In Memory of Wolfgang Rihm
A Composer Without Drawers
The most renowned orchestras perform his works, and he was a regular presence on the stages of major opera houses and international festivals. Wolfgang Rihm, born on March 13, 1952, in Karlsruhe, the most important German composer of his generation, has now passed away. What remains is his music – and it will surely continue to shape concert life even after his death. Kristin Amme reflects on a composer who preferred to let his music speak for itself rather than waste many words.
Image source: dpa-Bildfunk/Uli Deck
Some artists need good wine, stimulating conversations, literature, images, or other sensory impressions. Wolfgang Rihm needed above all one thing: his peace. And the composer from Karlsruhe vehemently defended this peace. He didn’t even have a computer. No pings, no posts, no procrastination. If someone wanted to contact him, the best way was by letter. Or fax.
I don’t need stimulation from the outside. The only request I have is to be left alone.
Wolfgang Rihm
Even his own activity should not get in his way; it should not distract him from working. For many decades, Wolfgang Rihm was arguably the most productive German composer of contemporary music. In concert programs nationwide: Rihm, Rihm, Rihm everywhere. His name appeared so often that the composer, even in the best of health, could not have attended every performance.
Wolfgang Rihm in Interview
In 2019, Wolfgang Rihm was awarded the German Music Authors’ Prize for his life’s work. In an interview with BR-KLASSIK, the composer spoke about the connection between life and work. He also openly shared about his illness and revealed what led him to become a composer. Here is the text.
Prefer to be at the Desk Rather than in the Concert Hall
Wolfgang Rihm composed more than 500 works. | Image source: picture-alliance/dpa
He spent his lifetime shaking pieces out of his sleeve. He composed at a speed at which others only browse scores. Always with the highest demands on quality and expression. More than 500 works. From lightly buoyant waltzes to heavy-weight music theater. And whether the critics cheered or nitpicked – Rihm was never concerned with fulfilling any expectations with his compositions: “I don’t constantly ask myself: Am I in the right time, or am I positioned crosswise to the time, or am I wonderfully bulky or thankfully not bulky or whatever.”
I act entirely based on intuition, whim, and very subjectively.
Wolfgang Rihm
Mocked by Karlheinz Stockhausen, Respected by Millions
Karlheinz Stockhausen, with whom Rihm studied in the early 1970s, never took him seriously. It didn’t matter: Rihm was and is tenacious, persistent, drawing confidence from within himself. “I am in the fortunate position of possessing a nature that learns something from everything. I can turn the most scornful rejection into gold,” he said about himself.
Since he became a composition professor in Karlsruhe in his early 30s, he steadily rose: Besides many pieces for smaller ensembles, Rihm composed one successful stage work after another. In 1976, the chamber opera Faust and Yorick, followed by The Hamlet Machine, Oedipus, and in 2010 the Nietzsche opera Dionysus. By then, he had nothing to prove to anyone anymore: When the Elbphilharmonie was solemnly opened in January 2017, not only Beethoven was on the program, but also Rihm. Millions experienced his music on the radio, online, and on television.
Wolfgang Rihm is the most performed German composer of the present day. And he will likely remain so for some time. His oeuvre is anything but a one-hit wonder. His catalogue of works is certainly enough for several composers’ lifetimes.
Radio Program in Memory of Wolfgang Rihm
We honor the great composer with a two-hour special program – on July 29 at 9:03 PM on BR-KLASSIK.