Wolfgang Rihm

Wolfgang Rihm (b. March 13, 1952) is a German composer from Karlsruhe. He finished both his school and his studies in music theory and composition in 1972, two years before the premiere of his early work Morphonie at the 1974 Donaueschingen Festival 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 and others, and led to a large number of commissions in the coming years. His work still continues to plough expressionist furrows, though the influence of Luigi Nono, Helmut Lachenmann and Morton Feldman, amongst others, has affected his style significantly.

External Links

• Living Composers' Project page including regularly updated worklist
• Wolfgang Rihm page at his publisher, Universal Edition
• A recent interview with Rihm