Wolfgang Rihm
2. Klavierkonzert
Short instrumentation: 2 1 3 2 - 2 1 1 0 - perc(2), hp, str
Duration: 25'
Dedication: für Tzimon Barto
Instrumentation details:
1st flute
2nd flute (+picc)
oboe
1st clarinet in A
2nd clarinet in A
bass clarinet
1st bassoon
2nd bassoon in Kontrafagott
1st horn in F
2nd horn in F
trumpet in C
trombone
1st percussion
2nd percussion
harp
violin I
violin II
viola
violoncello
double bass
Rihm - 2. Klavierkonzert for piano and orchestra
Printed/Digital
Translation, reprints and more
Wolfgang Rihm
Rihm: 2. KlavierkonzertOrchestration: für Klavier und Orchester
Type: Solostimme(n)
Wolfgang Rihm
Rihm: 2. KlavierkonzertOrchestration: für Klavier und Orchester
Type: Dirigierpartitur
Wolfgang Rihm
Rihm: 2. KlavierkonzertOrchestration: für Klavier und Orchester
Type: Studienpartitur
Sample pages
Video
Work introduction
Wolfgang Rihm on his second piano concerto (interview with Bjørn Woll)
BW: Mr. Rihm, what is it about the piano concerto genre that attracts you? How do you handle the traditional form?
WR: If we take a closer look at the “traditional” piano concertos, we find that each has its own form. And that is precisely what attracts me – to create something taking its own shape while remaining within a formal continuity.
BW: What are the design and character of the piece?
WR: As we’ve said; it has its own design and its own character. Yet one could say, perhaps, that it belongs among the more intimate ones – less boxing match, more chamber music.
BW: Can you describe the concerto’s compositional style and musical makeup?
WR: No; I am not a musicologist. But listening to the piece (which, of course, I have not yet been able to do except in my imagination), the vocal character of many of its parts will surely be apparent – the aforementioned chamber-musical aspect – finely drawn rather than with a house-painter’s brush. Of course, that does not preclude the lines from occasionally galloping about and whooshing and swirling and leaping away – but the virtuosic aspect remains integrated in the song of the totality so that it does not form a foreground. That naturally makes such a piece much more difficult to play than usual virtuoso fodder; the free play of the lines remains unpredictable, “virtual” … the false floor as a resonance box.
BW: The work is dedicated to Tzimon Barto; did that inspire or influence you when you were composing it?
WR: An extraordinary artist, most highly creative in his own way. He has the most exquisite pianissimo imaginable –and that certainly had its influence on some parts of my new work – and I know that the many changes of shape and character of inflection are in the best of hands with Barto’s pianistic intelligence.
BW: Did you and the interpreter exchange thoughts, ideas, etc. during the composing process?
WR: No. When I am composing I am not “exchangeable.”
BW: Do you have a little tip or guide to listening for audiences hearing the work for the first time in concert?
WR: Imagine that Mozart wrote it – or that Rihm did. But best of all, just listen attentively.