Selected pieces by classical and modern masters Harmonium-Sammlung‑B1

arranged for harmonium

Content

No. 1 Nocturne E-flat major op. 9 no. 2
No. 2 Botschaft op. 124 no. 19
No. 3 Ballade in F major op. 38
No. 4 Nocturne in G major op. 37 no. 2
No. 5 Etude in E major op. 10 no. 3
No. 6 Poème d’amour op. 3
No. 7 Tannhäuser WWV 70
No. 8 Mein Christbaum

Creation

–

Status

–

Dedication

Johann Baptist Ulrich

Performance medium

Reed organ

Work collection

Original work

Versions

1.

Reger-Werkausgabe	Bd. III/1: Bearbeitungen für Orgel und Harmonium, S. 2–13.
Herausgeber	Christopher Grafschmidt, Claudia Seidl. Unter Mitarbeit von Knud Breyer und Stefan König.
Verlag	Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart; Verlagsnummer: CV 52.819.
Erscheinungsdatum	September 2025.
Notensatz	Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart.
Copyright	2025 by Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart and Max-Reger-Institut, Karlsruhe – CV 52.819. Vervielfältigungen jeglicher Art sind gesetzlich verboten. / Any unauthorized reproduction is prohibited by law. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. / All rights reserved.
ISMN	979-0-007-34478-8.

1. Genesis

Reger’s earliest opportunity to play the harmonium came during his holidays with his godfather Johann Baptist Ulrich on his Königswiesen estate near Regensburg, probably from 1886 onwards. However, his delight in making music on it did not always meet with approval, as he reported in 1887: “The harmonium is in the piano room. I still have only played it very little. 1. This year, all the music for the harmonium has disappeared; 2. My godfather’s wife doesn’t like it. She’s always thinking that I’m ruining something”. (Letter from Reger to Adalbert Lindner of 8 August 1887) During Reger’s time in Wiesbaden (1890–1898), the fact that there was a harmonium in the house of Elsa von Bercken,¹ whom he was courting, probably inspired him to arrange the slow movement from his Organ Suite op. 16 for harmonium and piano in 1897.²

Reger returned to Weiden in June 1898, and probably visited his relatives on the Königswiesen estate in October of that same year.³ It might well have been on this occasion that he gathered together the eight works that he arranged for harmonium⁴ – seven pieces originally for the piano plus a song⁵ – to which he gave the collective title Selected pieces by classical and modern masters. Perhaps he was prompted to compile this collection by memories of his former holidays at Königswiesen, or perhaps his godfather suggested it or even requested it. Either way, they are dedicated with the utmost gratitude to his highly esteemed uncle Mr J.B. Ulrich. However, for the pieces by Chopin and the Poème d’amour by Adolf von Henselt, Reger arranged only excerpts from the original works. His autograph comprises three double leaves placed one inside the other, with continuous pagination. His arrangements are notated from beginning to end and were thus not written on separate sheets to be gathered together after the fact. August Reiser’s Mein Christbaum (“My Christmas tree”) seems an odd choice as the last of the pieces, but the organisation of the autograph suggests that it was planned thus from the start. This in turn makes it likely that these arrangements were all made in the run-up to Christmas.

2.

Translation by Chris Walton.

See Elsa Reger, Mein Leben mit und für Max Reger. Erinnerungen, Leipzig 1930, pp. 18f.: “We played Handel’s Largo in one of the numerous arrangements. Berthel sat at the piano, Reger stood next to her and played the violin, while I played the harmonium”.

This arrangement was reserved for private domestic use and was not published.

See Reger’s picture postcard to Adalbert Lindner of 19 October 1898, Stadtmuseum Weiden, shelfmark: MRS K5. – Reger’s previous last contact with his godfather had probably been in 1891 in Wiesbaden.

Reger’s arrangements require a harmonium with suction bellows and an expression stop to enable a smooth crescendo and decrescendo, using the exhauster to pump varying volumes of air (necessary for nos. 3, 4 and 6).

Nocturne in E-flat major op. 9 no. 2, Ballade in F major op. 38, Nocturne in G major op. 37 no. 2 and Etude in E major op. 10 no. 3 by Frédéric Chopin, “Botschaft” op. 124 no. 18 by Robert Schumann, Poème d’amour op. 3 by Adolf von Henselt, “Gebet der Elisabeth” (“Elisabeth’s Prayer”) (from Tannhäuser) by Richard Wagner and Mein Christbaum by August Reiser.

1. Reception

At present, there are no records of performances in Reger's time.

This text is currently only available in German.

1. Stemma

2. Quellenbewertung

Der Edition liegt als Leitquelle das Autograph zugrunde. In Zweifelsfällen wurden die Quellen der Originalwerke zu Rate gezogen.

3. Sources

Autograph

Object reference

Max Reger: Selected pieces by classical and modern masters Harmonium-Sammlung‑B1, in: Reger-Werkausgabe, www.reger-werkausgabe.de/mri_work_01728.html, version 4.0, 18th December 2025.

Information

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