Reger: Variations & Fugue On A Theme of Ludwig Van Beethoven / 4 Bocklin Tone Pictures

Featuring

Leif Segerstam
Kjell Lysell
Norrköpings Symfoniorkester
Max Reger

Did you know?

1/7

Composer's Artistic Vision

Max Reger, a staunch advocate for strict forms of absolute music like sonatas and fugues, came remarkably close to descriptive program music in his Four Böcklin Tone-Pictures.

Composition History

Max Reger composed his Four Böcklin Tone-Pictures, Op.128, in 1912-1913, inspired by paintings of Arnold Böcklin, an artist whose work often drew from mythology or mysticism.

Performer Biography

Leif Segerstam, the conductor on this album, is a prolific composer himself, having written 26 string quartets and 6 violin concertos, reflecting his origins as a violinist.

Cultural Impact

The painting 'Die Toteninsel' (The Isle of the Dead) by Arnold Böcklin, which inspired one of Reger's tone poems, also inspired works by August Strindberg, Sergei Rachmaninov, and Andreas Hallén.

Critical Reception

Max Reger's Ballet Suite, Op.130, was received with "unconcealed delight" at its 1913 premiere, with critics praising its attractive sonorities and transparent orchestration.

Composer Biography

In 1911, Max Reger, the composer, became court conductor to Georg II of Sachsen-Meiningen, a position previously held by Richard Strauss and Hans von Bülow.

Composition History

Max Reger orchestrated his Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Ludwig van Beethoven, Op.86, in 1915, a year before his death, adapting it from a two-piano work he wrote in 1904.