Bernd Alois Zimmermann
Encyclopedia
Bernd Alois Zimmermann (20 March 1918, Bliesheim
, Rhine Province
- 10 August 1970 ; full name Bernhard Alois Zimmermann) was a post-WWII West German composer
. He is perhaps best known for his opera Die Soldaten
which is regarded as one of the most important operas of the 20th century. As a result of his individual style, it is hard to label his music as avant-garde
, serial
or postmodern. His music employs a wide range of methods including the twelve-tone row
and musical quotation
.
) near Cologne
. He grew up in a rural Catholic community in western Germany. His father worked for the German Reichsbahn
(Imperial Railway) and was also a farmer. In 1929, Zimmermann began attending a private Catholic school, where he had his first real encounter with music. After the National Socialists
(or Nazis) closed all private schools, he switched to a public Catholic school in Cologne
where, in 1937, he received his Abitur
, the German equivalent of a high school diploma.
In the same year, he fulfilled his duty for the Reichsarbeitsdienst
and spent the 1937/1938 winter semester studying pedagogy at the Hochschule für Lehrerausbildung (lit. University for Teacher Training) in Bonn
.
He began studying Music Education
, Musicology
and Composition
in the winter of 1938 at the University for Music in Cologne. In 1940, he was drafted in the Wehrmacht
(the German Army) but was released in 1942 due to a severe skin illness. After he returned to his studies, he didn't receive a degree until 1947 due to the ending of the war. However, he was already busy as a free-lance composer in 1946, predominantly for radio. From 1948 to 1950, he was a participant in the Kranichsteiner/Darmstädter Ferienkursen für Neue Musik (lit. Kranichstein/Darmstadt Vacation Course for New Music) where he studied under René Leibowitz
and Wolfgang Fortner
, among others.
In 1957, he received a scholarship to spend time at the German Academy Villa Massimo
in Rome. He also assumed the position of Professor of Composition (from Frank Martin
) as well as Film and Broadcast Music at the Cologne Music University. In the 60s, he received more attention and success as a composer (including a second scholarship to the Villa Massimo in 1963 and a fellowship in the Berlin Academy of the Arts
), especially after his opera Die Soldaten
(The Soldiers) finally premiered in 1965. The opera had previously not been performed due to the enormous number of people required and the musical difficulty—the Cologne Opera had considered it "unspielbar" (not performable). He was living in Grosskönigsdorf near Cologne
. Nevertheless, his depressive tendencies increased to a more physical level, compounded by a quickly deteriorating eye problem. On 10 August 1970, Zimmermann committed suicide, just five days after completing the score to Ich wandte mich um und sah alles Unrecht das geschah unter der Sonne. At the time, he was preparing another opera, Medea.
, continued with free atonality
and twelve-tone music and eventually arrived at serialism (in 1956). His affection for jazz
can sometimes be heard in some of his compositions (more so in his Violin Concerto or Trumpet Concerto).
In contrast to the so called Darmstadt School (Stockhausen
, Boulez
, Nono
, etc.), Zimmermann did not make a radical break with tradition. At the end of the 1950s, he developed his own personal compositional style, the pluralistic "Klangkomposition" (German word referring to the compositional style that focuses on planes - or areas - of sound and tone-colors). The combination and overlapping of layers of musical material from various time periods (from Medieval
to Baroque
and Classical to Jazz and Pop music
) using advanced musical techniques is characteristic of Klangkomposition. Zimmermann's use of this technique ranged from the embedding of individual musical quotes (seen somewhat in his orchestral work Photoptosis) to pieces that are built entirely as a collage
(the ballet Musique pour les soupers du Roi Ubu). In his vocal works, especially his Requiem, the text is used to progress the piece by overlapping texts from various sources. He created his own musical stance using the metaphor "the spherical form of time"
is modelled in its form after Zimmermann's Requiem für einen jungen Dichter — Lingual, and includes passages that pay tribute to the composer's life and death.
Erftstadt
Erftstadt is a town located about 20 km south-west of Cologne in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name of the town derives from the river which flows through it, the Erft...
, Rhine Province
Rhine Province
The Rhine Province , also known as Rhenish Prussia or synonymous to the Rhineland , was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822-1946. It was created from the provinces of the Lower Rhine and Jülich-Cleves-Berg...
- 10 August 1970 ; full name Bernhard Alois Zimmermann) was a post-WWII West German composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. He is perhaps best known for his opera Die Soldaten
Die Soldaten
Die Soldaten is a four act opera in German by German composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann, based on the 1776 play by Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz. It is dedicated to Hans Rosbaud. Zimmermann himself faithfully adapted the play into the libretto, the only changes to the text being repeats and small cuts...
which is regarded as one of the most important operas of the 20th century. As a result of his individual style, it is hard to label his music as avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
, serial
Serialism
In music, serialism is a method or technique of composition that uses a series of values to manipulate different musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though his contemporaries were also working to establish serialism as one example of...
or postmodern. His music employs a wide range of methods including the twelve-tone row
Tone row
In music, a tone row or note row , also series and set, refers to a non-repetitive ordering of a set of pitch-classes, typically of the twelve notes in musical set theory of the chromatic scale, though both larger and smaller sets are sometimes found.-History and usage:Tone rows are the basis of...
and musical quotation
Musical quotation
Musical quotation is the practice of directly quoting another work in a new composition. The quotation may be from the same composer's work , or from a different composer's work ....
.
Life
Zimmermann was born in Bliesheim (now part of ErftstadtErftstadt
Erftstadt is a town located about 20 km south-west of Cologne in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name of the town derives from the river which flows through it, the Erft...
) near Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. He grew up in a rural Catholic community in western Germany. His father worked for the German Reichsbahn
Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft
The Deutsche Reichsbahn – was the name of the German national railway created from the railways of the individual states of the German Empire following the end of World War I....
(Imperial Railway) and was also a farmer. In 1929, Zimmermann began attending a private Catholic school, where he had his first real encounter with music. After the National Socialists
National Socialist German Workers Party
The National Socialist German Workers' Party , commonly known in English as the Nazi Party, was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. Its predecessor, the German Workers' Party , existed from 1919 to 1920...
(or Nazis) closed all private schools, he switched to a public Catholic school in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
where, in 1937, he received his Abitur
Abitur
Abitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...
, the German equivalent of a high school diploma.
In the same year, he fulfilled his duty for the Reichsarbeitsdienst
Reichsarbeitsdienst
The Reichsarbeitsdienst was an institution established by Nazi Germany as an agency to reduce unemployment, similar to the relief programs in other countries. During the Second World War it was an auxiliary formation which provided support for the Wehrmacht.The RAD was formed during July 1934 as...
and spent the 1937/1938 winter semester studying pedagogy at the Hochschule für Lehrerausbildung (lit. University for Teacher Training) in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
.
He began studying Music Education
Music education
Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
, Musicology
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
and Composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
in the winter of 1938 at the University for Music in Cologne. In 1940, he was drafted in the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
(the German Army) but was released in 1942 due to a severe skin illness. After he returned to his studies, he didn't receive a degree until 1947 due to the ending of the war. However, he was already busy as a free-lance composer in 1946, predominantly for radio. From 1948 to 1950, he was a participant in the Kranichsteiner/Darmstädter Ferienkursen für Neue Musik (lit. Kranichstein/Darmstadt Vacation Course for New Music) where he studied under René Leibowitz
René Leibowitz
René Leibowitz was a French composer, conductor, music theorist and teacher born in Warsaw, Poland.-Career:...
and Wolfgang Fortner
Wolfgang Fortner
Wolfgang Fortner was a German composer, composition teacher and conductor.-Life:Fortner was born in Leipzig. From his parents - both singers - Fortner very early on had intense contact with music...
, among others.
In 1957, he received a scholarship to spend time at the German Academy Villa Massimo
Villa Massimo
Villa Massimo, short for Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo , is a German art institute in Rome, established in 1910 and located in the Villa Massimo....
in Rome. He also assumed the position of Professor of Composition (from Frank Martin
Frank Martin (composer)
Frank Martin was a Swiss composer, who lived a large part of his life in the Netherlands.-Childhood and youth:...
) as well as Film and Broadcast Music at the Cologne Music University. In the 60s, he received more attention and success as a composer (including a second scholarship to the Villa Massimo in 1963 and a fellowship in the Berlin Academy of the Arts
Akademie der Künste
The Akademie der Künste, Berlin is an arts institution in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1696 by Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg as the Prussian Academy of Arts, an academic institution where members could meet and discuss and share ideas...
), especially after his opera Die Soldaten
Die Soldaten
Die Soldaten is a four act opera in German by German composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann, based on the 1776 play by Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz. It is dedicated to Hans Rosbaud. Zimmermann himself faithfully adapted the play into the libretto, the only changes to the text being repeats and small cuts...
(The Soldiers) finally premiered in 1965. The opera had previously not been performed due to the enormous number of people required and the musical difficulty—the Cologne Opera had considered it "unspielbar" (not performable). He was living in Grosskönigsdorf near Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. Nevertheless, his depressive tendencies increased to a more physical level, compounded by a quickly deteriorating eye problem. On 10 August 1970, Zimmermann committed suicide, just five days after completing the score to Ich wandte mich um und sah alles Unrecht das geschah unter der Sonne. At the time, he was preparing another opera, Medea.
Music
In his own compositional growth, he took his place in the progression of new music, from which the German composers were mostly separated during the Nazi regime. He began writing works in the neoclassical styleNeoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
, continued with free atonality
Atonality
Atonality in its broadest sense describes music that lacks a tonal center, or key. Atonality in this sense usually describes compositions written from about 1908 to the present day where a hierarchy of pitches focusing on a single, central tone is not used, and the notes of the chromatic scale...
and twelve-tone music and eventually arrived at serialism (in 1956). His affection for jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
can sometimes be heard in some of his compositions (more so in his Violin Concerto or Trumpet Concerto).
In contrast to the so called Darmstadt School (Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
, Boulez
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
, Nono
Luigi Nono
Luigi Nono was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music and remains one of the most prominent composers of the 20th century.- Early years :Born in Venice, he was a member of a wealthy artistic family, and his grandfather was a notable painter...
, etc.), Zimmermann did not make a radical break with tradition. At the end of the 1950s, he developed his own personal compositional style, the pluralistic "Klangkomposition" (German word referring to the compositional style that focuses on planes - or areas - of sound and tone-colors). The combination and overlapping of layers of musical material from various time periods (from Medieval
Medieval music
Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century...
to Baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
and Classical to Jazz and Pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
) using advanced musical techniques is characteristic of Klangkomposition. Zimmermann's use of this technique ranged from the embedding of individual musical quotes (seen somewhat in his orchestral work Photoptosis) to pieces that are built entirely as a collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
(the ballet Musique pour les soupers du Roi Ubu). In his vocal works, especially his Requiem, the text is used to progress the piece by overlapping texts from various sources. He created his own musical stance using the metaphor "the spherical form of time"
Literary Influences
The novel How Is This Going to Continue? (2007) by James ChapmanJames Chapman (author)
James Chapman is an American novelist and publisher. He was raised in Bakersfield, California, has lived in New York City since 1978, and is the author of nine novels to date....
is modelled in its form after Zimmermann's Requiem für einen jungen Dichter — Lingual, and includes passages that pay tribute to the composer's life and death.
Works
- Extemporale for piano (1946)
- Capriccio for Piano
- Lob der Torheit (burlesque cantata by Johann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
), for solo, choir and large orchestra (1947) - Enchidrion I for piano (1949)
- Märchensuite for orchestra (1950)
- Alagoana (Caprichos Brasileiros) Ballet Suite (1950)
- Rheinische Kirmestänze (1950, rearranged in 1962 for 13 wind instruments)
- Concert for Violin and orchestra (1950)
- Sonata for solo violin (1951)
- Symphony in one movement (1951, revised 1953)
- Enchidrion II for piano (1951)
- Concerto for oboe and chamber orchestra (1952)
- Des Menschen Unterhaltsprozeß gegen Gott (lit. The People's Way of Living Contrary to God) Radio opera in three acts with text from Pedro Calderón de la BarcaPedro Calderón de la BarcaPedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño usually referred as Pedro Calderón de la Barca , was a dramatist, poet and writer of the Spanish Golden Age. During certain periods of his life he was also a soldier and a Roman Catholic priest...
and adapted by Matthias Bungart. - Nobody knows the trouble I see Concert for trumpet and chamber orchestra (1954)
- Sonata for Viola solo (1955)
- Konfigurationen (Configurations) for piano (1956)
- Perspektiven — Musik für ein imaginäres Ballet (Perspectives — Music for an imaginary ballet.) for 2 pianos (1956)
- "Die fromme Helene" after Wilhelm BuschWilhelm BuschWilhelm Busch was an influential German caricaturist, painter, and poet who is famed for his satirical picture stories with rhymed texts....
sounded as a "Rondo popolare" for narrator and *instrumental ensemble (1957) - Canto di speranza Cantata for cello and small orchestra (1957)
- Omnia tempus habent Cantata for soprano and 17 instruments (1957)
- Impromptu for orchestra (1958)
- Dialoge Concerto for two pianos and orchestra (1960)
- Re-written with the title Monologue for two pianos (1964)
- Sonata for solo cello (1960)
- Présence, ballet blanc for piano trioPiano trioA piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music...
and narrator (with words from Paul Pörtner) (1961) - Antiphonen for viola and 25 instrumentalists (1961)
- Tempus Loquendi for solo flute (1963)
- Musique pour les soupers du Roi Ubu (Ballet noir en sept parties et une entrée) Ballet after "Ubu RoiUbu RoiUbu Roi is a play by Alfred Jarry, premiered in 1896. It is a precursor of the Theatre of the Absurd and Surrealism. It is the first of three stylised burlesques in which Jarry satirises power, greed, and their evil practices — in particular the propensity of the complacent bourgeois to abuse the...
" by Alfred JarryAlfred JarryAlfred Jarry was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France, not far from the border of Brittany; he was of Breton descent on his mother's side....
(1966) - Die SoldatenDie SoldatenDie Soldaten is a four act opera in German by German composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann, based on the 1776 play by Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz. It is dedicated to Hans Rosbaud. Zimmermann himself faithfully adapted the play into the libretto, the only changes to the text being repeats and small cuts...
Opera in four acts, librettoLibrettoA libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by the composer after the drama of the same name by Jakob Michael Reinhold LenzJakob Michael Reinhold LenzJakob Michael Reinhold Lenz was a Baltic German writer of the Sturm und Drang movement.-Life:...
(1965) - Concerto for Cello and Orchestra en forme de pas de trois (1966), dedicated to Siegfried PalmSiegfried PalmSiegfried Palm was a German cellist who is known worldwide for his interpretations of contemporary music. Many 20th-century composers like Kagel, Ligeti, Xenakis, Penderecki and Zimmermann wrote music for him....
- Tratto Electronic composition (1967)
- Intercomunicazione for cello and piano (1967)
- Die Befristeten for jazz quintet (1967)
- Photoptosis Prelude for large orchestra (1968)
- Requiem für einen jungen Dichter — Lingual for narrator, soprano, baritone, three choirs, electric tape, orchestra, jazz combo and organ (1969)
- Vier kurze Studien for solo cello (1970)
- Stille und Umkehr orchestra sketches (1970)
- Tratto 2 Electronic composition (1970)
- Ich wandte mich um und sah alles Unrecht das geschah unter der Sonne — Ekklesiastische Aktion for two narrators, bass and orchestra (1970)
- Plus various compositions for radio, theater and film
Citations
- Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent German-language Wikipedia article (retrieved May 28, 2006).
- 'Bernd Alois Zimmermann, Germany (1918–1970) UbuWeb (Accessed May 28, 2006)
- McCredie, Andrew D. (with Marion Rothärmel): 'Zimmermann, Bernd Alois', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed [May 28, 2006]), Grove Music
Listening
- Bernd Alois Zimmermann at the Avant Garde Project has FLAC files made from high-quality LP transcriptions of Musique pour les soupers du Roi Ubu and the Vocal Symphony from Die Soldaten available for free download.
- Listen to "Preludio" from Zimmermann's Die Soldaten at Acousmata music blog