Max Reger's 1915 Requiem, Op. 144b, is a late Romantic setting of Friedrich Hebbel's poem "Requiem" for alto or baritone solo, chorus and orchestra. It is Reger's last completed work for chorus and orchestra, dedicated in the autograph as Dem Andenken der im Kriege 1914/15 gefallenen deutschen Helden.
First page from the autograph of the piano version of the Requiem, with title and dedication
Isle of the Dead by Arnold Böcklin
Friedrich Hebbel, painting by Carl Rahl, 1855
The composer at work, painting by Franz Nölken, 1913
Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, a musical director at the Leipzig University Church, a professor at the Royal Conservatory in Leipzig, and a music director at the court of Duke Georg II of Saxe-Meiningen.
Reger at the piano, c. 1910
The composer at work, painting by Franz Nölken, 1913
Reger's grave, Munich Waldfriedhof
Recording session with Max Reger for the Welte-Philharmonic-Organ, 1913