Max Reger

Max Reger fell in love with a divorced lady, Elsa von Bercken, and married her in 1902. Since Reger was Catholic and Elsa, Protestant, he was excommunicated by the Catholic Church.

He died of a heart attack on 11 May 1916 at age 43.

Max Reger was born in Brand, Bavaria, on 19 March 1873, to Joseph Reger and his wife, Philomena, née Reichenberger. His father was a village teacher who taught German, history, geography, harmony, organ and piano. He had several younger siblings of whom many died in childhood.

He was musically inclined from childhood and started receiving piano lessons from his mother when he was five years old and then also learnt from his father. His mother also taught him reading, writing and mathematics at home even before he started going to school.

In 1882, he enrolled at the royal secondary school and received lessons in piano and organ from Adalbert Lindner, a teacher and organist at Weiden, from 1884 until 1889.

He completed his secondary schooling in 1886. He decided to become a teacher in accordance with his parents’ wishes and entered into the royal Praeparandenschule to receive training for the profession. During this time he also started playing the organ at the Catholic Sunday divine service in the city parish church St Michael.

In 1887, Max Reger gave his first public performance at the inn Zur Eisenbahn with Julius Schulhoff's sonata in F minor. By the next summer, he had composed his first orchestral work, an Overture in B minor, 120 pages in volume.

In 1892, Hugo Riemann, the famous German composer, helped Max Reger procure a seven year contract with the London publishing company of Augener & Co. The same year, he completed his first cello sonata, his most advanced Wiesbaden chamber music work.

He settled in Munich in 1901 and from here started his phenomenal rise to fame and success. He received several concert offers and appeared in ten concerts as an organist, chamber pianist and accompanist in the first season itself.

Because of his growing stature, he was appointed Rheinberger's successor at the Akademie der Tonkunst in 1905. However, he resigned from this prestigious post after a year because of disagreements with the other staff members.

He was appointed as the university musical director and professor at the royal conservatoire at Leipzig in 1907. However, he resigned from this post too after a year though he continued to serve as professor of composition at the conservatory until his death.

In 1911, he accepted the position of the Court conductor at Meiningen, a post he held till early 1914. He continued his composition and concert activities throughout his life.

Max Reger was best known for his organ music compositions which were quite challenging to the performers. Some of his best known organ works include Chorale Fantasias on Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott, Op. 27, and other Lutheran chorale tunes.

He also composed music to texts by prominent poets such as, Otto Julius Bierbaum, Adelbert von Chamisso, Joseph von Eichendorff, Emanuel Geibel,Friedrich Friedrich Rückert and Ludwig Uhland.

His piano compositions include a number of short pieces, the best of which is the Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Mozart, Op. 132a, for two pianos. He also wrote several pieces of chamber music, including a number of violin sonatas and string quartets.