At a time of great changes in which the uncertain, the unpredictable, indeed, even the unsettling can become the new normal, it is the psalms in particular which can offer comfort, confidence, and hope – not only for believers, but also for people who have little or no faith.
For Stefan Schuck, Reger’s great chorale variations for organ are like the peaks of the Himalayas: inaccessible, massive, and daunting. Discover why Reger’s Acht geistliche Gesänge op. 138 are amongst his very favorite works of all.
Walter Väth’s first encounter with Max Reger was on the organ with his choral fantasies. In the first place he found Reger’s music to be bombastic and difficult, weighty and expressive, but not necessarily simple. But this assessment changed when Väth came into contact with Reger’s later works, These later works also include the Acht geistliche Gesänge op. 138, which schow a simpler Reger …
