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This new album by Gavle Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jaime Martin includes two perhaps finest orchestral works by Max Reger (1873-1916) written towards the end of his life, the Four Tone Poems after Bocklin and the Romantic Suite, both sensous and poetic works suggesting a loose connection with Debussy. Reger's 150th anniversary of birth was celebrated in 2023. Yet, much of Reger's music appears on concert programmes only very occasionally. During his own lifetime Reger was highly admired: Paul Hindemith described Reger as "the last giant of music," and when Schoenberg founded his Society for Private Musical Performances in 1918, Max Reger, along with Debussy and Bartok, was one of the most frequently performed composers. Admiring Reger as an important innovator, Schoenberg promoted his music because "he still remains unfamiliar" and "I consider him a genius". Reger's Four Tone Poems after Bocklin and the Romantic Suite are sufficient to prove that Schoenberg was totally right.
Max Reger (1873-1916)