Wolfgang Rihm
Von weit
Duration: 12'
Dedication: Christof Bitter gewidmet
Instrumentation details:
violoncello
piano
Rihm - Von weit for violoncello and piano
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Wolfgang Rihm
Rihm: Von weit for cello and pianoOrchestration: for cello and piano
Type: Noten
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Work introduction
Von weit refers to Rihm’s close ties to Robert Schumann’s world of musical thought and aesthetic; “fantasy pieces,” the genre for which Schumann had a special fondness, each one expressing a specific figure or characteristic – they could be cited as Rihm’s musical starting points.
Thus also in his duo for piano and cello Von weit – its movements modelled extremely sparsely, in the manner Rihm had already composed in other works (e.g. the movement for string quartet Zwischen den Zeilen [“Between the Lines”], 1991). Departing from an open fifth in the piano, along with some selective, isolated cello pitches, the overall effect is maintained on the same level throughout the work – a “static” description of as it were ephemeral sonic states.
Joachim Brügge (from the programme booklet, Salzburg Festival 2000)
Translation Copyright © 2012 by Grant Chorley