This study aims to two problematic aspects of the Phrygian mode: a. the development of a harmonic pattern at the cadence that differs from that of the other modes and of the major and minor modes as well; b. the observation that the Phrygian scale inverts all of the intervallic properties of the Major scale. The result of these two observations is that when the reductive techniques of Heinrich Schenker are applied in the Phrygian repertory, melodic and harmonic properties are brought into conflict with each other. However, application of alternative models of the Ursatz developed by Lori Burns has certain benefits for demonstrating musical properties in the Phrygian repertory.

The present study is limited to Bach's Orgelbüchlein. The OB has been chosen because it represents a "closed" group of works which are in the same general style.

One of the outstanding aspects of nineteenth-century romanticism was its preoccupation with the past. This interest in the music or the old masters has lasted well into the twentieth century, and one whose lifetime bridged the two centuries was the composer Max Reger (1873-1916). Reger's admiration for the music of the past pervaded his own works. His preference for contrapuntal textures and devices, his use of baroque forms, his distaste for program music--all bespeak Reger's especial interest in the old masters, particularly in 5. S. Bach. These qualities led some to regard him as the successor of Johannes Brahms, who held similar tenets. Because of his particular interest in composing for the organ, Reger was viewed as a "nineteenth-century Bach."