Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 1873 – 11 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher.

In 1888, Reger was invited by his uncle Johann Baptist Ulrich to visit the Bayreuth Festival, where he heard Richard Wagner's operas Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Parsifal.

In late summer of that year, Reger wrote his first major composition, the Overture in B minor, an unpublished work for orchestra with 120 pages.

Lindner sent the score to Hugo Riemann, who replied positively but warned him against Wagner's influence and to write melodies instead of motifs.

At his father's request, he sent the latter two works to composer Josef Rheinberger, a professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, who recognized his talents.

[7] Reger moved to Munich in September 1901, where he obtained concert offers and where his rapid rise to fame began.

During his first Munich season, Reger appeared in ten concerts as an organist, chamber pianist and accompanist.

[5] He composed eight motets as his Acht geistliche Gesänge für gemischten Chor (Eight Sacred Songs, Op.

[5][8] The proofs of Acht geistliche Gesänge, including "Der Mensch lebt und bestehet nur eine kleine Zeit", were found next to his bed.

In 1930, on the wishes of Reger's widow Elsa, his remains were moved to a grave of honour in Munich Waldfriedhof.

Among his students were Joseph Haas, Sándor Jemnitz, Jaroslav Kvapil, Ruben Liljefors, Aarre Merikanto, Sofie Rohnstock, George Szell and Cristòfor Taltabull.

Reger wrote a large amount of music for organ, the most popular being the Benedictus from the collection Op.

Reger recorded some of his works on the Welte Philharmonic organ, including excerpts from 52 Chorale Preludes, Op.

It was dedicated to Straube, who gave its first performance in 1913 to inaugurate the Wilhelm Sauer organ at the opening of the Breslau Centennial Hall.

[14][15] Reger was particularly attracted to the fugal form and created music in almost every genre, save for opera and the symphony (he did, however, compose a Sinfonietta, his Op.

His work often combined the classical structures of these composers with the extended harmonies of Liszt and Wagner, to which he added the complex counterpoint of Bach.

He intensively pursued Brahms's continuous development and free modulation, whilst being rooted in Bach-influenced polyphony.

Psalm and Requiem, a setting of a poem by Friedrich Hebbel, which Reger dedicated to the soldiers of World War I.

[5] Reger had an acrimonious relationship with Rudolf Louis, the music critic of the Münchener Neueste Nachrichten, who usually had negative opinions of his compositions.

A letter he sent to Alexander von Zemlinsky in 1922 states: "Reger...must in my view be done often; 1, because he has written a lot; 2, because he is already dead and people are still not clear about him.

)"[18] The documentary Max Reger – Music as a perpetual state, by Andreas Pichler [de] and Ewald Kontschieder, Miramonte Film, was released in 2002.

The set was produced by Fugue State Films and in addition to the documentary includes excerpts from Reger's most important works for orchestra, piano, chamber ensemble and organ, with performances by Frauke May, Bernhard Haas, Bernhard Buttmann and the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt.