After the harmonious and artistically fruitful beginning in Leipzig, the difficulties with his surroundings grow; every negative review and every weak concert attendance deeply upsets Reger, so that he again increasingly seeks confirmation on concert tours, which take him as far as London. Like his Wolf essay (Hugo Wolfs künstlerischer Nachlass [RWV Schriften A3], 1903), his article on occasion of Mendelssohn’s 100th birthday (Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdys »Lieder ohne Worte« [RWV Schriften A11]) becomes an indictment of the unintelligent social environment.

In January, the 17-year-old Adolf Busch, accompanied by his brother Fritz at the piano, plays Reger’s Violin Concerto in A major, Op. 101, from memory to the composer in Cologne. The encounter marks the beginning of a close artistic friendship that continues beyond Reger’s death. Reconciliation takes place with Max Schillings, who has become general music director in Stuttgart, and subsequently Reger rejoins the ADMV. With his almost classical String Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 109, Reger wins the attention of those quartet associations that had reservations about the »wild« predecessor, Opus 74 from 1903.