Max Reger and Ukraine in the Context of Music Research and Performing Practice

Abstract

The authors highlight the main directions and approaches to the study of the legacy of the outstanding composer, conductor, performer and teacher Max Reger. Its 150th anniversary was celebrated on the European territory on March 19, 2023. The significant contribution of German musicology to the scientific development of Reger's legacy made it possible to expand the idea of the composer's work in informative-biographical, theoretical, musical-textological and performing aspects. The invaluable contribution of Max Reger's widow, Elsa Reger, who published the autobiography "My life with and for Max Reger" in order to disseminate any possible information about the character and work of her husband, is described. It is noted that during the artist's lifetime he was considered old-fashioned, and his music was seen as too difficult to understand. It was found that modern musicologists point out the uniqueness of the figure of M. Reger, which is manifested in his collection of key achievements of German culture and his contribution to the consolidation of stylistic trends from post-Romanticism to Neoclassicism. An attempt was made to trace the influence of M. Reger's music on the stylistic practice of Ukrainian composers, but, unfortunately, it was not successful due to the lack of confirmed facts. A coincidence in the activities and priorities of M. Reger and M. Skoryk was revealed, analogies with the work of the Ukrainian composer arose in the process of research. Such analogies include: the national idea "as the main factor in the formation of meaning-making landmarks" as well as the attitude of composers to sound material and its organization. Recently, there has been activity in the development of Ukrainian Regeriana, which is felt, first of all, in the last decades. Information about the latest research and interpretive approaches to the performance of M. Reger's music has been introduced into the scientific circulation in connection with his 150th anniversary. It is proved that the change in the vector of European performance practice at the turn of the 20th-21st centuries towards an increase in the significant weight of the performance of intellectual music determined M. Reger's work as a component of musical culture and a paradigm of the composer's influence already on modern performance in the world as a process. The figure of M. Reger is considered as one that resonates with his famous predecessor J.S. Bach. A conclusion is made regarding Reger's music, which is experiencing a renaissance period, demonstrates its scale, emotional and creative potential, but still remains underappreciated in Ukraine.