page_title: Der 100. Psalm
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Der 100. Psalm / History
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Innenansicht des Konzerthauses in Breslau, ca. 1925.
context_page_description: Der 100. Psalm, Op. 106, is a composition in four movements by Max Reger in D major for mixed choir and orchestra, a late Romantic setting of Psalm 100. Reger began composing the work in 1908 for the 350th anniversary of Jena University. The occasion was celebrated that year with the premiere of Part I, conducted by Fritz Stein on 31 July. Reger completed the composition in 1909. It was published that year and premiered simultaneously on 23 February 1910 in Chemnitz, conducted by the composer, and in Breslau, conducted by Georg Dohrn.
  Reger structured the text in four movements, as a choral symphony. He scored it for a four-part choir with often divided voices, a large symphony orchestra, and organ. He requested additional brass players for the climax in the last movement when four trumpets and four trombones play the melody of Luther's chorale "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott". Reger used both late-Romantic features of harmony and dynamics, and polyphony in the Baroque tradition, culminating in the final movement, a double fugue with the added instrumental cantus firmus.
context_section_description: Reger wrote the first part of the work for the 350th anniversary of Jena University. He based the composition on Martin Luther's translation of the psalm. Reger composed the first movement in Leipzig, beginning on 24 April 1908 and working on it until early July. He dedicated it "Der hohen Philosophischen Fakultät der Universität Jena zum 350jährigen Jubiläum der Universität Jena" (To the High Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Jena for the 350th anniversary of the University). Part I was first performed on 31 July 1908 at the ceremony marking the 350th anniversary. Fritz Stein conducted the Akademischer Chor Jena and the Sängerschaft zu St. Pauli, the band of the Erfurt Infantry Regiment 71, members of the Weimar court orchestra (Weimarer Hofkapelle) and organist Kurt Gorn. After the first performance, Reger received an honorary doctorate from Jena University. Reger demanded many rehearsals of the conductor and wrote to him: 
  "Die Hörer des Psalms müssen nachher als 'Relief‘ an der Wand kleben; ich will, dass der Psalm eine niederschmetternde Wirkung bekommt! Also sei so gut und besorge das!"
  After it’s over the listeners must be stuck to the wall like a relief; I want the psalm to be earth-shaking in its impact! So please be so kind and make it happen!
  
  Reger completed the composition of the psalm by adding three more movements from May to August 1909. Edition Peters in Leipzig published the work, beginning in September 1909 with the vocal score, for which Reger prepared the piano reduction. The full score and the parts appeared in December that year. The complete work was premiered simultaneously on 23 February 1910 in Chemnitz and Breslau. In Chemnitz, Reger conducted at the church of St. Lukas the church choir and the municipal orchestra (Städtische Kapelle), with Georg Stolz at the organ. In Breslau, Georg Dohrn conducted the Sing-Akademie and the Orchester-Verein, with organist Max Ansorge. A reviewer wrote in the trade paper Neue Musik-Zeitung: 
  "Noch unter dem Eindruck des Gehörten, des Miterlebten stehend, ist es mir unsagbar schwer, all das Tiefempfundene, das Erhabene und Göttliche jener Stunde hier zum Ausdruck zu bringen. Man war tief erschüttert, als die gewaltige Doppelfuge verklungen war, hatte etwas Unvergessliches erlebt."
  Still under the impression of what we heard and experienced, it is unspeakably difficult for me to express here all the deeply experienced, the sublime and divine of that hour. One was deeply shaken, when the gigantic double fugue ended, knowing that one had experienced something unforgettable.
caption: Konzerthaus Breslau, c. 1925
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