Composer Wolfgang Rihm dies aged 72

The composer Wolfgang Rihm has died at the age of 72. With more than 400 pieces to his name, in genres ranging from chamber to orchestral music, song-cycles to opera, he was remarkably prolific and was one of the most influential composers of his generation.

Rihm lived in Karlsruhe in Germany, the city in which he was born in 1952, in an apartment which his publisher, Universal Edition, describes as full of books, scores and paintings by contemporary artists. He began composing as a teenager, writing his first symphony, and went on to write pieces, including Jagden und Formen (1995), that have become a key part of the repertoire for contemporary ensembles. His music was often in dialogue with Austro-German composers of the past, whether that was JS Bach, Robert Schumann or Brahms.

‘Begin with Jagden und Formen … a 50-minute, single-movement musical thrill-ride for large ensemble that embodies some of the signature qualities of Rihm’s music,’ wrote Tom Service in The Guardian, in his guide to the composer, ‘its addictive energy, its torrent of ideas, its massively ambitious scale, as well as its uncanny sense of drama and pacing.’

Rihm worked with many of the leading artists and institutions, including the Lucerne Festival, where he was artistic director of the Academy, and the Berlin Philharmonic, with whom he was a close artistic partner. He was also a teacher, working at the academy in his home city, as well as writing articles and advising artistic institutions. Over the years, his work had won many prizes, including an award from the Royal Philharmonic Society in the UK.

Many musicians and music professionals have paid tribute to Rihm, including cellist Steven Isserlis who wrote on X/Twitter that the composer was ‘shy, vastly knowledgeable, deeply warm’. New music ensemble Exaudi said: ‘Wolfgang Rihm was a creative volcano, his music molten lava. We performed and recorded many of his vocal works over the last 20 years: it challenged, developed and changed us and we feel such gratitude for his visceral, life-enhancing work.’

‘With Wolfgang Rihm, the music world loses not only a gifted composer, but also a universal scholar, who was as concerned with the promotion of young talent as he was about his personal commitment to cultural policy,’ said his publisher.