenbar auch die Gelegenheit genutzt, bereinigend in den ursprünglichen Notentext einzugreifen. Wie tiefgehend und systematisch er dabei vorging, ist nicht dokumentiert. Daher übernimmt die RWA aus den Erstdrucken für tiefe und hohe Stimme nur offen- sichtliche Fehlerkorrekturen (siehe Lesartenverzeichnis).
Regers Erstfassung der Nr. 33 (Das Wölklein) in Des-Dur wird gesondert im Anhang ediert. Eine untergeordnete Rolle für die Edition spielten die Entwürfe (Nr. 31 und 36, Nr. 32, Nr. 33 und 34, 2. Teil, Nr. 34, 1.Teil und Nr. 35). Regers eigene spätere Fassung der Nr. 35 () für mittlere Singstimme und Orchester wurde bei der Edition nicht berücksichtigt.1
3. Sources
- Entwürfe zu Nr. 31 und 36 (E)
- Entwurf zu Nr. 32 (E)
- Entwürfe zu Nr. 33 und 34 (zweiter Teil) (E)
- Entwürfe zu Nr. 34 (erster Teil) und 35 (E)
- Stichvorlage Nr. 31 (SV)
- Stichvorlage Nr. 32 (SV)
- Autograph Nr. 33 in Des-Dur (A)
- Stichvorlage Nr. 33 von fremder Hand mit autographen Eintragungen (SV)
- Stichvorlage Nr. 34 (SV)
- Stichvorlage Nr. 35 (SV)
- Stichvorlage Nr. 36 (verschollen)
- Erstdruck Nr. 31–36, Einzelausgaben (ED-E)
- Erstdruck Nr. 31–36, Bandausgabe (ED-S)
- Erstdruck Nr. 31–36 für hohe Stimme, Einzelausgaben und Bandausgabe (EDhoch-E bzw. EDhoch-S)
- Erstdruck Nr. 31–36 für tiefe Stimme, Einzelausgaben und Bandausgabe (EDtief-E bzw. EDtief-S)
- Nr. 35 für Singstimme und Orchester: Erstausgabe
Object reference
Max Reger: Schlichte Weisen op. 76 Bd. III, in: Reger-Werkausgabe, www.reger-werkausgabe.de/mri_work_01113.html, version 3.1.4, 2nd May 2025.
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