Reger, Max (1873-1916): The Complete Music Autographs in the BSB

Max Reger, who came from the Upper Palatinate, worked in Munich from 1901 to 1907, including a brief period at the Akademie der Tonkunst as successor to Josef Rheinberger. In 1908 he was appointed university music director and professor at the Leipzig Conservatory, and in 1911 he took up the position of court music director of the Meininger Hofkapelle. Overburdened by intensive teaching, composition and concert activity, Reger succumbed to heart failure in 1916. Reger's urn was transferred from Jena to the Waldfriedhof in Munich in 1930 at the request of his widow Elsa Reger, after she had returned to Munich in 1929. After the Max-Reger-Institute in Karlsruhe the Bavarian State Library has one of the largest collections of Max Reger's autographs. Efforts by the library in the 1920s to acquire the bequest directly from Elsa Reger failed, but in later years close connections developed between Elsa Reger and the music department and it was possible to purchase manuscripts of two central works, the autograph scores (engraving templates) of the 'Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart' op. 132 (acquired in 1942) and the Clarinet Quintet in A major op. 146 (acquired in 1946). Since that time, the BSB has repeatedly succeeded in increasing its holdings through purchases and gifts, including the Suite in G minor for organ op. 92, the Fantasy and Fugue in D minor for organ op. 135b, the impressive large-format scores of 'Die Weihe der Nacht' for alto, male choir and orchestra op.119 and 'Der Einsiedler' for baritone, choir and orchestra op. 144,1 and many smaller works, including sketches for various compositions. A total of 27 autograph music manuscripts of Max Reger are kept at the BSB.