University of Regensburg: Max Reger’s Romance in A minor – the music piece of the week, performed by Lars David Kellner

University of Regensburg - Music piece of the week: Max Reger’s Romance in A minor, WoO IV/11

“Reason enough to feature this work in the ‘Music piece of the week’ series, performed by Lars David Kellner.”

The Music Piece of the Week

With “The Music Piece of the Week,” members of the Institute of Musicology post a weekly audio recommendation with a personal touch online during the lecture period—to listen to, be inspired by, and explore further. We welcome your feedback!

Concept: PD Dr. Michael Braun

Current music piece of the week

April 13–19, 2026: selected by Sigrid Bloch

For the 13th podcast episode on the topic of “unknown musical instruments,” Lars David Kellner was a guest for an interview; he introduced the harmonium, or more specifically, the art harmonium. What makes this instrument unique is the ability to vary the volume, which is not achieved through touch dynamics as on the piano, nor solely through the use of appropriate stops as on the organ, but rather through the increased or decreased air supply via the foot pedals and the “swell slats,” which can be opened and closed using knee levers. This allows the volume to rise and fall even during sustained notes or chords. During the conversation, we discussed composers who have written music for the (art) harmonium. Mr. Kellner shared insights from his source research and discussed original compositions by Franz Liszt, Leoš Janáček, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Max Reger, and Sigfrid Karg-Elert, among others. He explained that the works often indicate the instrument or instruments for which they were intended. Thus, the scores contain notes such as “for piano or harmonium” or “for organ or harmonium” or simply “for a keyboard instrument.”

To wrap up the podcast, he requested Max Reger’s Romance in A minor, WoO IV/11, as an audio example for the “art harmonium.” Reason enough to feature this work in the “Music Piece of the Week” series, performed by Lars David Kellner.

The number of original compositions by Max Reger for harmonium or art harmonium is modest: there are only two works for these instruments, namely the Fughetta in A minor, WoO IV/18 (composed in 1901/02) and the Romance in A minor for harmonium or organ, WoO IV/11, composed in 1904. Reger’s other works for harmonium consist of arrangements of his own compositions—primarily songs—as well as arrangements of (at the time) popular and well-loved pieces by other composers, such as the collection Selected Pieces by Classical and Modern Masters Arranged for the Harmonium (1898/1899). In addition, many of Max Reger’s works were transcribed for harmonium by other musicians—including his father, Josef.

Today, harmoniums are mostly found in small chapels as a substitute for a large (and expensive) pipe organ. It is a keyboard instrument that requires no electricity at all, since the player himself or herself must generate the airflow that moves the freely vibrating metal reeds by constantly stepping on foot pedals. During Max Reger’s lifetime, most middle-class homes did not have a piano but rather a harmonium, as it was more affordable, easier to transport, and required little maintenance: around 1900, twice as many harmoniums were sold in the Western world as pianos.

It is therefore not surprising that Max Reger’s parents’ home initially had a small house organ, which was replaced by a harmonium in the 1890s. For Josef Reger, Max’s father, was already a passionate harmonium player.

Max Reger lived in Munich from 1901 onward, where he taught at the Royal Academy of Music and worked as a composer and pianist. Yet a harmonium was indispensable in the Munich household as well. In a letter, he noted: “A harmonium is absolutely essential for the music room!”

For the Romance in A minor, our “Music Piece of the Week,” Max Reger received as a “gift in return” from the piano and harmonium manufacturer M. J. Schramm a specially crafted “new pedal harmonium with 2 manuals, pedal […], so large that it even has an 8’ in the pedal; (in addition to a 16')”, as he himself reported in a letter. This so-called Hofberg organ is now housed at the Max Reger Institute in Karlsruhe (Durlach).

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