"Wolfgang Rihm is one of the composers who writes for the voice in a very classical way," says baritone Georg Nigl, to whom Rihm dedicated the song cycle "Vermischter Traum".

Indeed, Wolfgang Rihm maintained a direct, unbroken relationship to the singing. "Something must sing inside," is one of his core statements. Even where the human voice is not involved, the cantabile always has its right in Rihm's work. Vocal works from songs, choir pieces and oratorical works to the great operas occupy a large space in his oeuvre.

It is certainly no coincidence that "Vermischter Traum", commissioned by the Berliner Festspiele/Musikfest Berlin, was the first work Rihm composed after a serious illness. He chose verses by baroque poet Andreas Gryphius, who wrote under the influence of the catastrophe of the Thirty Years' War. He took it as an invitation to reflect on fundamental things, to get to the bottom of what was essential.