Rainer Riehn (12 November 1941 – 9 June 2015
) was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
and
conductor, and a co-editor of
music theory
Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...
magazines.
Riehn was born in
Danzig, Germany (modern Gdańsk, Poland) studied music theory in
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...
,
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
, and
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
and composition with
in
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
.
He met the music theorist
Heinz-Klaus Metzger at the
Darmstädter Ferienkurse
Darmstädter Ferienkurse ("Darmstadt Summer Course") is a regular summer event of contemporary classical music in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany. It was founded in 1946, under the name "Ferienkurse für Internationale Neue Musik Darmstadt" (Vacation Cou ...
in the summer of 1965.
In 1968 he founded the Ensemble
Musica Negativa,
in 1977 the series
Musik-Konzepte
''Musik-Konzepte'' is a quarterly series of German language musicology texts founded in 1977 by Heinz-Klaus Metzger and Rainer Riehn and dedicated to the avant-garde in music of all epochs. Since 2004 it has been edited by Ulrich Tadday.
Histo ...
, which he published until 2003 (together with Heinz-Klaus Metzger).
In 1984 Metzger and Riehn received the
Deutscher Kritikerpreis
Deutscher Kritikerpreis was a cultural prize awarded annually by the Association of German Critics (Verband der Deutschen Kritiker e.V.) from 1951 to 2009.
This award was given for outstanding contributions in the fields of architecture, the fi ...
as editors of the Musik-Konzepte.
In 1987 he was chief dramaturge at the
Oper Frankfurt together with Heinz-Klaus Metzger,
and initiated the first commission for an opera composition for
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...
(
Europeras
''Europeras'' is a series of five operas by the composer John Cage. Cage explained the punning title thus: "For two hundred years the Europeans have been sending us their operas. Now I'm sending them back."
Europeras I and II
Europeras I and I ...
1 & 2).
Works
* ''Les Chants de Maldoror,''
electronic composition, realized in Utrecht about a poetic novel ''
Les Chants de Maldoror
''Les Chants de Maldoror'' (''The Songs of Maldoror'') is a French poetic novel, or a long prose poem. It was written and published between 1868 and 1869 by the Comte de Lautréamont, the ''nom de plume'' of the Uruguayan-born French writer Isid ...
'' by the
Comte de Lautréamont
Comte de Lautréamont () was the ''nom de plume'' of Isidore Lucien Ducasse (4 April 1846 – 24 November 1870), a French poet born in Uruguay. His only works, ''Les Chants de Maldoror'' and ''Poésies'', had a major influence on modern arts ...
* ''
Das Lied von der Erde,''
a work of six songs by
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...
, arrangement for chamber ensemble by
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
, finished by Rainer Riehn (premiere by Ensemble Musica Negativa,
Toblach
Toblach (; it, Dobbiaco ) is a ''comune''/''Gemeinde'' (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located in the Puster Valley about northeast of the city of Bolzano, on the border with Austria.
Geography
As of November 30, 2010, it had ...
1983)
* ''nichts – als das Kinderspiel eines Erwachsenen'',
string trio (premiere by trio recherche,
Konstanz
Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...
2002)
References
External links
Website of Heinz-Klaus Metzger and Rainer Riehn(in German)
1941 births
2015 deaths
German composers
Musicians from Gdańsk
People from West Prussia
20th-century German musicians
{{Germany-composer-stub