Rolf Riehm

Rolf Riehm was a composer and oboist whose work was mainly centered in Frankfurt. Riehm studied composition with Wolfgang Fortner in Freiburg and made his debut at the 1966 Darmstadt Festival playing his solo oboe piece Ungebräuchlisches. However, he never allied himself to the international style of academic serialism, as he was a highly political composer who took inspiration not only from his teacher Fortner, but also to the example of Hanns Eisler as well. He worked as an organizer of several agitprop-type musical groups, such as the Gruppo 8 (the Group of Eight, a composer's collective based in Cologne), Sogenanntes Linksradikales Blasorchester (The So-named Left Wing Radicals' Wind Band), and the Frankfurter Vereinigung für Musik (Frankfurt Music Association). In 1974, Riehm took permanent residence at Frankfurt after accepting a position as a composition professor at the Musikhochschule there. Riehm's best-known work was his musical theater piece based on the Brothers Grimm, Machandelboom. He also wrote several pieces for orchestra and for solo instruments with interesting and unusual titles such as O Daddy, Don't Cry, Mummy Isn't Here Anyway, and others. Riehm's work was eclectic, polystylistic, and, by his own admission, "politically incorrect." Rolf Riehm died on January 3, 2026; he was 88 years of age.