Three Suites for Viola solo. Opus 131d

Three Suites for Viola solo, op. 131d by Max Reger (1873 - 1916), were written in the last year of his life, our version is based on the first printed edition of the Suites which was published in three volumes by N. Simrock, Berlin and Leipzig, in 1916. Fortunately, one of the copies of the first edition can be found at the National Endowment for the Humanities, located in Washington, DC, United States. The work of the Viola Suites solo, possibly completed a great idea of his work, because by then, in the difficult moments of the First World War, Reger had completed several works for violin and cello. Of which he dedicated the first suite to his friend Dr. Heinrich Walther, the second suite to Professor Richard Sahla, composer, virtuoso violinist and conductor of the Bückeburg court, and lastly, the third suite was dedicated to his friend from Munich, the violinist Josef Hösl, who frequently participated in premiere performances of Reger's music. On October 9, 1917, the violinist and violist Else Mendel-Oberüber originally from East Prussia (today Olsztyn in Poland), premiered at the Bechstein Hall in Berlin, the Three Suites for Viola solo. To preserve the faithful compositional intention, we place the volume dynamics and expressive dynamics, as logically as possible, following the movements of the melodic line; some nuances from the first edition are in places inaccurately, resulting in a deterioration or confusion for the interpretation, therefore, the editor has proposed to place the dynamics using the notehead as a guide. We have carefully removed several of Reger's many unnecessary accidental warnings in favor of a more modern musical spelling, yet we have considered and kept the clef changes suggested by the first edition. Some editor's suggestions have been placed in square brackets.