Beware Of The Reger Gesamtausgabe

[sprondel]

To everybody who is interested in playing Reger's music in service or recital:

 

The long out-of-print book "Zur Interpretation der Orgelmusik Max Regers" (On interpretation of Max Reger's organ music) has recently been re-issued (Ed. Hermann J. Busch, Wiesbaden: Merseburger, 2007, ISBN 978-3-87537-311-0, 19,90 Euros, in German).

 

Content:

- H. J. Busch: Die Orgelwelt Max Regers

(Max Reger's Organ World)

- S. Popp: Zur Quellenlage der Regerschen Orgelwerke

(Max Reger's Organ Music: The Sources)

- S. Shigihara: Herausforderung ohne Ende -- Max Regers Orgelwerke und ihre Ausgaben

(The never-ending Challenge: Max Reger's Organ Works and their Editions)

- H. J. Busch: Einige Probleme des Regerspiels

(On some Problems in playing Reger)

- Bernhard Haas: Zur Frage des Tempos in Regers Orgelmusik

(On the Tempo in Reger's Organ Music)

- H. J. Busch: Verzeichnis der Orgelwerke Max Regers

(Opus List of Max Reger's Organ Music, with commentary)

 

All authors are eminent Reger scholars, and though the book being a second edition, I wouldn't want to miss it. Especially interesting is Susanne Shigihara's essay on the editions. It mainly warns players of the Gesamtausgabe *and the Breitkopf* editions, as they contain many undocumented alterations from the first editions.

 

In short, the original scores fell victim to Orgelbewegung ideology, and most following editions made matters worse. Not a single one of the original titles was kept, just to start with. The first editions are still the most reliable ones if one is concerned about what Reger really wrote (and obsessively proofread and corrected personally). The essay contains a table listing all of the editions available, commenting on how close they still are to the first editions.

 

I think everyone who plays Reger will agree that this is important stuff.

 

Best,

Friedrich

[Guest Cynic]

To everybody who is interested in playing Reger's music in service or recital:

 

The long out-of-print book "Zur Interpretation der Orgelmusik Max Regers" (On interpretation of Max Reger's organ music) has recently been re-issued (Ed. Hermann J. Busch, Wiesbaden: Merseburger, 2007, ISBN 978-3-87537-311-0, 19,90 Euros, in German).

 

Content:

- H. J. Busch: Die Orgelwelt Max Regers

(Max Reger's Organ World)

- S. Popp: Zur Quellenlage der Regerschen Orgelwerke

(Max Reger's Organ Music: The Sources)

- S. Shigihara: Herausforderung ohne Ende -- Max Regers Orgelwerke und ihre Ausgaben

(The never-ending Challenge: Max Reger's Organ Works and their Editions)

- H. J. Busch: Einige Probleme des Regerspiels

(On some Problems in playing Reger)

- Bernhard Haas: Zur Frage des Tempos in Regers Orgelmusik

(On the Tempo in Reger's Organ Music)

- H. J. Busch: Verzeichnis der Orgelwerke Max Regers

(Opus List of Max Reger's Organ Music, with commentary)

 

All authors are eminent Reger scholars, and though the book being a second edition, I wouldn't want to miss it. Especially interesting is Susanne Shigihara's essay on the editions. It mainly warns players of the Gesamtausgabe *and the Breitkopf* editions, as they contain many undocumented alterations from the first editions.

 

In short, the original scores fell victim to Orgelbewegung ideology, and most following editions made matters worse. Not a single one of the original titles was kept, just to start with. The first editions are still the most reliable ones if one is concerned about what Reger really wrote (and obsessively proofread and corrected personally). The essay contains a table listing all of the editions available, commenting on how close they still are to the first editions.

 

I think everyone who plays Reger will agree that this is important stuff.

 

Best,

Friedrich

 

 

Dear Friedrich,

thankyou for drawing this to my/our attention.

 

P.