J.S. Bach's Solo Violin Chaconne in D Minor as Creatively Revisited by Max Reger's Three Solo Violin Chaconnes from Opp. 42, 91 and 117 PDF Download

Author: Yuhong Tu
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Chaconne
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"Bach's Chaconne in D minor for solo violin is one of the most famous pieces in the violin repertoire. Although Max Reger also wrote three important Chaconnes, these pieces are less familiar to musicians. Reger's three Chaconnes--op. 42/4, op. 91/7 and op. 117/4--were composed during the first ten years of the twentieth century, modeled and stylized after Bach's Chaconne. These Chaconnes' structural elements are borrowed significantly from an earlier era, but their harmonic practice comports with that of the fin de siècle, the era during which Reger lived. The combination of earlier Baroque forms and early twentieth-century Modernist influences in Reger's three Chaconnes is singular and has been branded at once "conservative" and "radical" ever since their publication. During Reger's lifetime, many critics were provoked by his music. However, after the middle of the twentieth century, interest in Reger has increased, both in terms of performance and scholarly research. Musicologists and critics are now reconsidering his aesthetic and historical influences, while musicians are performing and recording his pieces. Scholarly research on Reger has not only been conducted in Europe, but also in the United States. (My thesis advisor, Dr. Ira Braus, introduced me to this neglected yet remarkable composer). By way of expanding the renewed interest in Reger, my study analyzes his three solo violin Chaconnes, op. 42/4, op. 91/7, and op. 117/4. It also offers a second look into how Baroque compositional styles--as well as those of Reger's own time--influenced these works, and how Reger creatively merged historicism and modernism to forge a paradoxically "conservative" yet "radical" compositional style of his own." -- author's abstract.