Reger: 3 Suites for Viola Solo

Max Reger (1873-1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor and teacher. His love and devotion for Johann Sebastian Bach, to whom he dedicated more than 50 of his works, certainly stands out in his compositional work. In the words of Massimo Mila, he was 'a supreme chiseller of chamber music, he loved restoring ancient contrapuntal forms: fugues, passacaglias, chaconnes, suites, etc.'. The Three Suites for viola Op.131d are an example of his contrapuntal restoration and reinvention. The suites were completed in 1915, a year before the composer's death, and are the coda to a 'collection', Op.131, of works in an ancient Bachian style.

The three suites all emphasize the polyphonic nature of an instrument that has always (and still today) been considered monodic. Bach's inspiration is evident from the very first notes, and continues in the contrapuntal alternation of several voices, both in a vertical sense, thus of chordal writing, and in a horizontal sense, thus of exchange of voices, lucidly exploiting the difference in timbres, between high and low, using the unique timbre of the viola. Inevitably a child of his time, Reger, too, experienced the human dissent of late Romanticism, and the melancholic, warm but also pungent timbre of the viola reflects this introspection.

A pupil of Bruno Giuranna, Luca Sanzò has performed as soloist and in collaboration with renowned musicians in many of the major concert halls of the world. He is Professor of Viola at the Conservatorium “Santa Cecilia” in Rome.

Krzysztof Penderecki (1933-2020) , Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-1881) , Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) , Igor Strawinsky (1882-1971)

• Britten: Elegy for unaccompanied viola
• Penderecki: Cadenza for solo viola
• Reger: Suite No. 1 in G minor for Solo Viola, Op. 131d
• Reger: Suite No. 2, Op. 131d
• Reger: Suite No. 3 in E minor, Op. 131d
• Stravinsky: Elegy, for solo viola
• Vieuxtemps: Capriccio in C Minor, 'Hommage à Paganini,' Op. 55