A person full of kindness, openness and curiosity

Wolfgang Rihm, born in Karlsruhe in 1952, was one of the most productive and influential composers of the late 20th century and of the second generation of the so-called post-war avant-garde. His numerous works extend far beyond the professional field of new music and are now acclaimed in concert halls and on leading opera stages around the world. Rihm’s family confirmed that he died on the evening of July 27 after a long illness.

In 1974, Riem suddenly gained international fame with the performance of his orchestral work “Morphonie – Sector IV” at the Donaueschinger Music Theater. With this work, he broke with the serialist dogma that prevailed in contemporary music at the time, in which all parameters of music were determined by a supposedly objective serial technique. Instead, Riem insisted on the true subjectivity and expressiveness of music. He gave little thought to the dissolution of the concept of the classical work and the role of the author, which was also discussed in contemporary music at the time. He wanted his works to be a direct expression of personal experiences and personal themes.

Liberation Strike

What initially earned him the derogatory labels of neo-romanticism and representative of the “new simplicity” soon proved to be a decisive liberation for post-war music, which was stuck in the ideological trenches. Because Riem also ensured a more relaxed attitude towards previously unpopular traditions, which he did not condemn or doubt, but reflected in his works in many ways. He thus became a model for many composers today in his more flexible references to older musical history.

What is more, he always rejected any dogmatism and thus any formation of a narrow “Rim School”. This was reflected in his work as a teacher, both in Karlsruhe and then since 2016 as artistic director of the Lucerne Festival Academy, where he precisely shaped the composers’ seminar through his openness to different artistic approaches.

Rimm’s own artistic thinking often revolves around metaphors of organic growth in his work; he is fascinated by the rampant, seemingly aimless meandering nature of nature. “The idea of ​​the work as an organism, as a labyrinthine structure that emerges during the creative process, has long guided me in my productive endeavors,” Rimm once explained, without being shy about engaging in the kind of cards or viewing composition workshops that many artists do. This openness is also characteristic of him: he elevates talking (and writing) about his own and others’ work in an art form that is witty, lively, and precise.

Close ties with the Lucerne Festival

Riem was already closely associated with the Lucerne Festival before 2016, when he succeeded Pierre Boulez as director of the Academy and, most importantly, as the incredibly stimulating director Spiritus behind the scenes of the festival. The connection with Lucerne began in 1992 with his violin concerto “Gesungene Zeit” for Anne-Sophie Mutter, with Mutter as soloist, performed at the Neue Akademie Zurich under the direction of Paul Sacher. In the summer of 1997, Riem was awarded the title of resident composer for the first time with a retrospective of his works. In 1998, at the opening of the KKL Lucerne, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra performed his work “IN-SCHRIFT” under the baton of Claudio Abbado.

Rihm is one of the most important protagonists of contemporary music at the Lucerne Festival, along with Boulez and Heinz Holliger. Over the past twenty years, more than fifty of Rihm’s works have been performed here, including many commissions and premieres.

In a personal statement released by the festival about Riem’s ​​death, director Michael Haefliger said Riem’s ​​presence in Lucerne as a composer and the close exchange with him as a musical thinker and mediator were invaluable to all involved. “In addition to his vast knowledge, he was a very kind and humorous person, always curious and open.”