1. Leipzig

Max Reger 1908, photograph by , with Reger’s own handwritten dedication (»Fräulein Martha | Ruben | 25. V. 08 | von Max Reger«). – Max-Reger-Institut, Karlsruhe.
Max Reger 1908, photograph by Martha Ruben, with Reger’s own handwritten dedication (»Fräulein Martha | Ruben | 25. V. 08 | von Max Reger«). – Max-Reger-Institut, Karlsruhe.

Reger interrupts the completion of the Violin Concerto in A major, Op. 101, after the second movement in order to compose the Piano Trio in E minor, Op. 102, under greatest time pressure, the premiere of which takes place already in March at the Leipzig Gewandhaus from the manuscript. On the occasion of its acclaimed repetition at the Darmstadt Chamber Music Festival, Reger is awarded the Silver Medal for Art and Science by the Grand Duke of Hesse. For the 350th anniversary of the University of Jena he composes the 1st part of the 100th Psalm, Op. 106, and receives the philosophical honorary doctorate after the first performance. Reger befriends the sculptor Max Klinger and the writer Richard Dehmel.

Elsa Reger has to spend the months from February to July almost continuously in hospital and for the subsequent rehabilitation in a sanatorium near Todtmoos in the Black Forest. The Reger household is run during this time by the singer Martha Ruben, with whom Reger has been acquainted since his time in Munich, and his pupil Paul Aron. In October, the Reger couple takes a second girl into their family: Selma Charlotte, called Lotti.

The premiere of the Violin Concerto at the Leipzig Gewandhaus under the baton of Arthur Nikisch and with the dedicatee Henri Marteau as soloist is positively received only by Arthur Smolian. Reger’s concert activity resumes with its old intensity, now even intensified by increasing engagements as a conductor.

Postal items from this year whose sender or addressee is Max Reger.


Images from the Max Reger Foto Gallery that originate from this year and have a direct reference to Max Reger.


Reference

Max Reger Biography – 1908, in: Max-Reger-Portal, www.maxreger.info/biography/1908, Max Reger Biography Data, V. 3.1.0, last check: 28th March 2024.