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The Straube Code: Deciphering the Metronome Marks in Max Reger’s Organ Music

Henrico Stewen: The Straube Code: Deciphering the Metronome Marks in Max Reger’s Organ Music
Sibelius Academy, Church Music Department, PO Box 86, 00251, Helsinki, Finland
ISBN 978-952-5531-38-1; ISSN 0787-7838

This is a revised version of part of the author’s doctoral thesis on the performance of Max Reger’s organ music. Chapter one considers the issues surrounding the metronome marks and Straube’s role in changing them. Chapter two looks in greater detail at the problems: Reger considered Straube to be the greatest interpreter of his music, so it is important that the rationale for the markings and the changes are well understood. The third and final chapter provides valuable conclusions as to how to interpret the marks and the music more generally. Though running to little over thirty pages, this pamphlet deserves to be widely read, as it is a valuable addition to the repertoire and the understanding of a composer of such complexity

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