REGER, Max – Choral Preludes (selection) from the Organ Op. 67 – VOLUME 1 – Unusual Quartets of 2 Violas, Cello and Double Bass

Other Identification:
Reger’s contrapuntal mastery surely makes him the greatest German composer for organ since Bach. Curiously, although a Catholic he often drew on Lutheran traditions. One such example was his grandiose project of 52 chorale preludes, comprising his Op. 67, which is a collection of settings of popular Protestant hymns composed for organ between 1900 and 1902. These were grouped in three volumes, and published almost immediately with the full title of “Zweiundfünfzig leicht ausführbare Vorspiele zu den gebräuchlichsten evangelischen Chorälen” (“Fifty-two easy-to-perform preludes to the most common evangelical hymns”). However, the idea of writing such a collection dated well back to 1893.

Their importance is shown in the affirmation by Reger: “None are technically difficult and the melodies have been collected by an organist of 30 years’ experience. I can surely say without any arrogance that since J. S. Bach, no such collection has been published!”

Reger’s compositional style in the preludes, although intended to be simple from a technical point of view, was often musically complex, occasionally including (not surprisingly!) musical features from the chorale preludes of J.S. Bach. However, all can be classed as ‘miniatures’, with little contrasting thematic material or episodes, and the four-part writing dominates nearly everything. Given that, many chorales lend themselves to convincing interpretations on string instruments (as in his Op.135a preludes, many of which Johnstone has also arranged for four and five cellos, also available in the web Johnstone-Music), and every string part is equal in importance – the melodies, and the faster moving passage work are shared around all voices, changing from piece to piece. The keys for the Johnstone adaptations are always the same for string ensemble as in the original.