text: requiem ( reger ) max reger 's 1915 requiem ( or the hebbel requiem ) , op. 144b , is a late romantic setting of friedrich hebbel 's poem " requiem " for alto or baritone solo , chorus and orchestra . it is reger 's last completed work for chorus and orchestra , dedicated in the autograph as dem der im kriege 1914 / 15 gefallenen deutschen helden ( to the memory of the german heroes who fell in the 1914 / 15 war ) . reger had composed requiem settings before : his 1912 motet for male chorus , published as the final part of his op. 83 , uses the same poem , and in 1914 he set out to compose a choral work in memory of the victims of the great war . the setting is of the latin requiem , the catholic service for the dead , but the work remained a fragment and was eventually designated the lateinisches requiem ( latin requiem ) , op. 145 . the hebbel requiem was published by n. simrock in 1916 , after the composer 's death , with another choral composition , der einsiedler ( the hermit ) , op. 144a , to a poem by joseph von eichendorff . that publication was titled zwei gesänge für gemischten chor mit orchester ( two songs for mixed chorus with orchestra ) , op. 144 . reger provided a piano transcription of the orchestral parts . max beckschäfer arranged the work for voice , chorus and organ in 1985 . the hebbel requiem was first performed in heidelberg on 16 july 1916 as part of a memorial concert for reger , conducted by philipp . reger thought the hebbel requiem was " among the most beautiful things " he ever wrote . it has been described as of " lyrical beauty , a dramatic compactness , and [ of ] economy of musical means " in which the composer 's " mastery of impulse , technique , and material is apparent " . background reger was a german composer , born in brand in 1873 and raised in weiden in der . he studied music theory from april to july 1890 with hugo riemann at the royal conservatory in and continued his studies , in piano and theory , at the wiesbaden conservatory beginning in september of that year . he established himself as a keyboard composer , performer , and teacher of piano and organ . the first compositions to which he assigned opus numbers were chamber music . in 1891 he composed his op. 4 , a collection of songs . the first , " " ( prayer ) , was on a text by friedrich hebbel , who also wrote the poem on which two of reger 's requiem settings are based . reger returned to his parental home in 1898 , where he composed his first work for choir and orchestra , hymne an den gesang ( hymn to song ) , op. 21 . he moved to munich in 1901 . income from publishers , concerts and private teaching enabled him to marry in 1902 . his wife , elsa von , was a divorced protestant , and as a result he was excommunicated from the catholic church . in 1907 he was appointed musical director at leipzig university and professor at the royal conservatory in leipzig . in 1911 reger was appointed ( music director ) at the court of duke georg ii of saxe - meiningen , while retaining his professorial duties at the leipzig conservatory . in 1912 he set hebbel 's poem " requiem " as a motet for unaccompanied male choir , which was published as no. 10 of his collection op. 83 . in 1913 he composed four tone poems on paintings by arnold böcklin ( vier nach a. böcklin ) , including the painting die ( isle of the dead ) , as his op. 128 . he gave up the court position in 1914 for health reasons . that year , in response to the world war , he set out to compose a choral work to commemorate the soldiers who had died or were mortally wounded . he began to set the latin requiem but abandoned the work as a fragment . in 1915 he moved to jena but continued teaching in leipzig . in jena , he composed the hebbel requiem for soloist , choir and orchestra , op. 144b , again on hebbel 's poem , as in the setting for men 's chorus . following a full day of teaching in leipzig , reger died of a heart attack while staying at a hotel there on 11 may 1916 . hebbel 's poem in 1840 the playwright friedrich hebbel wrote a poem in german titled " requiem " , its latin title alluding to " requiem aeternam " ( eternal rest ) , the first words of the mass for the dead . the poem opens with an apostrophe to a " soul " in a plea , " seele , vergiß sie nicht , seele , vergiß nicht die toten " ( soul , forget them not , soul , forget not the dead ) . these words appear to echo various psalms , such as psalm 103 , " bless the lord , o my soul " . hebbel , however , evokes an " eternal rest " that is distinctly non - religious : the poem offers no metaphysical reference , christian or otherwise , but calls for remembrance as the only way to keep the dead alive . the first lines , in which the speaker calls upon the soul not to forget the dead , are repeated in the centre of the poem and again at its conclusion , as a refrain that sets apart two longer sections of verse . the first of these sections describes how the dead , nurtured by love , enjoy a final glow of life . in contrast , the latter section portrays a different fate for souls that have been forsaken : who are relegated to an unending , desolate struggle for renewed existence . the musicologist katherine fitzgibbon notes that the speaker of this narrative is not identified , but may be " a poetic narrator , divine voice , or even the dead " . the poem was published in 1857 . separately , peter cornelius set the same poem in 1863 , as a funeral motet for a six - part chorus , in response to the author 's death . motet reger composed his first setting of hebbel 's poem as a motet for unaccompanied male choir in 1912 in meiningen , where he had worked from 1911 . he composed it for the basler liedertafel , conducted by hermann suter , who performed it on 18 may 1912 to celebrate their 60th anniversary before giving the official premiere at the national schweizer sängerfest ( swiss federal song festival ) in neuchâtel on 22 july 1912 . in accordance with the poem 's structure , reger used the same material for each of the refrains , in a homophonic setting . the words " ihr leben " ( their dimming life ) are illustrated by " a sequence of chromatically descending sixth chords " . similar descending chords are often found in reger 's works as a musical expression of " pain , fear , death , and suffering — common associations with chromaticism since the sixteenth century " , according to fitzgibbon . both the recurring refrain and the descending chords reappear in the later setting of the poem in the hebbel requiem . the motet was published under the title requiem as the closing part of lieder für männerchor ( ten songs for men 's chorus ) , op. 83 , with earlier compositions from 1904 . lateinisches requiem after the outbreak of war , reger intended to compose a work commemorating the soldiers who had died or were mortally wounded , a choral work of " " ( in great style ) . by the autumn of 1914 , he was in discussion with a theologian in giessen about a composition tentatively " die letzten dinge ( gericht u . ) " " ( the last things [ final judgment and resurrection ] ) " . the organist karl straube , who had premiered several of reger 's organ works , recommended that reger compose the traditional latin requiem instead , because die letzten dinge would only be a variation on ein deutsches requiem by johannes brahms . following his advice , reger managed the composition of the introit and kyrie , combining both texts into one movement . he announced the project , a composition for soloists , chorus , orchestra and organ , to his publisher on 3 october 1914 . the dies irae remained unfinished . reger wrote to fritz stein , his friend and later biographer , that he was in the middle of its composition , but had been interrupted after the line " in parte " . the lateinisches requiem is scored for soloists ( soprano , alto , tenor , bass ) , a four - part ( satb ) choir , three flutes ( also piccolo ) , two oboes , cor anglais , two clarinets , two bassoons , contrabassoon , four horns , three trumpets , three trombones , tuba , three percussionists and strings . it is reger 's only choral composition to use four soloists . the four " " are used like the several choirs in compositions by heinrich schütz . the first movement opens with a long organ pedal point , which has been compared to the beginning of wagner 's das rheingold and the brahms requiem . the work remained unfinished at reger 's death , and his publisher named the first movement the lateinisches requiem , op. 145a . the music was first performed by stein in berlin on 28 may 1938 with four soloists and the enlarged choir of the berlin . for this performance , the liturgical latin text was replaced by a german text , adapted to suit nazi ideology . hellmut von hase titled his text ( rite of the dead ) and managed to serve " the nazi adulation of the fallen war hero " ( as fitzgibbon said ) , dropping references to the bible . he replaced for example " exaudi meam , ad te omnis caro " ( hear my prayer ; to you shall all flesh come ) by " in sorrow we lower the flags , for into the grave sunk what was dear to us . " this version was published in 1939 by the max reger society . the unfinished dies irae was published in 1974 and first performed in hamburg 's st. jakobi on 3 november 1979 by yoko , marga , hans - dieter bader , nikolaus hillebrand , the ndr chor and ndr , conducted by roland bader . the lateinisches requiem is officially catalogued as v / 9 . hebbel requiem history johannes brahms , in his ein deutsches requiem ( a german requiem ) , had already opened the way for the composition of a non - liturgical requiem , written in a language other than latin while still addressing the traditional theme of rest ( ) for the dead . in this tradition , reger 's 1915 requiem , op. 144b , is also not a setting of the requiem in latin , but of hebbel 's poem . he composed it in jena , a year before his own death , this time for a solo voice ( alto or baritone ) , chorus and orchestra . the requiem , op. 144b , was combined with der einsiedler ( the hermit ) , op. 144a , a setting of a poem by joseph von eichendorff , as zwei gesänge für gemischten chor mit orchester ( two songs for mixed chorus with orchestra ) , op. 144 . reger titled the autograph of the piano version : zwei gesänge / für / gemischten chor / mit orchester / ) requiem / ( hebbel ) , and he wrote the dedication : " dem der im / kriege 1914 / 15 gefallenen / deutschen helden . " ( to the memory of the german heroes who fell in the war 1914 / 15 ) . reger completed the composition on 25 august 1915 . he wrote to the publisher n. simrock on 8 september : " i 've finished two choral works ( der einsiedler and requiem ) . i think i can safely say that they 're both among the most beautiful things i 've ever written . " ( ich habe nun zwei ( der einsiedler und requiem ) . ich sagen zu , daß diese beiden mit das sind , was ich je habe . ) requiem was first published by n. simrock in 1916 , edited by ulrich , with the dedication dem der im kriege gefallenen deutschen helden ( to the memory of the german heroes who fell in the war ) . simrock also published a vocal score as prepared by reger himself . the hebbel requiem was first performed , together with der einsiedler , in heidelberg on 16 july 1916 , after the composer 's death , as part of a memorial concert for reger , featuring eva katharina , the choirs and akademischer gesangverein , and the enlarged orchester ( municipal orchestra ) , conducted by philipp . in 1925 the requiem was published in vienna as a pocket score , philharmonia - no. 284 . edition peters published it in 1928 , stating the performance duration as 25 minutes , although the duration implied by the metronome marking is 14 minutes . music structure reger 's hebbel requiem is in one movement . it follows the overall form of the narrated poem , but with variations , resulting in a structure of different moods . the beginning is recalled in the middle and at the end . the following table is based on the score and on an analysis by katherine fitzgibbon . the translation of the incipits is given as in the liner notes of the 2009 recording in the translation by richard stokes . the four - part satb chorus is often divided . the work is in d minor and common time . the tempo marking is molto sostenuto , and is sustained with only slight modifications ( and ) until the most dramatic section , marked ( faster ) and later allegro , returning to the initial tempo for the conclusion . sections a the short instrumental introduction is based on a pedal point sustained for several measures , reminiscent of pedal points in funeral music by schütz and bach , in mozart 's requiem in the same key of d minor , and in reger 's previous latin requiem . in a pattern similar to the beginning of a german requiem , the bass notes are repeated , here on a low d ( d1 ) . the soloist alone sings the intimate appellation " seele , vergiß sie nicht " ( soul , forget them not ) on a simple melody and repeating the first line after the second . throughout the piece the soloist sings only these words , in the beginning and in the repeats . the chorus , here divided in eight parts , evokes the start of the spiritual ascent , " , sie dich , " ( see , they hover around you , shuddering , abandoned ) , in mostly homophonic chords , marked ppp , in a fashion reminiscent of schütz . b in section b , " und in den gluten " ( and in the holy glowing ) , the pedal point ends . the chorus is divided in four to six parts , in more independent motion . as in works by schütz , two or three voices often introduce new text . a ' the soloist sings the recapitulation of the beginning similar to the first time , again on the pedal point , but repeats the second line one more time , while the chorus sings about the hovering , as before . c in section c , " und wenn du dich " ( and if you coldly close yourself to them , they stiffen ) , reger uses word painting , by means of downward lines and a final for the line sie bis in das ( they stiffen , up to the deepest ) . on the word ( stiffens ) , the chorus settles on a dissonant 5 - part chord , held for two measures , suddenly fortissimo with a crescendo at the end , then repeated pianissimo , an octave lower , motionless . in great contrast , in " dann sie der sturm der nacht " ( the storm of night then grips them ) , a storm is depicted in dense motion of four parts imitating a theme in triplets . a ' ' in the conclusion , the soloist repeats the earlier phrase , but this time the chorus finally joins in the words of the appellation . the soloist introduces a new wording sie nicht , die toten ( forget them not , the dead ) . the chorus repeats this phrase , marked , , on the melody of the chorale o haupt voll blut und wunden , five stanzas of which bach used in his st matthew passion . the melody is not repeated as in the original , but continued for half a line . reger is known for quoting chorales in general and this one in particular , most often referring to its last stanza wenn ich einmal soll scheiden , which bach included in the passion right after the death of jesus . the corresponding text would then be wenn ich einmal soll scheiden , so nicht von mir . wenn mir am ... ( when i must depart one day , do not part from me then . when the greatest anxiety ... ) . reger completes the chorale setting for the chorus , without further reference to the chorale melody , while the solo voice repeats at the same time seele , vergiß nicht die toten , concluding with descending tones of more than an octave . scoring and performances the requiem employs an orchestra of two flutes , piccolo , two oboes , cor anglais , two clarinets , two bassoons , four horns , three trumpets , three trombones , tuba , three percussionists and strings . it requires a chorus to match . reger himself wrote a version for piano . to make the music more accessible , the composer and organist max beckschäfer arranged the work for voice , chorus and organ in 1985 . the organ version was premiered in the marktkirche in wiesbaden , where reger had played the organ himself when he studied there in the 1890s . gabriel dessauer conducted a project choir , later known as the reger - chor . beckschäfer was the organist , ulrike the vocal soloist . the choir , expanded into the reger - chor - international by singers from belgium , performed the work again in 2001 with organist ignace michiels from st. salvator 's cathedral , bruges , both there and in st. bonifatius , wiesbaden ( recorded live ) . they performed it a third time in 2010 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the reger - chor . the hebbel requiem was performed as part of the ouverture of the 2014 salzburg festival , along with bruckner 's fourth symphony , with plácido domingo as baritone soloist and the vienna philharmonic conducted by daniel barenboim . 2016 to mark the centenary of reger 's death in 2016 , the broadcaster bayerischer rundfunk staged a concert of the hebbel requiem in early may , conducted by karl - heinz steffens . the bachfest leipzig 2016 programmed several works by reger , including the latin requiem fragment in the opening concert at the thomaskirche on 10 june , and the hebbel requiem there on 17 june , along with der mensch und and o tod , wie bitter bist du . evaluation in a review of a recording of choral works by reger , gavin dixon said that the requiem is " almost mystical in its use of widely spaced chords , unusual harmonic shifts and dreamy arpeggios in the accompaniment " . the program notes for the recording say that in the " anguished , expressionistic evocation of the ' shuddering ' , ' forsaken ' , ' cold ' souls , the piece seems determined to expose death in all its grim horror " . debra wrote in her 2002 thesis about reger 's op. 144 : as their composer 's final completed works for chorus and orchestra , der einsiedler and requiem , op. 144a and 144b , demonstrate max reger 's mature ability when setting poems of recognized literary merit . these powerful single - movement works from 1915 defy many stereotypes associated with their composer . they manifest a lyrical beauty , a dramatic compactness , and an economy of musical means . the central theme of both is mortality and death . in these challenging works , his mastery of impulse , technique , and material is apparent . op. 144 constitutes both a continuation of reger 's choral / orchestral style in earlier works and , by dint of the composer 's death as a mid - aged man , the culmination of it . recordings scores 10 gesänge , ( reger , max ) : scores at the international music score library project , : scores at the international music score library project requiem , : scores at the international music score library project zwei gesänge für gemischten chor mit orchester / 2 / requiem ( hebbel ) . edition peters . 2010 . max - reger - institute " curriculum vitae " . max - reger - institute . retrieved 3 april 2010 . 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