Max Reger Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Since the composer’s death, Max Reger’s music has received much criticism. His compositions tend to be perceived as knotted, dense, and academic. The extreme use of chromaticism coupled with his own unique harmonic language has been said... more

Since the composer’s death, Max Reger’s music has received much criticism. His compositions tend to be perceived as knotted, dense, and academic. The extreme use of chromaticism coupled with his own unique harmonic language has been said to express the personality of the man behind the music. As a result, his works have primarily been eschewed from the concert hall.
However, I believe that the understanding of the man and his music, since his death, has been led astray because of poor performances, a lack of understanding of Reger’s mindset, his emotional state, and his use of “difficult” chromaticism and dissonance.
Starting with the latter, music psychology studies show that chromaticism and dissonance can be displeasing to listeners. Studies show correlations between the emotional cognition and musical perception of emotions in music through shared experiences, between the composer, performer, and listener. Furthermore, Reger’s individuality, personality and sociability were constantly in battle with his fight to make a name for himself - he was his own best propagandist - while facing the German critics. A lack of expressive playing in performance has also, undoubtedly, dampened his musical public image, as audience members had been led to believe his music was dull and boring.
Ultimately, the intent of this project is to provide an outlook into Max Reger and his life; how he was perceived as a person, musician, and composer whilst he was alive; how his music was perceived during his time; and how it is being perceived today (in the English-speaking community). In doing so, this project will highlight the variability and whims of his reception through history – in other words, “how do some composers become great?”, while others lie in the periphery of the standard repertory - a purgatory, of sorts.
By understanding the man, his music, his personality, and the struggles he dealt with throughout his entire life, the goal is that this project may guide the listener to further comprehending Reger and his musical language.