A new recording of two major Reger cycles, by a fast-emerging British piano talent.
‘To fathom his all-powerful might, no human may accomplish’ – this is the text, from a duet in Bach’s Cantata BWV128, which Reger takes as the subject of his Bach Variations, and it may fairly be advanced that Reger accorded Bach a comparably divine status. At the age of just 31, Reger had by this stage assimilated not only Bachian counterpoint but its transformation through the ears and imaginations of Schumann and Brahms and others, and he proceeds to treat the theme with astonishing freedom, testing the technique of the performer while reaching for the limits of the theme’s musical possibilities over the course of 14 variations. The cycle concludes with a mighty fugue – or fugues, on separate subjects (of Reger’s own devising, eventually welded with the Bach theme). In his booklet essay, Eden Walker remarks that the final bars are ‘some of the most colossal and victorious of any in the entire piano repertoire.’
By contrast, as a salutary demonstration of Reger’s versatility, the Träume am Kamin present him at his most relaxed and intimate, and anyone who has found it hard to warm to Reger will surely find in this cycle a delightful entry-point to an often forbidding catalogue. ‘Dreams by the Fireside’ – Reger’s knotty chromatic harmony still underpins the progress of these Romantic sketches, but now disguised by a touch of the ‘lateness’ that comes over many artists towards the end of their lives or careers, whether or not they were aware of it. This cycle was Reger’s final piano cycle before his death in 1916, aged 41, and the mood of the cycle is perhaps also marked by a necessary escapism from the violent bloodshed around him.
Born in 1995, Eden Walker has become a specialist in the ultra-virtuoso end of Romantic piano writing at the hands of composers such as Alkan, Busoni and Godowsky (and Reger). Based in Hamburg, he now teaches at the Staatliche Jugendmusikschule, as well as furthering his own studies and giving concerts across Germany and the UK.
- This new recording presents two pianistic masterworks by Max Reger: the Bach Variations Op. 81 and the cycle Träume am Kamin.
- Max Reger (1873–1916), hailed as "the last giant in music" by composer Paul Hindemith, occupies a commanding position in the late Romantic and early 20th-century German musical landscape. Reger's musical legacy marks a distinct bridge between the 19th-century Romantic tradition and the burgeoning complexities of the 20th century.
- Reger's music is defined by dense textures, chromatic harmonies, and meticulous contrapuntal craftsmanship. His compositions, characterized by a demanding technical prowess, require performers and listeners to engage intellectually. Influenced by predecessors like Johann Sebastian Bach, and Johannes Brahms, Reger aimed to reconcile Romantic expression with the contrapuntal rigor of the Baroque era, while embracing modernist perspectives that pushed the boundaries of tonality.
- The Bach Variations Op. 81 offer everything that is characteristic of Reger’s advanced style – sophisticated harmonies, a dizzying abundance of notes, roaring climaxes, monumental architecture, and seamless polyphony.
- The Träume am Kamin is a cycle of modestly scaled, intimate character pieces, charming and melodious.
- Eden Walker, born in 1995, is a British pianist based in Hamburg, Germany. His focus on delving into the underrepresented virtuoso piano works of composers such as Reger, Busoni, Alkan, and Godowsky has earned him a reputation as a pianist adept at navigating the technical and intellectual intricacies of this challenging repertoire.
