The seven chorale fantasias by Max Reger are among the most important of organ repertoire – masterpieces blending chorale melody and programmatic music based on the text of the chorales.
Published on the occasion of the composer's 150th birthday, this fundamentally revised Urtext edition, in two volumes, is edited by the internationally renowned organist and Leipzig professor of organ Martin Schmeding.
As one of the most influential Reger interpreters, Schmeding not only includes the latest research, but also addresses the need for a contemporary interpretation of the chorale fantasias on modern organs. The edition includes all the original dynamic and agogic indications (including continuation lines to cresc., etc., which are missing in many modern editions), as well as all the original registration and manual indications.
Martin Schmeding's new edition provides for the first time an original musical text that combines the requirements of a modern Urtext edition with the demands of a practical edition.
“Schmeding’s extensive preface to this new edition makes instructive reading, and, combined with the clear musical texts that follow, gives any organist, as well as the keen organ music listener, an illuminating insight into the man and his music.” Morwenna Campbell-Smith, RCO