Universal Edition - Wolfgang Rihm

Wolfgang Rihm
*13.03.1952

Future Performances

Nähe fern 1
25.05.2013, London (GB)
Chiffre IV
07.06.2013, Mexico City (MEX)
Klangbeschreibung 2
15.06.2013, Paris (F)
Klangbeschreibung 2
17.06.2013, Köln (D)
Tutuguri VI (Kreuze)
22.06.2013, Paris (F)

News

  • Yordan Kamdzhalov (c) Amit Katzir
    New production of Rihm’s Dionysos
    New production of Rihm’s Dionysos
    The new production of Wolfgang Rihm’s Dionysos takes place on 8 February at the Neuer Saal of the [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm (c) Universal Edition
    Rihm: Nähe fern cycle
    Rihm: Nähe fern cycle
    Wolfgang Rihm has completed his Nähe fern cycle. Now the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, which commissi [...]
  • Stage design by Jonathan Meese (c) Courtesy Jonathan Meese.Com
    German première of Rihm’s Dionysos
    German première of Rihm’s Dionysos
    Wolfgang Rihm’s latest music theatre work Dionysos, which was premièred at the Salzburg Festival [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm (c) Universal Edition
    Rihm: Pater noster for mixed choir a cappella
    Rihm: Pater noster for mixed choir a cappella
    On 30 June Wolfgang Rihm's early work Pater noster for mixed choir a cappella will receive its world [...]
  • Dionysos design by Jonathan Meese
    Rihm’s Dionysos in Amsterdam
    Rihm’s Dionysos in Amsterdam
    From 8 until 22 June Wolfgang Rihm’s opera fantasy Dionysos comes to Amsterdam in the Dutch premi [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm (c) Universal Edition / Eric Marinitsch
    Rihm: Nähe fern cycle
    Rihm: Nähe fern cycle
    With the world première of the fourth part on 13 June Wolfgang Rihm has now concluded his Nähe fer [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm (c) Universal Edition/Eric Marinitsch
    Rihm: The Conquest of Mexico at the Saarland State Theatre
    Rihm: The Conquest of Mexico at the Saarland State Theatre
    This April the Saarland State Theatre continues the celebrations of Wolfgang Rihm’s 60th birthday [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm at 60
    Wolfgang Rihm at 60
    Wolfgang Rihm at 60
    On 13 March Wolfgang Rihm celebrates his 60th birthday. The breadth of his output can be experienced [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm (c) Universal Edition/Eric Marinitsch
    Rihm: Jakob Lenz in London
    Rihm: Jakob Lenz in London
    The English National Opera gives the first performance of a new English translation of Wolfgang Rihm [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm (c) Universal Edition/Eric Marinitsch
    Rihm: World première Nähe fern 3
    Rihm: World première Nähe fern 3
    On 29 February Wolfgang Rihm’s cycle Nähe fern (near far) continues in Lucerne. James Gaffigan co [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm (c) Universal Edition / Eric Marinitsch
    Rihm@60 – The String Quartets in Paris
    Rihm@60 – The String Quartets in Paris
    Wolfgang Rihm’s 60th birthday year gets off to a great start this January with the 5th String Quar [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm (c) Universal Edition / Eric Marinitsch
    Rihm: Das Gehege in Amsterdam
    Rihm: Das Gehege in Amsterdam
    Rihm’s “Nocturnal scene” receives its Dutch première at the ZaterdagMatinee in Amsterdam. [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm
    Rihm: Lichtes Spiel in Paris and London
    Rihm: Lichtes Spiel in Paris and London
    The French première of Wolfgang Rihm’s Lichtes Spiel – a sommer piece for violin and small orch [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm
    Rihm: New work for baritone and ensemble
    Rihm: New work for baritone and ensemble
    Reinbert de Leeuw conducts the world première of Der Maler träumt for baritone and ensemble by Wol [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm
    Rihm: New work for ensemble
    Rihm: New work for ensemble
    On 25 Oct. Wolfgang Rihm’s Will sound more again will recieve its world première in Porto. Emilio [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm (c) Universal Edition / Eric Marinitsch
    Rihm: World première of Nähe fern 2
    Rihm: World première of Nähe fern 2
    The second part of Wolfgang Rihm’s series Nähe fern for orchestra is given its world première in [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm
    Orchestral music by Wolfgang Rihm
    Orchestral music by Wolfgang Rihm
    Wolfgang Rihm’s Verwandlung III for orchestra and his Lichtes Spiel for violin and orchestra can b [...]
  • BBC Proms
    BBC Proms 2011
    BBC Proms 2011
    The BBC Proms started last week and once again include a wealth of UE works in the many concerts. [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm (c) Universal Edition / Eric Marinitsch
    Rihm: New work for soprano and orchestra
    Rihm: New work for soprano and orchestra
    Wolfgang Rihm’s Eine Strasse, Lucile “a scene for soprano and orchestra” (after Georg Büchner [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm
    Rihm: new work for orchestra
    Rihm: new work for orchestra
    On 22 June Rihm’s new work for orchestra – Nähe fern 1, ‘answers to Brahms’ – will be hea [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm
    Wolfgang Rihm: Two national premières
    Wolfgang Rihm: Two national premières
    Rihm's Das Lesen der Schrift will receive its first Portuguese (Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa d [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm
    World première of Rihm’s ‘Dyade’
    World première of Rihm’s ‘Dyade’
    Dyade for violin and double bass is the latest work resulting from the long-standing and creative fr [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm
    Wolfgang Rihm: World première of Lichtes Spiel
    Wolfgang Rihm: World première of Lichtes Spiel
    The world première of Wolfgang Rihm's new violin concerto Lichtes Spiel will take place on 18 Nov u [...]
  • Rihm Album of the Year
    Rihm Album of the Year
    Wolfgang Rihm's Verwandlungen has been selected by the Sunday Times as the No. 1 Contemporary Album [...]
  • Rihm Interview
    Wolfgang Rihm on Dutch music cuts
    Wolfgang Rihm on Dutch music cuts
    Wolfgang Rihm comments on the threatened closure of the Dutch Radio Music Center [...]
  • Wolfgang Rihm © Universal Edition
    Golden Lion for Wolfgang Rihm's lifetime achievement
    Golden Lion for Wolfgang Rihm's lifetime achievement
    On 30 September the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement for Music will be awarded to Wolfgang Rihm [...]
  • Stage design, Jonathan Meese © Courtesy Jonathan Meese.Com
    World première of Wolfgang Rihm's opera fantasy Dionysos
    World première of Wolfgang Rihm's opera fantasy Dionysos
    Ingo Metzmacher presents the new opera Dionysos by Wolfgang Rihm on 27 Jul at the Salzburg Festival. [...]

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Wolfgang Rihm

The Composer

Wolfgang Rihm was born on 13 March 1952 in Karlsruhe, a city near the French and Swiss borders, at a stone’s throw from Strasbourg and Basel, two of the many places where he and his music are at home. He lives there to this day in a spacious apartment not only full of books and scores – those one takes for granted – but also of paintings by contemporary artists, mainly by Kurt Kocherscheidt, the Austrian painter with whom Rihm was befriended and to whom he has dedicated a number of works.

Rihm is composer, professor of composition at the Music Academy of his native city (where his students included Vykintas Baltakas and Jörg Widmann), a remarkable writer on music with several [...]

About the Music

Catalogue of works

Download a PDF file of the catalogue

Reviews

Symphonie Nähe fern - harmonia mundiThe subtitle, Nähe Fern (“distant closeness”), exactly describes the feel of the orchestral movements, which never quote directly from the Brahms symphonies but seem constantly haunted by them – in their harmonic tints and textures, and in the melodic shapes that wander elusively through them. (Andrew Clements, The Guardian)

This is an excerpt, read the full review on The Guardian.

It's a strange, but not unsatisfying work: in the second piece, the furtive manner suggests an animal tentatively considering a new beast in its habitat, while the final piece involves a more deliberate distancing, by having the trumpets departing to play the closing section offstage. (Andy Gill, The [...]

10 of 359 Works

"Dämmrung senkte sich von oben" | for baritone and orchestra 2012
A Tribute | for orchestra 2013
1. Abgesangsszene | for orchestra 1979
2. Abgesangsszene | for medium voice and orchestra 1979
3. Abgesangsszene | for baritone and orchestra 1980
4. Abgesangsszene | for mezzo-soprano and orchestra 1980
5. Abgesangsszene | for orchestra | 1st version 1979
5. Abgesangsszene | for mezzo-soprano, baritone and orchestra | 2nd version 1983
5 Abgesangsszenen | for mezzo-soprano, baritone and large orchestra 1981
abgewandt 1 | for chamber orchestra 1989