Biography
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Born
4 December 1875
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Born In
Praha, Czech Republic
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Died
29 December 1926 (aged 51)
Rainer Maria Rilke (also Rainer Maria von Rilke) (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926) is considered one of the German language's greatest 20th century poets. His haunting images focus on the difficulty of communion with the ineffable in an age of disbelief, solitude, and profound anxiety — themes that tend to position him as a transitional figure between the traditional and the modernist poets.
He wrote in both verse and a highly lyrical prose. His two most famous verse sequences are the Sonnets to Orpheus and the Duino Elegies; his two most famous prose works are the Letters to a Young Poet and the semi-autobiographical The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge. He also wrote more than 400 poems in French, dedicated to his homeland of choice, the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
Music
* The indie rock band Rainer Maria takes its name from Rilke, and at least some of their merchandise bears the poet's image.
* The Cocteau Twins song "Rilkean Heart", on the 1996 album Milk and Kisses, is an homage to Jeff Buckley who was a lifelong lover of Rilke's work.
* The Swiss composer Frank Martin set Rilke's prose "Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke"(The lay of the love and death of cornet Christopher Rilke)to orchestral song circle in German,premiered in February 1945. Viktor Ullmann,an Austrian composer,also composed this prose.
* The British composer Oliver Knussen has set texts of Rainer Maria Rilke to music in his unaccomapanied Rilke songs and in Requiem: Songs for Sue.
* The Trieste-based British composer Baron Raffaello de Banfield Tripcovich set several poems of Rilke for soprano and large orchestra, including 'Serale' and 'Liebeslied' (1968), 'Der Tod des Geliebten' and 'Der Sturm' (1972), and 'Four Rilke songs' (1986).
* The Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich set several of Rilke's poems to music in his Symphony No. 14.
* The American contemporary composer Morten Lauridsen set five of Rilke's French-language "Rose" poems to music in a choral piece titled Les Chansons des Roses.
* The contemporary Danish composer Per Nørgård has set the Rilke sonnet to Orpheus "Singe die Gärten" as the second and final movement of his 3rd symphony.
* The contemporary Norwegian composer Arne Nordheim has set Rilke's "Todeserfahrung" in his Wirklicher Wald.
* In 2006, Pianist Brad Mehldau wrote a cycle of art songs for soprano and piano based on seven poems from Rilke's The Book of Hours: Love Poems to God. Mehldau premiered the work with Renée Fleming at Carnegie Hall in 2006, which was recorded and released on the album Love Sublime.
* The German composer Paul Hindemith set Six Chansons, 6 pieces for a cappella choir, of the French poetry by Rilke (1939), as well as the imposing German language song cycle Das Marienleben (1922, revised 1948).
* Composer Sofia Gubaidulina, a great admirer of Rilke's work, includes the beginning of "Vom Tode Mariä I" (Derselbe große Engel, welcher einst) at the end of her piece Stufen.
* Robert Hunter, best known for his work with The Grateful Dead, translated The Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus. The Sonnets translation is a rhymed translation. He also recorded readings of his translations, the Duino Elegies recording was made with keyboardist Tom Constanten.
* Indie rock group CocoRosie's song Terrible Angels mentions Rilke.
* Contemporary rock group Sixpence None the Richer's song entitled "Still Burning" was influenced by Rilke's imagery of the heart as a hand.
* Chicago jazz vocalist Kurt Elling combined a Rilke poem with a melody from the Dave Brubeck Quartet to form his song "Those Clouds Are Heavy, You Dig?"
* The American country music songwriter and vocalist, Ray Wylie Hubbard, quotes Rilke in his song "The Messenger."
* Band Eyeless in Gaza singer Martyn Bates worked with Anne Clark set poems by Rilke to music on the album "Just After Sunset" in 2002.
* Composer Libby Larsen set a Rilke poem "Liebeslied" to accompany 5 other songs in her song cycle, Beloved, Thou Hast Brought Me Many Flowers.
* American country songwriter/musician Rodney Crowell mentions "Rilke's Panther" in his song "Come On Funny Feeling," from the 2003 critically acclaimed Fate's Right Hand album: "I don't want to wind up bitter lost inside a silent rage / Or become like Rilke's panther out here locked up in a cage…."
* The composer Harrison Birtwistle has set some of the Sonnets to Orpheus in his piece 'Orpheus Elegies' for Oboe, Harp and Counter-tenor.
* The german composer Bertold Hummel wrote 1980 a song for voice and piano after the famous poem Autumn Day by Rilke.
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