Wolfgang Rihm

Wolfgang Rihm is a contemporary German composer and educator known for his unpredictable and spontaneous style which incorporates both traditional and modern aesthetics. Possibly the most prolific composer of his generation, his worklist contains over 500 pieces in all secular genres. He was born in Karlsruhe in 1952, and he played the piano as a child and completed his first compositions by the age of 11. From 1968 to 1972, he studied composition and music theory with Eugen Werner Velte at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. After his graduation, he became a student of Karlheinz Stockhausen until 1973, when he began teaching at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. He also continued his studies with Klaus Huber and Hans Eggebrecht. It was around this time when he composed Faust und Yorick, and Jacob Lenz, which were both premiered in Hamburg in 1979. This performance brought recognition and numerous awards, and he became known for blending the tonalities of both the modern and romantic eras. Rihm was also inspired by the French avant-garde writer Antonin Artaud, and he became associated with the New Simplicity movement in the '80s. This movement was a reaction to the experimental works of the '50s and '60s and sought a return to the traditional forms and tonal language of the Classical and Romantic eras. Rihm was promoted to a full professorship in Karlruhe in 1985, and he had also been teaching Darmstadt Summer Courses since 1978. In addition to his theatrical contributions, Die Hamletmaschine and Oedipus, he also composed several large-scale orchestral pieces and instrumental cycles. Through the '90s, Rihm explored the concept of “sound points,” which employed the highest and lowest registers in harmonic clusters. He also avoided predictable patterns of musical development, and used fragmented and spontaneous changes in dynamics, texture, and mood. He was composer in residence at the 1997 Lucerne Festival, and in 1998 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Breie Universitat Berlin. He also served as composer in residence at festivals in both Salzburg and Strasbourg in 2000. He was honored with the Ernst von Ziemens Music Prize in 2003, and the commissioned work Two Other Movements was premiered by the New York Philharmonic in 2004. He maintained his relentlessly productive pace as a composer into the 2010s, and he produced works for the festivals in Lucerne and countless commissions. In 2016, his Reminiszenz - Triptychon und Spruch in memoriam Hans Henny Jahnn was premiered in Hamburg, and his cantata Gebet der Hexe von Endor was premiered in Berlin in 2021. An album of his organ improvisations from the '70s, Wolfgang Rihm improvisiert an der Orgel, was released in 2019. His music was also featured on the 2022 releases Wolfgang Rihm: Grat (Edge) - Works for and with Violoncello played by Friedrich Gauwerky, and Musica Viva #40: Wolfgang Rihm - Jagden und Formen with Franck Ollu and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Rihm remains active as a composer and educator, dividing his time between Berlin and Karlsruhe.
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