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 and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

, and a co-editor of music theory 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 joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich () i ...

, and

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

and composition with Gottfried Michael Koenig in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Nethe ...

. 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 Musica (Latin), or La Musica (Italian) or Música (Portuguese and Spanish) may refer to: Music Albums * ''Musica è'', a mini album by Italian funk singer Eros Ramazzotti 1988 * ''Musica'', an album by Ghaleb 2005 * ), a German album by Giova ...

, in 1977 the series Musik-Konzepte, 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 The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt. Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Shrek's '' Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, '' Fennimore und Gerda'' by Fred ...

together with Heinz-Klaus Metzger, and initiated the first commission for an opera composition for John Cage ( Europeras 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 ''Pen name, nom de plume'' of Isidore Lucien Ducasse (4 April 1846 – 24 November 1870), a French language, French poet born in Uruguay. His only works, ''Les Chants de Maldoror'' and ''Poésies'', had a majo ...

* ''

Das Lied von der Erde ''Das Lied von der Erde'' ("The Song of the Earth") is an orchestral song cycle for two voices and orchestra written by Gustav Mahler between 1908 and 1909. Described as a symphony when published, it comprises six songs for two singers who alt ...

,'' a work of six songs by Gustav Mahler, arrangement for chamber ensemble by

Arnold Schönberg 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 h ...

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 ...

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