Reger’s Three Suites for Solo Viola, op.131d Historical hints and practical tips for performing these innovative viola solos

BY HARTMUT ROHDESOLOIST AND PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS, BERLIN

FALLING SOMEWHERE BETWEEN concert pieces and etudes, Max Reger’s Three Suites for Solo Viola (1915) are some of the fi rst major solo works for the instrument. After fi nishing the Preludes and Fugues for Solo Violin op.131a and the Cello Suites op.131c, Reger clearly intended the viola suites to complete a small cycle of representative works for all three instruments, highlighting their individual sound qualities. The suites are dedicated, in numerical order, to Reger’s close friend Heinrich Walther, conductor and violin virtuoso Richard Sahla, and violinist Joseph Hösl, a gifted violinist who advised Reger in matters of string playing. A fourth suite was due to be dedicated to Karl Doktor, the violist of the Busch Quartet, but Reger’s death in 1916 left this plan unfulfi lled.

In the early 20th century many composers tried to push the boundaries and search for a way out of the cul-de-sac of traditional expression. It was Schoenberg who fi nally dared to create another tonal system that opened new windows of artistic endeavour. The creative revolution extended not just to harmonic expression but also to the musical markings on the page: Liszt, Mahler, Schoenberg and Reger were among those who loaded their scores with unprecedented numbers of tempo variations and dynamics. Reger even marked all his dynamics in red ink, as well all bowings, tempos, and even fl ageolets, whether in a solo piece or an enormous orchestral score. His attention to detail in these matters is one of the most important points to bear in mind when studying the Three Suites.

MASTERCLASS Expert guidance for practice and performanceC

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TEMPOS, STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICSSlow tempos should be played as indicated in the score, but with a constant fl ow of energy. Use rubato where it is clearly required, such as in sequences containing strong harmonic progressions. With any slow Reger movement, you need to avoid playing metronomically throughout; one of his former students once told me that the composer was fond of saying, ‘My music has to be played in waves.’ On the other hand, you should rein in fast tempos and be aware of the work’s inner harmonic tempo. The best example of this can be seen in the last movement of the G minor suite, which is marked molto vivace. This is not like the Presto in Bach’s G minor Sonata for Solo Violin BWV1001; Leopold Mozart considered vivace to be just below allegretto on the tempo scale. In Reger’s compositions, there are a huge number of lively, inventive and delicate turns in the music that would be lost if players simply rushed through them.

Reger often creates dialogues in monotonic lines, for example in bars 11 and 12 of the G minor suite’s fi rst

movement (fi gure 1). The lines have to be regarded as two voices, and played with two slightly different sounds or articulations. Here we have one of the most important points of being a great musician: the capacity to feel and respond to an ever-changing awareness of colours and sounds – and sometimes tempo – within the music, and within ourselves. That extraordinary fl exibility is evident when you listen to recordings of Mahler’s or Saint-Saëns’s playing, or read about Brahms’s style of interpretation. We can also be sure that Beethoven performed with a natural, alert fl exibility, though he considered the metronome a very helpful tool for fi nding the correct tempo at the start of a movement, and for keeping the tempo even within movements.

The movements’ mid-sections often feature a rhapsodic or appassionato passage, such as the second movement of the D major suite (fi gure 2). We can feel a degree of freedom to leave an exact metronomic meter here, so that these passages can fi t together with the cantabile parts. As well as an organic sense of freedom to go with the intensity of emotion and expression.

Dynamic markings at the end of crescendos or diminuendos show the end of the previous line’s development, and naturally also the end of a phrase. If the new dynamic is marked at the beginning of a new phrase, as in bars

4 and 5 of the D major suite’s second movement (fi gure 3), there should be a clear difference in interpretation. Diminuendo signs indicate a loss of sound and a little energy; crescendos mean the opposite. Poco rit, rit and molto rit are used a lot more and mostly indicate the end of a longer phrase, or rather a whole section. It is important to play these rits a little differently, as otherwise the whole architecture of the work can be lost.

Reger was fond of saying, ‘My music has to be played in waves’

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poco a poco dim.

The G minor suite’s fi rst movement (bars 11 and 12) contains a dialogue, to be played as two voices1

3

2

3dim.

cresc.

There’s a degree of freedom in tempo during the second movement of the D major suite (bars 25—30)2

The use of vibrato is of great interest and importance. In Brahms’s day, it was still used as a kind of embellishment. In fact, listeners regarded the constant use of vibrato as ‘tasteless’, and had a tendency to cut off the difference between dolce and espressivo. That said, vibrato was not as well developed as it is today. Now that established methods of vibrato are a mainstay of modern playing, in fact, the ‘human voice’ character of the music can sometimes be lost owing to the

machine-like tendencies of modern vibrato. For example, in the Molto sostenuto of the fi rst movement, we should avoid using too much vibrato at the end of the exposition (fi gure 4). This allows us to enhance it for the written espressivo at the beginning of the development section. The portato afterwards hardly needs to be vibrated at all, and I am sure we should make the following repeated motive espressivo as well, even though it is not written.

FIRST SUITE DETAILSThere are many points of interest within the fi rst suite in G minor. In the fi rst three bars (fi gure 5), each crescendo and diminuendo should feel as if you’re releasing and increasing energy within the forte. It would be wrong to go down to mp or p each time, as this reduces the energy of a longer opening line.

Tenuto marks are an indication to go against the still-common Classical tradition: notes have to be prolonged orplayed with emphasis and weight.

There should be a clear difference in interpretation between bars 4 and 5 of the D major suite’s second movement3

3 3

poco rit. a tempo

espress.

Avoid too much vibrato at the end of the exposition in the G minor suite’s fi rst movement (bars 14—15)4

espress.Molto sostenuto

sempre

The dynamics at the start of the G minor suite give a sense of energy being released5

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espress.

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The harmonics in bar 21 give a particular tone colour6

Andante rit. espress.Andantino

Fine

In the second movement, the andante ritardando in bar 50 can drop below the tempo of the following andantino7

Reger places tenutos on notes that normally have a sense of energy being released, or to show a more cantabile character within another context. The fi rst tenuto in bar 4 starts a new energy on the second beat, for example.

The double-stops need extremely good fi ngering. Play them using the rules that are found in technical books such as Dounis, Flesch or Galamian. It takes practice to be able to feel a double-stop as if it were one note; try playing some different chords on the piano and transfer this feeling to the fi ngerboard of the viola. Lift and place both fi ngers at the same time, and make sure you do the exchanges extremely close to the string. The motion should be a smooth slide over, with a tiny amount of contact; avoid any jumping movements. Many sixths can also be played with fi ngerings such as 1–2,1–2, 2–3,2–3 or 3–4,3–4. Don’t imagine that these are somehow ‘cheap’ fi ngerings – they sometimes just sound the best. The general hand and arm position is well balanced between the two strings.

Harmonics, such as those in bar 21 (fi gure 6), give a particular tone colour that Reger preferred. You could easily replicate this with a well-vibrated proper note, but that would be to disrespect Reger’s intentions.

The portato in the development section of the fi rst movement (fi gure 4) comes from the Baroque and Classical tradition, and thus has more in common with a legato than with an up-bow staccato. Therefore it’s best not to stop the bow between the single notes. Most of Reger’s Bach-style leadings and Baroque idioms, as in this example, are done on purpose and are sometimes underlined by espressivo or dolce markings. It shows the composer’s great respect and admiration for Bach.

In the second movement, don’t let the beginning sound like a pick-up. As in Brahms, hemiolas should be played as a very important change in pulse. The movement requires lots of scherzando humour and irony. The andante ritardando (fi gure 7) is suddenly strong and can drop below the tempo of the following andantino, which can be played quite fl uidly and with an organic sense of breathing between the subito register changes. The dots in this movement call for spiccato rather than a real short staccato.

FINAL THOUGHTSIn each of the fi nal movements, the détaché is very much on the string. The left hand should always feel the

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harmonies in advance, like a broken chord. Reger indicates arpeggiations throughout, as soon as three- or four-note chords occur. This is a tradition that harks back to Mozart and Haydn, who wrote them to increase the sound on the instrument. I believe that Reger did not want chords to be played together, but rather as a rolling crescendo towards the upper note, which at the end of the arpeggiation should function and sound as a melodic tone.

Finally, the most important rule for the Three Suites is to have fun playing them. They might feel more like etudes than pure concert works, but the key is to make the music sound like it is being improvised brilliantly, and straight from the heart.

There are a huge number of lively, inventive turns in the music that would be lost if players simply rushed through them

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