Max Reger: Melancholy (Vocal Works)

Description

For more than half a century, the Huelgas Ensemble, founded by Paul Van Nevel, has been recognized as one of the world’s finest vocal ensembles for early music. After countless award-winning recordings of works from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, this is the first time the ensemble has devoted itself exclusively to a composer from the late Romantic period, Max Reger (1873-1916). For the album "Melancholy", which will be released on deutsche harmonia mundi/Sony Music, Paul Van Nevel selected 13 special works by Reger. These include not only the "a cappella" repertoire, but also five compositions for choir and piano. The instrumental part is performed by the renowned conductor and pianist Jos van Immerseel, who chose a historic Bechstein grand piano from his collection of instruments for the recording. The program presents the tradition-minded composer Reger, who revered Bach and arranged folk songs. The program also includes choral works that show that Reger was a bold composer. "The many references to music of the past made it difficult to categorize his music," explains Paul Van Nevel. "Reger’s work could sound both neoclassical and avant-garde. The album title, "Melancholy", reflects Reger’s unquenchable nostalgia for a lost past. Paul Van Nevel: "A romantic nostalgia (Weltschmerz), carefully chosen texts about the fate of death and about night as a metaphor for uncertainty show that Reger was a child of his time - and made him, nolens volens, a homo melancholicus." Reger’s appreciation of Johann Sebastian Bach is clearly audible in many of his works. He also knew the stylistic elements of the Renaissance. The melodies from Renaissance song collections and the literary and melodic material left by Martin Luther (1483-1546) were a source of inspiration for Reger. One of his last works, the double choir "Der Mensch lebt und bestehet nur eine kleine Zeit", of enchanting restraint, was composed in the idiom of the polychoral style of the late Renaissance. Reger’s interest in the musical past is also evident in his many arrangements of folk songs, mostly for four voices (for example "Das Sternlein"). The meditative motet "Der Mensch lebt und bestehet nur eine kleine Zeit" is a particularly moving vocal piece. It is not only one of Reger’s last works (for double choir). When he died of a heart attack in a hotel room in Leipzig on May 11, 1916, the score of this choral work was lying next to him. The Huelgas Ensemble’s album "Melancholy" featuring music by Max Reger will be released on deutsche harmonia mundi/Sony Music.