Publication of Max Reger’s Works – a Scholarly Critical Hybrid Edition

Max-Reger-Institut, Karlsruhe

Max Reger (1873‑1916) is one of the most important representatives of musical modernism in the German-speaking world. As a “progressive” with strong traditional ties in that age of radical change he adopted such an individual stance that he is seen by today’s composers as the first to “opt out” of the purported strictness of the development of musical history and is therefore seen as the first post-modern composer. Until now no scholarly edition of Reger’s works has been published; one edition of so-called complete works begun in the 1950s was produced but this lacked binding editorial guidelines, mixed up random sources and was both inaccurate and incomplete. The new edition is therefore a desideratum both in the scholarly and performing context. Not least due to its innovative approach this edition was included in the funding program of the scholarship and literature academy Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur in Mainz which is planned to run for a duration of 18 years. The first musicological project of its kind in Germany, right from the start the edition is to be "hybrid" in nature, i.e. it is to combine the two sides to a good publication – text plus work genesis – with each other in a complementary manner. Each volume is to be published in two parts to consist of a conventionally printed score for playing, prepared so it can be compared to all sources and a digital archive on DVD listing all sources and illuminating the work from the first idea to initial printing. An additional encyclopedic section then explains the background surrounding the genesis of the work and provides information on debut performances and performers as well as the entire backdrop as a whole. The EvS Music Foundation is funding the realization of the second and third volumes in the hybrid publication.

2010‑2011
German-Speaking Area

Further Information:
www.max-reger-institut.de