Wolfgang Rihm

Born in Karlsruhe on 13 March 1952, died in 2024; Wolfgang Rihm studied composition with Eugen Velte in Karlsruhe, with Karlheinz Stockhausen in Cologne and with Klaus Huber in Freiburg. In 1985 he succeeded his teacher Velte as professor of composition at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe; he was also musical adviser to the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the ZKM Karlsruhe and the Lucerne Festival Academy. His catalogue of works comprises more than 500 compositions. At the age of 25 he wrote the chamber opera “Jakob Lenz”; there followed the music theatre works “Die Eroberung von Mexico”, “Die Hamletmaschine”, “Das Gehege” and “Dionysos”, the orchestral piece “Jagden und Formen”, the Chiffre cycle and the oratorio “Deus Passus”. He was honoured with the Ernst von Siemens Musikpreis (2003) and the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale (2010), among others. Cybele Records released Wolfgang Rihm: String Quartets Nos. 1, 4, 8 and 5 (2006) as well as, in 2019, Wolfgang Rihm Improvises at the Organ and Wolfgang Rihm and the Organ.