Die Weihe der Nacht | |
---|---|
Choral composition by Max Reger | |
Opus | 119 |
Language | German |
Composed | 1911 |
Dedication | Gertrud Fischer-Maretzki |
Published | 1911: Berlin |
Scoring |
|
Die Weihe der Nacht (The Consecration of the Night), [1] Op. 119, is a choral composition for alto, men's choir and orchestra by Max Reger, setting a poem by Friedrich Hebbel. He composed it in Leipzig in 1911 and dedicated it to Gertrud Fischer-Maretzki, the soloist in the first performance. It was published by Ed. Bote & G. Bock in Berlin the same year.
Reger composed the work in Leipzig in 1911, [2] [3] where he worked as a professor at the conservatory. [1] During this period he also composed Eine Lustspielouvertüre, Op. 120, the String Quartet in F-sharp minor, Op. 121, and the Violin Sonata, Op. 122, among others. [1] It was published the same year by Ed. Bote & G. Bock in Berlin, the vocal score in July, the parts in September. [2] The work was first performed in Berlin on 12 October 1911 by Gertrud Fischer-Maretzki, members of the Domchor Berlin and the Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester, conducted by Leonid Kreutzer. [2] [4]
Gertrud Fischer-Maretzki (1886–1929) was among the contraltos who inspired Reger, along with Anna Erler-Schnaudt. He met her first in 1905, and wrote about her in 1910: "Die Dame hat [...] stets durch ihre prachtvolle Stimme u. tiefdurchdachten, echt musikalischen Vortrag die vollste Anerkennung bei Publikum u. Kritik gefunden." (The lady always found complete recognition of audience and critics by her magnificent voice and her deeply reasoned and genuinely musical performance.) [5]
Reger set another poem by Hebbel, "Requiem", which he had considered in 1910 already, in 1912 for men's choir a cappella, in 1915 for soloist, mixed choir and orchestra, the Hebbel Requiem . [6] The poem "Die Weihe der Nacht" was also set by composers such as Harald Genzmer, Walter Rein and Hilding Rosenberg. [1]
Reger scored the composition for an (alto soloist, a men's choir (TTBB), and an orchestra of two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, trombone, three timpani and strings, [2] a scoring similar to that chosen by Brahms for his Alto Rhapsody . [7] The poem begins with the lines "Nächtliche Stille! Heilige Fülle" (Nocturnal silence! Holy fulness). [8] The composition is initially marked Adagio and opens with a slow orchestral passage. Reger uses in his setting chromaticism, ambiguous harmonies, and word painting. The rendering of daybreak has been compared to that in the Alpine Symphony by Richard Strauss. [1] Die Weihe der Nacht thus foreshadows Reger's program music such as Vier Tondichtungen nach A. Böcklin , Op. 128. [1]
The work was recorded in 1995 by the Bamberger Symphoniker and their choir, conducted by Horst Stein and with Lioba Braun as the soloist and Fritz Walter-Lingquist as the organist, along with Reger's Der 100. Psalm and Weihegesang . [1] [9]
Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Leipzig University Church, as a professor at the Royal Conservatory in Leipzig, and as a music director at the court of Duke Georg II of Saxe-Meiningen.
Christian Friedrich Hebbel was a German poet and dramatist.
Hans Vogt was a German composer and conductor.
Max Reger's 1915 Requiem, Op. 144b, is a late Romantic setting of Friedrich Hebbel's poem "Requiem" for alto or baritone solo, chorus and orchestra. It is Reger's last completed work for chorus and orchestra, dedicated in the autograph as Dem Andenken der im Kriege 1914/15 gefallenen deutschen Helden.
The Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie is a German symphony orchestra based in Herford. It was founded in 1950 and, along with Philharmonie Südwestfalen and Landesjugendorchester NRW, is one of the 'official' orchestras (Landesorchester) of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The orchestra has been shaped by conductors such as Wilhelm Schüchter, Hermann Scherchen and Andris Nelsons. They have regularly served several cities in northwest Germany, and toured internationally to halls such as Berliner Philharmonie, Tonhalle Zürich and Großes Festspielhaus in Salzburg, also to the U.S. and Japan.
The Reger-Chor is a German-Belgian choir. It was founded in Wiesbaden in 1985 and has been conducted by Gabriel Dessauer in Wiesbaden. Since 2001 it has grown to Regerchor-International in a collaboration with the organist Ignace Michiels of the St. Salvator's Cathedral of Bruges. The choir performs an annual concert both in Germany and Belgium of mostly sacred choral music for choir and organ. Concerts have taken place regularly in St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden, and in the cathedral of Bruges in its series "Kathedraalconcerten". The choir performed additional concerts at other churches of the two countries and in the Concertgebouw of Bruges.
Roland Bader is a German choral conductor and music director. He is the principal guest conductor of the Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra and the Opera Krakowska, officially authorized as representative for their guest performances in Germany and Switzerland. Since 1988 he is the visiting professor at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, where in 1989 he was awarded the distinction of the Professor Honoris Causa in Humanistic Disciplines.
Marga Anna Johanna Höffgen was a German contralto, known for singing oratorios, especially the Passions by Johann Sebastian Bach, and operatic parts such as Erda in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, performed at the Bayreuth Festival and Covent Garden Opera in London between 1960 and 1975.
Der 100. Psalm, Op. 106, is a composition in four movements by Max Reger in D major for mixed choir and orchestra, a late Romantic setting of Psalm 100. Reger began composing the work in 1908 for the 350th anniversary of Jena University. The occasion was celebrated that year with the premiere of Part I, conducted by Fritz Stein on 31 July. Reger completed the composition in 1909. It was published that year and premiered simultaneously on 23 February 1910 in Chemnitz, conducted by the composer, and in Breslau, conducted by Georg Dohrn.
Unser lieben Frauen Traum Op. 138, No. 4, is a sacred motet for unaccompanied mixed choir by Max Reger. The German text is a poem by an anonymous poet, derived from a Volkslied. The piece is in F major and scored for up to six voices, SSATBB. Composed in Meiningen in 1914, it was published in 1916 after Reger's death as the fourth of Acht geistliche Gesänge. It is often performed in Advent.
Nachtlied Op. 138, No. 3, is a sacred motet for unaccompanied mixed choir by Max Reger. The German text is a poem by Petrus Herbert, beginning "Die Nacht ist kommen". The piece is in B minor and scored for five voices SATBB. Composed in Meiningen in 1914, it was published in 1916 after Reger's death as the third of Acht geistliche Gesänge.
Philipp Julius Wolfrum was a German conductor, musicologist, composer, organist and academic teacher. He was influential to university education in church music in Heidelberg, and in 1907 became the town's Generalmusikdirektor.
Der Einsiedler Op. 144a, is a composition for baritone soloist, five-part choir and orchestra by Max Reger, written in 1915. The German text is a poem by Joseph von Eichendorff, beginning "Komm' Trost der Welt, du stille Nacht". The composition was published in 1916 after Reger's death by N. Simrock, combined with the Hebbel Requiem, as Zwei Gesänge für gemischten Chor mit Orchester, Op. 144.
Vier Tondichtungen nach A. Böcklin, Op. 128, is a composition in four parts for orchestra by Max Reger, based on four paintings by Arnold Böcklin, including Die Toteninsel. He composed them in Meiningen in 1913.
Drei Chöre, Op. 6, is a set of three compositions for mixed choir and piano by Max Reger, composed before 2 August 1892 in Wiesbaden. The texts are poems by three poets:
"An die Hoffnung", Op. 124, is a Lied for alto or mezzo-soprano and orchestra by Max Reger, setting a poem by Friedrich Hölderlin. He composed it in Meiningen in 1912 and dedicated it to Anna Erler-Schnaudt, the singer of the first performance. It was published by Edition Peters the same year.
Anna Erler-Schnaudt was a German contralto and voice teacher. She performed in the premiere of Mahler's Eighth Symphony and taught at the Folkwangschule.
Lioba Braun is a German opera singer and academic teacher at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München. Based at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, she has appeared mostly in mezzo-soprano parts at major opera houses and festivals. She became internationally known appearing as Brangäne at the Bayreuth Festival in 1994, and performed the soprano part of Isolde on stage first in 2012.
Die Nonnen, Op. 112, is composition for mixed choir and orchestra by Max Reger, written in 1909. The text is a poem by Martin Boelitz.