Johann Baptiste Maximilian [Max] Reger (19/03/1873 - 11/05/1916), a German composer, born in Brand (Bavaria). He studied at the Realschiule, but his earliest training in harmonium and piano was from his father. He received organ lessons from Lindner.
In 1889 Reger received an acceptance letter from the great organ teacher Hugo Reimann at the Sonderhausen Conservatory, and in April of 1890 Reger left home to study with him, even changing schools when Reimann left Sonderhausen for the Weisbaden Conservatore in April 1891.
Reger settled again in Weiden in 1896, and began composing. Five years passed before he started gaining recognition for his work. From 1905 to 1906 he worked additionally as a professor of counterpoint at Königliche Akademie der Tonkunst. In 1907 he was appointed music director at the University of Leipzig and conductor of the University Chorus St. Pauli. From 1911-1915 he was the Hofkappellmeister in Meiningen.
Reger was the first German composer since J.S. Bach to devote so much of his compositional output to the organ. He believed strongly in absolute music, an ideal shared by Bach. Reger's pieces are incredibly pianistic and virtuosic, while still exploring the symphonic colors of the organ.