Rolf Riehm

Rolf Riehm (15 June 1937 – 3 January 2026) was a German composer who wrote stage and orchestral works as well as music for ensembles and solo instruments. He began as an oboist and music teacher and was later a professor of music theory at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main from 1974 to 2000. He joined the wind ensemble Sogenanntes Linksradikales Blasorchester from 1976 to 1981 as oboist and arranger; they played at political demonstrations. His opera Sirenen was premiered at the Oper Frankfurt in 2014. Life and career Riehm was born in Saarbrücken on 15 June 1937 and grew up in Frankfurt. His father, Karl Riehm, was a school music teacher, and his mother, Elly, was a piano teacher. During his schooling he served already as organist at the American Central Chapel. He completed school with the Abitur in 1957. Riehm worked first as a solo oboist. Riehm’s opera Sirenen had its premiere at the Oper Frankfurt in 2014. Stage music * Das Schweigen der Sirenen, premiered by Staatsoper Stuttgart (1994) Music for ensemble * Uncertain Melody (1989) for eight instruments * Double Distant Counterpoint (J. S. Bach, Kunst der Fuge, Contrapunctus XI) (1994) for large