Wenn du neben mir gehst

As a professor of music education and elementary composition at the Orff Institute in Salzburg which he was instrumental in establishing, the composer Hermann Regner (1928–2008) examined the work of Carl Orff and, like him, rendered outstanding services as a composer to the work with the young generation of up-and-coming musicians. The selection of easy, but not simple stylistic means also characterizes his song cycle 'Wenn du neben mir gehst' on texts of his wife Catarina Carsten. The six songs, with their almost minimalist reduction and carefully extended tonality, are sensitive and deeply moving miniatures, suitable for lessons, but also – as resting points – in the concert hall.