Wolfgang Rihm - Dis-Kontur, Sub-Kontur, Lichtzwang für Violine und Orchester

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Wolfgang Rihm - Dis-Kontur, Sub-Kontur, Lichtzwang für Violine und Orchester

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Wolfgang Rihm has had a long and varied career, which Hanssler's Rihm Edition aims to document by exploring the archives of German radio orchestras. This disc here focuses on the period when he first came to prominence in the European contemporary music scene. In the 1970s, Rihm was writing in an effusive expressionistic style, often going with the white-hot inspiration of any given moment instead of an elaborate preconceived form. The SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg perform three works in this vein.

And Rihm's programme note for "Dis-Kontur" for orchestra (1974) emphasizes that desire to communicate a feeling within: "The attempt to speak clearly, to compose undisguised emotions in contoured, individual gestalts, is a theme. In the process, it is not a matter of 'showing' or 'proving' anything. 'Dis-Kontur' is actually composed from a feeling for life. The piece molded me as much as I did the music. While working on it, I constantly found myself in emotional borderline situations." The piece opens with aggressive drum beats, and then brass is added, but the prevailing sound for the whole 20 minutes is clanging, and I don't find "Dis-Kontur" one of Rihm's successes. On this 2002 recording, Sylvain Cambreling conducts.

"Sub-Kontur" (1974/75) also opens with timpani rolls, but a more restrained musical drama unfolds. A piano beats time with the same note, while only an instrument here and there erupts into violence. But starting around halfway through the work, the listener will be surprised by sudden Romantic swells and a very conventional sound of yearning – Rihm was keenly aware of the German tradition. Conflict returns, but then there's a triumphant Romantic ending. This recording is of the work's premiere at the Donaueschingen Festival on October 23, 1976. Ernest Bour conducts.

"Lichtzwang" (1975/76) is a concerto for violin and orchestra. The work was written in memory of the poet Paul Celan, who had committed suicide several years earlier, after preparing for press a collection with the same title (among translations of the German, "Light Duress", "Light Constraint" and "Light Compulsion" have been proposed). The title is appropriate, for the violin, playing nearly continuously and often at the top of its range, is assailed by dark forces in the orchestra. The violin wants to sing, but it manages only one brief solo moment before it is overwhelmed by percussion. This recording is of the work's premiere on March 4, 1977. The soloist is János Négyesy and the conductor Ernest Bour.

"Sub-Kontur" and "Lichtzwang" are excellent examples of the power of Rihm's early style, drawing on both the intense early pieces of the Second Viennese School and the Romantic tradition, but totally sui generis. While these radio recordings might not be the ideal introduction to Rihm (I usually recommend the String Quartet No. 3 for those unfamiliar with Rihm), this will prove an enjoyable disc for fans.

Christopher Culver @ Amazon.com