''Zwölf Stücke'', Op. 80

Zwölf Stücke
Organ pieces by Max Reger
Reger in 1901
Catalogue	Op. 80
Composed	1902 (1902) · 1904
Dedication	Paul Homeyer Joseph Vockner
Published	1904 (1904)

Zwölf Stücke, Op. 80, is a group of twelve pieces for organ by Max Reger. He composed them in Munich in 1902 and 1904. They were published by C. F. Peters in Leipzig in September 1904.

History and movements

The pieces are character pieces of medium difficulty, as a contrast to his major organ works. Reger had written such works already as a student in Wiesbaden. He turned to the organ in Weiden. On a request of the publisher Henri Hinrichsen of C. F. Peters, Reger composed 15 pieces in Munich in 1902. Peters published twelve in Leipzig in August 1902 as Zwölf Stücke. Reger used the three still unpublished pieces (Fughette, Gigue, Intermezzo) and composed additional nine pieces in 1904, to form a similar set of works that can be played in sequence or individually.^[1] In Reger's lifetime, performers often combined often movements from different collections.^[2]

The twelve pieces were published by C. F. Peters in Leipzig in September 1904, in two books (Heft) of six pieces each. Reger dedicated the pieces of Heft 1 to Franz Grunicke, an organist in Berlin, and those of Heft 2 to Otto Burkert.^[3]

The titles and keys are:

1. Präludium (Prelude), E minor
2. Fughette (Fugue), E minor
3. Canzonetta (Canzonetta), G minor
4. Gigue (Gigue), D minor
5. Ave Maria, D-flat minor
6. Intermezzo (Intermezzo), G minor
7. Scherzo (Scherzo), F-sharp minor
8. Romanze (Romance), A minor
9. Perpetuum mobile (Perpetuum mobile), F minor
10. Intermezzo, D major
11. Toccata (Toccata), A minor
12. Fuge (Fugue), A minor

In the edition of Reger's complete works by the Max-Reger-Institute, they were published in volumes 5–7.^[4]

Recordings

The organist Hans-Jürgen Kaiser recorded ten of the twelve pieces in volume 11 of the complete organ works by Reger, along with the Chorale Preludes, Op. 79b, played on the Rieger-Sauer organ in the Fulda Cathedral,^[5] while numbers 7 and 8 were played by Martin Wetzel on the Klais organ of the Trier Cathedral and appear on volume 8.^[6]

References

Bibliography

• Popp, Susanne (2007). Busch, Hermann J., ed. Zur Quellenlage der Regerschen Orgelwerke. Zur Interpretation der Orgelmusik Max Regers (in German) (2 ed.). Kassel: Merseburger Verlag. 
• Popp, Susanne; Seehof, Thomas, eds. (2016). "Werkausgabe / Abteilung I Orgelwerke / Band 6 Orgelstücke II" (PDF) (in German). Carus-Verlag. Retrieved 21 August 2016. 
• "Zwölf Stücke Op. 80 / für Orgel". Max-Reger-Institute. 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016. 
• "Volume I/5–7 Organ pieces". Max-Reger-Institute. 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016. 
• "Reger, M.: Organ Works, Vol. 8 – Chorale Fantasia on Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott / Little Chorale Preludes, Nos. 11–30 (Welzel)". Naxos Records. 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016. 
• "Reger, M.: Organ Works, Vol. 11 – Chorale Preludes, Op. 79b / 12 Pieces, Op. 80: Nos. 1–6 and 9–12 (H.-J. Kaiser)". Naxos Records. 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016. 

External links

• 12 Stücke für die Orgel, Op.80 (Reger, Max): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• 12 Stücke op. 80 / Heft 1 Edition Peters
• Max Reger / 1898 Rückkehr nach Weiden (in German) max-reger-orgel.de
• The Greatness of Reger—as Revealed by Paul Jacobs, Organist, at Juilliard newyorkarts.net, 26 September 2014
• Ursula Heim: "... meine Orgelsachen sind schwer ..." / Ein Plädoyer für den «leichten» Einstieg in die Orgelwerke Max Regers, in Form eines fiktiven Interviews rkv.ch
• Reger – Organ Works Volume 11 prestoclassical.co.uk