Reger's clarinet sonatas feature rhythmic and metrical flexibility, labile thematic construction, and roving harmony, giving them a 'musical prose' character, a term used by Wagner and Schoenberg.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Reger believed that in clarinet and piano works, technical display for its own sake should be avoided, as it could compromise the chamber music style.
Performer Biography
Michael McHale, the pianist, is a Belfast-born winner of the Terence Judd / Hallé Award in 2009 and has performed as a soloist with numerous international orchestras.
Composer Biography
Max Reger, known for his organ music, considered chamber music among his most favored genres and believed he was securing its compositional future.
Composition History
Reger's Sonata in B flat, Op. 107, was dedicated to Ernst Ludwig, the last Grand Duke of Hessen-Darmstadt and a great patron of the arts, who established the Darmstadt Chamber Music Festival.
Composition History
Reger was inspired to compose his two Op. 49 clarinet sonatas after hearing a private performance of Brahms's Sonata in F minor, Op. 120 No. 1.
Performer Biography
Michael Collins, the clarinetist on this album, was awarded an MBE in 2015 for his services to music and is Principal Conductor of the City of London Sinfonia.
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