Max Reger Chronology | 1896

Reger attends a concert of the museum society in Frankfurt in February, where Richard Strauss conducts his Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche and Ferruccio Busoni appears as the soloist in a Rubinstein piano concerto; he makes personal acquaintance with both composers. A performance of his piano trio op. 2 at the Tonkuenstlerversammlung of the ADMV (Allgemeiner Deutscher Musikverein) in Leipzig is refused since he might have little merit to Franz Liszt, the founder of the ADMV.
Reger sends his organ suite op. 16 to Johannes Brahms and asks him to accept the dedication of his 1st Symphony in B minor; Brahms accepts in a friendly manner and sends his photography. Augener refuses the publication of the piano (four hands) version of his organ suite op. 16, but publishes further Bach arrangements. In June 187 pages of a piano concerto for Eugen d'Albert begun in the previous year are written, in July a Symphony in B minor is largely finished. Both works are announced to Augener's for August/September; their fate is unknown.
In October, the time of one year volunteer military service begins at the end of the possible time of deferring. Since the costs for equipment, uniform, catering and accommodation are to be taken over by the recruit, however the income possibilities by instruction and composition are non-existent, Reger gets into deeper and deeper indebtedness. Unsuitable for military service, he spends already the first weeks (since mid-October) in the hospital because of a foot arthritis; in November he hopes for an official note of unfittedness for military service - in vain.

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