Reger, Max: Suiten

Max Reger's Opus 131 of 1914 - 1915 is really four opuses in one, each of which explores a different kind of music for solo string instrument. The third of these four sub-opuses, three Suites for cello solo, Op. 131c remains today the best known of the Opus 131 music. As Germany's leading composer for the organ at the turn of the twentieth century, Reger quite naturally was drawn in musical directions that echo those taken by J.S. Bach; that Reger should as a result show the same interest in solo string music that the Baroque master did is no surprise at all. The three Cello Suites, Op. 131c, are entirely original works, but anyone familiar with Bach's Six Suites for unaccompanied cello will nevertheless immediately feel at home with the Reger pieces. The three suites are in G major, D minor, and A minor, and have three, four, and three movements, respectively.