Max Reger’s special position within organ repertoire places him for many as the greatest composer for the instrument since JS Bach. Drawing on Lutheran tradition, his Fantasia and Fugue, Op 29 is in the spirit of Bach, though with a characteristic harmonic language which also infuses the varying complexity in the Monologues, Op 63. The Sonata No 1, Op 33 reflects a connection with Liszt, concluding in an impressive Passacaglia. Award-winning German organist Christian Barthen performs on an instrument from Reger’s period, the 1911 Steinmeyer Organ in Mannheim which is one of the biggest in Germany.