Choralfantasie über Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott

Historical context

Max Reger composed his monumental Choralfantasie über Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, Op. 27, quickly in the summer of 1898 in Weiden, completing the first pages in one evening and the entire work in rapid succession. The author notes Reger’s “royal delight in the grandiose passage ‘Und wenn die Welt voll Teufel war und wollt uns gar verschlingen!’” Reger’s deep religious conviction and thorough study of Bach’s style were the driving forces behind this work, which was conceived for modern large concert and church organs. The premiere was given by Karl Straube on September 20 and 26, 1898, in the Willibrord Cathedral in Wesel, with Straube studying the manuscript and performing it with great impact, as noted in Zeittafel and by the book. Ernst Keler recalled Reger leaning over the organ railing, looking pointedly into the densely packed church space during a church music performance in Münster where Straube played this fantasy.

In this piece, Reger acts as both composer and poet, with the chorale serving as a Cantus firmus alternately assigned to different voices, according to the book. The poetic-spiritual content finds its appropriate musical interpretation, directly re-creative, following the individual verses. The book describes the alternation between B-flat major and D major as creating an immense effect, and the musical setting of the third verse, depicting a world filled with devils, demonstrates fabulous fantasy. The chorale rings out with tremendous energy in the pedal, while the “voices of this world” rage against it in the manual with relentlessly sharp dissonances. With this composition, Reger’s reputation as an organ composer was firmly established, and it, along with its quickly composed sister works, laid the foundation for a new era of organ literature. Future organists were reportedly alarmed by this fantasy, taking offense at Reger’s often ruthless manner of boldly piling up harmonies and frequently using very unusual tone color mixtures.

Drawn from Segnitz, Eugen, 1862-1927, Max Reger : Abriss seines Lebens und Analyse seiner Werke (1922); Lindner, Adalbert; Lindner, Adalbert, b. 1860, Max Reger : ein Bild seines Jugendlebens und künstlerischen Werdens (1922) — public domain, archive.org.