German composer Aribert Reimann died in Berlin on Wednesday at the age of 88, his music publisher Schott Music announced on Thursday, citing his family. At his last public appearance in February, Reimann had personally accepted the German Music Author Award from the GEMA collection society for his life’s work. With more than 70 works, he was considered one of the most important and most frequently performed creators of contemporary music. His opera “Lear,” based on William Shakespeare’s tragedy “King Lear,” which premiered in 1978, made him world-famous. Having grown up in a musical family, Re…