Intermezzo

Joseph Gabriel Rheinberger, born in 1839 in Vaduz, the capital of the Principality of Liechtenstein, and died in 1901 in Munich, his second home, to which he had already been drawn at the age of twelve, is regarded as one of the most important Romantic organ composers.

He wrote no fewer than 20 large-scale sonatas for the ‘queen of instruments’, leaving behind two quite monumental concertos for organ and orchestra, as well as some chamber music and choral-instrumental music involving the organ. In Munich, he held positions as organist and cantor at various churches, and from 1877 also at court, taught organ and counterpoint as a professor at the Royal School of Music, built up an immense circle of students over almost four decades, and was highly regarded as an organ virtuoso and teacher. He rejected the modernity of a Wagner or Liszt. Rather, he saw his destiny in preserving the tradition of the Classical and early Romantic periods. This becomes clear in the format, but
This is also and especially evident in the design of the themes and their harmonic backbone.

The Intermezzo from the Organ Sonata No. 4 in A minor op. 98, dated 1877, is undoubtedly an outstanding and extraordinarily concise ‘calling card’ for Rheinberger.