The music of Wolfgang Rihm

[Orphical]

I have heard a little of his music recently, both small pieces happened to be played by the Arditti Quartet, most recently from Witten courtesy of Hear and Now. Wigmore Hall are performing several of his works and i am considering a trip down,

http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/series/wolfgang-rihm-focus-day

His music is rarely mentioned on these boards, or others, and i wonder what his 'standing' is among listeners of new music.

[Roehre]

I have heard a little of his music recently, both small pieces happened to be played by the Arditti Quartet, most recently from Witten courtesy of Hear and Now. Wigmore Hall are performing several of his works and i am considering a trip down,

http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/series/wolfgang-rihm-focus-day

His music is rarely mentioned on these boards, or others, and i wonder what his 'standing' is among listeners of new music.

Rihm is IMO one of the most important living German composers.
Though a Stockhausen-pupil his music generally speaking is post-expressionist.
His output is vast, but hardly shows lesser inspired works.
His cycle of string quartets is IMO one of the more important 20/21C ones, but other (orchestral) works are worth listening to too. He has a thing with unusually named works, Jagden e.g. (huntings) to express the contents of the work and what inspired him. German kind of humour too .

[teamsaint]

I have heard a little of his music recently, both small pieces happened to be played by the Arditti Quartet, most recently from Witten courtesy of Hear and Now. Wigmore Hall are performing several of his works and i am considering a trip down,

http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/series/wolfgang-rihm-focus-day

His music is rarely mentioned on these boards, or others, and i wonder what his 'standing' is among listeners of new music.

I'm in a similar place to you Orpho. Have explored a little, and enjoyed what I have heard, very much at the top end of my To Do list.

Good heads up on Wigmore hall. Let us know of anything you really enjoy, and I'll give it a spin.
Rihm does occasionally get discussed on the board, happily.

[Zucchini]

I was overwhelmed by Anne Sophie Mutter's playing of Gesungene Zeit (Sung Time) for violin & orchestra Live in a big concert hall the opening is stunningly beautiful & nicely (if a bit flowerily) described here:

"Sounding from long silence, drawing out a pitch of untold length, a single violin hums a gradual ascent. Unsettling other voices into miming motion, it collects a small body around it, an incandescent responsorium which buffets and entangles the violin. The mass spins, stretches, and breathes; its music attains the weight of light. An attenuated search ensues, in a musical present whose necessity has not yet been found, to spin the thread until it is spun..." Seth Brodsky/Allmusic

The tiny violin sound, way up in the stratosphere in a vast volume of space could never be caught on CD (or the audience's intense concentration)

[Richard Barrett]

I find I have pretty much the opposite view to Roehre's, I find it hard to detect what I'd call inspiration (as opposed to compulsion) in his music, and over the years I've heard quite a lot of it; I sort of like the "idea" of Rihm but when I hear it I almost always feel let down. Well, you can't like everything.

[Beef Oven!]

I'm in a similar place to you Orpho. Have explored a little, and enjoyed what I have heard, very much at the top end of my To Do list.

Good heads up on Wigmore hall. Let us know of anything you really enjoy, and I'll give it a spin.
Rihm does occasionally get discussed on the board, happily.

I really like his 'Klavierstuck' and his large orchestral pieces.

[Richard Barrett]

I really like his 'Klavierstuck' and his large orchestral pieces.

Which "Klavierstück" do you mean? - there are quite a few. (No.7 is quite interesting IMO although listening to it is a bit too much like being shouted at by a drunken expert on 19th century piano music...)

[Serial_Apologist]

I find I have pretty much the opposite view to Roehre's, I find it hard to detect what I'd call inspiration (as opposed to compulsion) in his music, and over the years I've heard quite a lot of it; I sort of like the "idea" of Rihm but when I hear it I almost always feel let down. Well, you can't like everything.

I remember Lachenmann, 20 years or so ago, on a BBC programme about new German music, saying words to the effect that certain of his compatriot composers held notions about playing their part in the important role of restoring the semi-discredited continuum of the German musical heritage, of whom iirc Rihm was pre-eminent, and that he disagreed with assuming such a pose.

Henze was much more ambivalent about the issue - hence (no pun) the power of his music - imho

[Beef Oven!]

Which "Klavierstück" do you mean? - there are quite a few. (No.7 is quite interesting IMO although listening to it is a bit too much like being shouted at by a drunken expert on 19th century piano music...)

I have a CD with Bernhard Wambach which opens with #7, which is my favourite at the moment (I listened to it last week). I will think about your interesting comments next time I listen to it.

It also has # 1, 2, 4 & 5 "Tombeau"

[Petrushka]

I first came across the music of Rihm at an LSO/Abbado concert in 1985. As a prelude to Mahler's Resurrection Symphony they played Rihm's Dis-Kontur from 1974.

I also heard Abbado and the BPO in Im Schrift.

Bought this disc a few years ago: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dis-Kontur-S...&keywords=rihm

[CallMePaul]

Rihm is IMO one of the most important living German composers. His cycle of string quartets is IMO one of the more important 20/21C ones, b.

The Quatuor Danel played his 6th Quartet in Manchester in 2012 to celebrate his 60th birthday. I would certainly like to hear the full cycle and I have found some of his vocal music very interesting. Anyone who likes Berg should find Rihm right down their Strasse.

[Stanfordian]

I have heard a little of his music recently, both small pieces happened to be played by the Arditti Quartet, most recently from Witten courtesy of Hear and Now. Wigmore Hall are performing several of his works and i am considering a trip down,

http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/series/wolfgang-rihm-focus-day

His music is rarely mentioned on these boards, or others, and i wonder what his 'standing' is among listeners of new music.

Hiya Orphical,

Rihm is certainly a most interesting composer. On my German reporting trips I have come across quite a bit of Rihm. He gets an awful lot of commissions. In 2011 at Berlin I found Rihm's Time Chant (Second) music for violin and orchestra played by Anne-Sophie Mutter and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/Manfred Honeck terribly overlong. Earlier this year in Dresden Rihm's Ernster Gesang for orchestra (featuring a choir of 4 clarinets) played by the Staatskapelle Dresden/Christian Thielemann was quite superb. I don't think Ernster Gesang has been recorded as yet. (Added later) A couple of weeks ago at the Berlin Musikfest (with Rihm in the audience) I heard 3 of Rihm's works: In-SHRIFT 2 for orchestra, Transitus for orchestra and the world premiere of Trio Concerto for violin, cello, piano and orchestra all wondefully written and highly enjoyable.

[kea]

I broadly agree with Richard here, and have found what Rihm I've heard (2 volumes of the String Quartets, 1 volume of the orchestral music, and the Kairos CDs with "Jagden und Formen" & Musik für drei Streicher) somewhat monochromatic and anonymous. I've not ruled out the possibility that he's written some music more to my taste, however, and will look into any recommendations from those who've explored his work further.

[Richard Barrett]

I remember Lachenmann, 20 years or so ago, on a BBC programme about new German music, saying words to the effect that certain of his compatriot composers held notions about playing their part in the important role of restoring the semi-discredited continuum of the German musical heritage, of whom iirc Rihm was pre-eminent, and that he disagreed with assuming such a pose.

Although in a way it could be argued that this is exactly what Lachenmann himself is doing. He would presumably say that he is concerned with questioning the meaning of that supposed continuum, rather than restoring it, but somewhat telling in this regard is that Lachenmann's music never looks far outside the German musical heritage for its sources or objects of scrutiny. It's obsessed with striking a critical stance towards that heritage, seemingly without acknowledging that it might not be such a central reality for most people.

[Boilk]

No shortage of Rihm on Hear & Now tonight ... his mammoth 100-minute dance piece Tutuguri.

Regret not knowing that it was on at the Barbican earlier today.