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Wolfgang Rihm

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Wolfgang Rihm
Rihm at the Kölner Philharmonie in 2007
Born(1952-03-13)13 March 1952
Karlsruhe, Württemberg-Baden, West Germany
Died27 July 2024(2024-07-27) (aged 72)
Ettlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
EducationHochschule für Musik Karlsruhe
Occupations
  • Composer
  • Academic teacher
Organizations
Known for
WorksList of compositions
Awards

Wolfgang Rihm (13 March 1952 – 27 July 2024) was a German composer of contemporary classical music and teacher. One of the most influential post-war European composers, Rihm was among the leading German composers of his time.[1][2] A prolific composer, his total output numbers more than 500 works,[3] although he is particularly known for his operas.[2] Associated with the New Simplicity style earlier in his career, his style has since extended to what The Guardian described as a "bewildering variety of styles and sounds".[4]

He was musical director of the Institute of New Music and Media at the University of Music Karlsruhe and was a composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Salzburg Festival. He was honoured as Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2001.[5] His students include the composers Rebecca Saunders, David Philip Hefti and Jörg Widmann.

Biography

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Rihm was born on 13 March 1952, in Karlsruhe.[6] He finished both his school and his studies in music theory and composition at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe with Eugen Werner Velte [de] in 1972, two years before the premiere of his early work Morphonie at the 1974 Donaueschingen Festival[7] launched his career as a prominent figure in the European new music scene. Rihm's early work, combining contemporary techniques with the emotional volatility of Mahler and of Schoenberg's early expressionist period, was regarded by many as a revolt against the avant-garde generation of Boulez, Stockhausen (with whom he studied in 1972–73),[7], and others, and led to a large number of commissions in the following years. From 1973 to 1976 he studied composition with Klaus Huber in Freiburg im Breisgau.[8] Among his other teachers were Wolfgang Fortner and Humphrey Searle.[9] In the late 1970s and early 1980s his name was associated with the movement called New Simplicity.[10] In 1978 he became an instructor at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse.[11] From 1985 on Rihm was professor for composition at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe.[8] His work continued to plough expressionist furrows, though the influence of Luigi Nono, Helmut Lachenmann, and Morton Feldman, amongst others, affected his style significantly.

Rihm was an extremely prolific composer, with hundreds of completed scores, a large portion of which are yet to be commercially recorded. (See the List of the compositions of Wolfgang Rihm, in German, or the IRCAM works list, in French). He did not always regard a finished work the last word on a subject—for example the orchestral work Ins Offene... (1990) was completely rewritten in 1992, and then used as the basis for his piano concerto Sphere (1994), before the piano part of Sphere was recast for the solo piano work Nachstudie (also 1994). (In 2002 Rihm also produced a new version of Nachstudie, Sphäre nach Studie, for harp, two double basses, piano and percussion, and also a new version of Sphere, called Sphäre um Sphäre, for two pianos and chamber ensemble.) Rihm's other important works include thirteen string quartets, the operas Die Hamletmaschine (1983–1986, text by Heiner Müller) and Die Eroberung von Mexico (1987–1991, based on texts by Antonin Artaud), over twenty song-cycles, the oratorio Deus Passus (1999–2000) commissioned by the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, the chamber orchestra piece Jagden und Formen (1995–2001), more than thirty concertos and a series of related orchestral works bearing the title Vers une symphonie fleuve. The New York Philharmonic premièred Rihm's 2004 commission Two Other Movements. In 2008 Rihm composed KOLONOS | 2 Fragments by Hölderlin after Sophokles for orchestra and countertenor, premiered in Bad Wildbad with the countertenor Matthias Rexroth.[12][13]

Invited by Walter Fink, he was the fifth composer featured in the annual Komponistenporträt of the Rheingau Musik Festival in 1995.[14] In 1995 he contributed Communio (Lux aeterna) to the Requiem of Reconciliation.[15] He received an honorary doctorate of the Free University of Berlin in 1998.[16] In 2003 he received the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize.[17]

In March 2010 the BBC Symphony Orchestra featured the music of Rihm in one of their 'total immersion' weekends at the Barbican Centre, London. Recordings from this weekend were used for three 'Hear and Now' programmes on BBC Radio 3 dedicated to his work.[18] On 27 July 2010, Rihm's opera Dionysos, based on Nietzsche's late cycle of poems Dionysian-Dithyrambs, had its world premiere at the Salzburg Festival, conducted by Ingo Metzmacher, and designed by Jonathan Meese.[19][20] This performance was voted World Premiere of the Year (Uraufführung des Jahres) for 2010/11 by Opernwelt magazine.[21] He revised his Gegenstück (2006) for bass saxophone, percussion, and piano, premiered by Trio Accanto on 16 August 2010 to celebrate the 80th birthday of Walter Fink.[22] Anne-Sophie Mutter premiered his violin concerto Lichtes Spiel (Light Games) in Avery Fisher Hall with the New York Philharmonic on 18 November 2010.[23]

Wolfgang Rihm died in July of 2024 in Ettlingen at the age of 72.[24][25]

Awards

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Honorary doctorates

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Memberships

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Notable students

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For Rihm's notable students, see List of music students by teacher: R to S § Wolfgang Rihm.

Works

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Main article: List of compositions by Wolfgang Rihm

Writings

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  • Rihm, Wolfgang (1997). Mosch, Ulrich (ed.). Ausgesprochen: Schriften und Gespräche (in German). Winterthur: Amadeus Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7957-0395-0.
  • Rihm, Wolfgang; Brinkmann, Reinhold (2001). Musik Nachdenken: Reinhold Brinkmann und Wolfgang Rihm im Gespräch (in German). Regensburg: ConBrio Verlag. ISBN 978-3-932581-47-2.
  • Rihm, Wolfgang (2002). Mosch, Ulrich (ed.). Offene Enden: Denkbewegungen um und durch Musik (in German). Munich: Hanser Verlag. ISBN 978-3-446-20142-2.

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Williams 2013, p. 1.
  2. ^ a b Häusler 2005.
  3. ^ Mattenberger, Urs (10 August 2019). "Komponist Wolfgang Rihm: "Fühle mich wie ein Kriegsveteran"". St. Galler Tagblatt (in German). St. Gallen. Archived from the original on 14 September 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  4. ^ Service, Tom (24 September 2012). "A guide to Wolfgang Rihm's music". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Prof. Wolfgang Rihm, Ph.D. honoris causa | University of Music". hfm-karlsruhe.de. Archived from the original on 28 May 2024. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Free-spirited German composer Wolfgang Rihm at 65 | DW | 13 March 2017". DW.COM. Deustche Welle. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  7. ^ a b Büning, Eleonore (13 March 2012). "Er macht ja doch, was er will!". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Frankfurt. Archived from the original on 2 September 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  8. ^ a b Hagedorn, Volker (22 March 2012). "Taumelnd durch Dschungel und Feuer". Die Zeit (in German). Hamburg. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  9. ^ Angermann, Klaus (2016). "Wolfgang Rihm". In Bermbach, Udo (ed.). Oper im 20. Jahrhundert: Entwicklungstendenzen und Komponisten (in German). Springer Verlag. p. 601. ISBN 978-3-476-03796-1. Archived from the original on 14 September 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  10. ^ Heidenreich, Achim (2000). "Der Komponist – das subjektive Wesen". neue musikzeitung (in German). Regensburg. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  11. ^ Fulker, Rick (13 March 2017). "Free-spirited German composer Wolfgang Rihm at 65". dw.com. Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  12. ^ "Wolfgang Rihm: KOLONOS". universaledition.com. Vienna: Universal Edition. 2008. Archived from the original on 14 September 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  13. ^ Wilske, Hermann (30 September 2008). "Rossini und Rihm in Wildbad". neue musikzeitung. Regensburg. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  14. ^ "Universal Edition trauert um Wolfgang Rihm (1952-2024)". presseportal.de (in German). 27 July 2024. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  15. ^ Rihm, Wolfgang (18 August 1995). "Communio (Lux aeterna)". Ressources. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  16. ^ Dümling, Albrecht (23 November 1998). "Der Ort der Musik". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Berlin. Archived from the original on 24 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  17. ^ Schwenger, Dietmar (31 January 2003). "Wolfgang Rihm erhält Ernst von Siemens Musikpreis". Musikwoche (in German). Munich. Archived from the original on 24 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  18. ^ Hear and Now: Wolfgang Rihm: Episode 1 Archived 17 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine BBC, March 2010
  19. ^ Büning, Eleonore (29 July 2010). "Ich bin dein La-La-La-Labyrinth". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Frankfurt. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  20. ^ Tommasini, Anthony (1 August 2010). "A Nietzschean Plunge Into Sensual Labyrinths". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on 14 September 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  21. ^ "Das Herz der Opernwelt schlägt nun in Brüssel". Badische Zeitung (in German). Freiburg. 29 October 2011. Archived from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  22. ^ Hauff, Andreas (8 September 2010). "Ehrungen und Raritäten. Die Endphase beim Rheingau-Musik-Festival". nmz online (in German). neue musikzeitung. Archived from the original on 27 September 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  23. ^ Vivien Schweitzer (19 November 2010). "Pairing Wolfgangs From Two Eras". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 February 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  24. ^ Brachmann, Jan (27 July 2024). "Zum Tod des Komponisten Wolfgang Rihm". FAZ.NET (in German). Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  25. ^ Leyrer, Georg (27 July 2024). "Ein Großer der Neuen Musik: Deutscher Komponist Wolfgang Rihm gestorben". kurier.at (in German). Archived from the original on 27 July 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  26. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Prof. Wolfgang Rihm, Ph.D. honoris causa". Karlsruhe University of Music. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  27. ^ "Pour le Mérite: Wolfgang Rihm" (PDF). www.orden-pourlemerite.de. 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  28. ^ "Bayerischer Maximiliansorden für Jens Malte Fischer und Wolfgang Rihm". Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Mainz (in German). 5 December 2014. Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  29. ^ "Wolfgang Rihm erhält den Robert Schumann-Preis für Dichtung und Musik". Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Mainz (in German). 28 October 2014. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  30. ^ Neuhoff, Bernhard (28 February 2019). "Wolfgang Rihm erhält Deutschen Musikautorenpreis: "Meine Musik ist nicht ängstlich"". br-klassik (in German). Archived from the original on 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  31. ^ a b c d "Rihm". Akademie der Künste, Berlin (in German). Archived from the original on 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  32. ^ "Wolfgang Rihm". Freie Akademie der Künste Hamburg (in German). 3 October 2021. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  33. ^ "Members". European Academy of Sciences and Arts. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2020.

Sources

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Further reading

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Obituaries
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