Christian Bohnenstengel

Max Reger's Telemann Variations, Op.134 Christian Bohnenstengel

Max Reger's music is not widely known and performed. His music is often thought of as dense, highly chromatic, and hard to digest. The Telemann Variations offer a different view of this highly prolific composer, who was regarded as the most important composer next to Richard Strauss in early twentieth-century Germany. The theme, a minuet in binary form, is taken from Telemann's Tafelmusik in B-flat Major. The variations exhibit a transparent texture, regular phrases, and formal balance. There is a fair amount of literature about the life and music of Reger. However, the Telemann Variations themselves have not been the subject of many scholarly writings. This document examines Reger's performance style at the piano based on newspaper reviews, witness reports, and letters describing his pianism. It also provides a general introduction to the Telemann Variations, a musical analysis of each variation, and a new edition. The appendices include a list of Reger's personal piano performance repertoire, piano compositions, and piano roll recordings.