[CLASSICAL MUSIC] Rihm's Surprisingly Beautiful Semi-Atonal Second Piano Concerto 🎹

Wolfgang Rihm (b. 1952) studied poetry and was also engaged in painting for a long time, but it was finally the music and composing that won him over took and became the main channel of expression. As a composer, he has been extremely productive with nearly 400 works on his opus list. Rihm is as far from streamlined as you can get. For every new work, he tries to surprise both his audience and himself. He has always had a particular focus on orchestral music, but he's also recognized for the 1987 opera Die Hamletmaschine and the brilliant scenic monodrama Das Gehege from 2006, in which a woman sets an eagle free from its cage before killing it. A personal favorite of mine, a work which experts and enthusiasts alike seem to hate, is his huge opera Die Eroberung von Mexico (The Conquest of Mexico). After he finished his Cello Concerto Styx und Lethe in 1998, he wrote to a friend "Finally I have gone mad!"

Rihm stands free in relation to both traditional modernism and the tonal tradition; the Second Piano Concerto is no exception. It has obvious neo-romantic features and a chamber music feel to it, but also takes you on curious expeditions outside the frame of the conventional piano concerto. The music hovers between between tonality and atonality; I'd say it's 90% atonal, with fragments of melodies, in a sense resembling Alban Berg. The lyrical and melodic lines makes for surprisingly easy listening.

"If we take a closer look at the “traditional” piano concertos, we find that each has its own form. And that is precisely what attracts me – to create something taking its own shape while remaining within a formal continuity." - Wolfgang Rihm on his Second Piano Concerto.

In the introduction we get to hear a thematic basic idea. It's horizontal, and the little melodic figures are constantly moving forward, giving impetus to new directions and patterns. The different figures are strongly interconnected, but also created as a dialogue between the piano and the orchestra.

"the vocal character of many of its parts will surely be apparent – the aforementioned chamber-musical aspect – finely drawn rather than with a house-painter’s brush"

There are also sudden sorties and swirling, virtuosic runs, often integrated with the orchestra's detailed weave of melodic fragments, in addition to a markedly dreamy dimension.

The second part is a rhythmically accentuated rondo that collapses and leads into a slow part, an adagio that eventually opens into a void. An exciting, engaging and constantly turning and surprising concerto with elements of delicate beauty.