Reger: Organ Works, Vol. 16 Christian Barthen

• 1 No. 1. Prelude and Fugue in C Major: Prelude 03:02
• 2 No. 1. Prelude and Fugue in C Major: Fugue 05:38
• 3 No. 2. Fantasie, Te deum laudamus 08:16
• 4 No. 3. Fugue in D Minor 07:44
• 5 Invention No. 1 in C Major, BWV 772 01:32
• 6 Invention No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 773 02:06
• 7 Invention No. 3 in D Major, BWV 774 01:36
• 8 Invention No. 4 in D Minor, BWV 775 01:31
• 9 Invention No. 5 in E-Flat Major, BWV 776 02:11
• 10 Invention No. 6 in E Major, BWV 777 02:36
• 11 Invention No. 7 in E Minor, BWV 778 01:36
• 12 Invention No. 8 in F Major, BWV 779 01:18
• 13 Invention No. 9 in F Minor, BWV 780 01:55
• 14 Invention No. 10 in G Major, BWV 781 01:12
• 15 Invention No. 11 in G Minor, BWV 782 01:52
• 16 Invention No. 12 in A Major, BWV 783 02:04
• 17 Invention No. 13 in A Minor, BWV 784 01:51
• 18 Invention No. 14 in B-Flat Major, BWV 785 01:57
• 19 Invention No. 15 in B Minor, BWV 786 01:37
• 20 No. 36. Sollt ich meinem Gott nicht singen 02:56
• 21 No. 37. Straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn 02:06
• 22 No. 38. Valet will ich dir geben 02:14
• 23 Prelude in C Minor, WoO 8, No. 6 01:27
• 24 Fugue in C Minor, WoO 4, No. 8 02:21
• 25 Prelude 02:52
• 26 Fugue 02:58
• 27 Toccata 03:06
• 28 Fugue 03:50
• Total Runtime 01:15:24

Info for Reger: Organ Works, Vol. 16

Reger’s status as the supreme German organ composer since J. S. Bach has never been seriously challenged, and this disc explores some of the inspiration that Reger found in his great model. Some of the earliest music here, such as the Three Organ Pieces, Op. 7, is thoroughly imbued with the spirit of Bach – though as yet it lacks the chromaticism that was to be a feature of Reger’s later writing. Together with his good friend and fellow organist Karl Straube, Reger wrote a sequence of inventions, based on Bach’s 1723 Two- Part Inventions that ingeniously cultivate complete independence between the three parts, to which they gave the title Method of Trio Playing. This is the final volume in the critically acclaimed 16 CD series of Max Reger’s complete organ works.

„Turn the clock back a decade and more, and Naxos embarked on the first volume of Max Reger’s complete organ works. Now with volume 16 it reaches its conclusion. This final release sweeps up the ‘bits and pieces’, and is filled out by his arrangement of two works by Bach. This release opens with Three Organ Pieces completed when he was twenty and still a student. The excellent sleeve notes suggest they were imbued with the spirit of Bach, though a personal harmonic style is already showing. For the organ student the adaptation by Reger and Straube of Bach’s Method of Trio Playing is to make the 15 Inventions even more challenging. In Christian Barthen we have a model of dexterity and clarity throughout the disc, Reger’s own Prelude and Fugues here receiving his fulsome treatment, the Rieger-Sauer Organ in Fulda Cathedral snarling with a red-blooded quality that is spine-tingling. Excellent sound.“ (David Denton, David's Review Corner)

Christian Barthen, organ

Christian Barthen
born 1984 in Saarbrücken has been a prize-winner in a number of international organ competitions, including the "Johann Sebastian Bach Competition" in Wiesbaden (D), the International Organ Competition of St. Maurice d'Agaune (CH) and the outstanding "Grand Prix de Chartres" (F).

His career as a performer takes him frequently to international festivals and concert series throughout Europe.

In the years 2011 and 2012 he gave concerts as a soloist in the cathedrals of Chartres, Auch and Le Havre in France, Altenberg, Bamberg, Fulda, Mainz, Magdeburg and Osnabrück in Germany, in the Philharmonic of Essen, the concert Hall "Stefaniensaal" in Graz and has had several appearances in Switzerland and in Italy.

In 2013 he will perform in the Cathedrals of Berlin, Magdeburg and Ulm, Christ Church in Mannheim and the Cathedral Notre Dame of Paris.

Since 2012, he is recording artist and co-producer within the "Organ Encyclopedia" of the CD label Naxos. His debut CD with organ works of Max Reger was recorded in August 2012 at the historic Steinmeyer organ of the Christ Church in Mannheim (Germany) - further recordings are planned for 2013.

Christian Barthen studied organ, piano and harpsichord performance, sacred music and music education at the University of Music/Saar.

His principal teachers in Saarbrücken were Andreas Rothkopf, Wolfgang Rubsam, Jean Micault and Robert Leonardy.

Private studies led him between 2011 and 2012 to Philippe Lefebvre at the Cathedral Notre-Dame in Paris.

Since 2012, he is studying in the soloist class of Prof. Dr. Ludger Lohmann at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart.

Booklet for Reger: Organ Works, Vol. 16