Bernd Alois Zimmermann (20 March 1918 – 10 August 1970) was a German composer. He is perhaps best known for his opera ''

Die Soldaten ' (''The Soldiers'') is a four-act opera in German by Bernd Alois Zimmermann, based on the 1776 play by Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz. In a letter accompanying his newly printed play (23 July 1776, aged 24) that he sent to his best friend, the Ge ...

'', which is regarded as one of the most important German operas of the 20th century, after those of

Berg Berg may refer to: People *Berg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Berg Ng (born 1960), Hong Kong actor * Berg (footballer) (born 1989), Brazilian footballer Former states * Berg (state), county and duchy of the Hol ...

. As a result of his individual style, it is hard to label his music as

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...

, serial or

postmodern Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or Rhetorical modes, mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by philosophical skepticism, skepticis ...

. His music employs a wide range of methods including the

twelve-tone row In music, a tone row or note row (german: Reihe or '), also series or set, is 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 ...

and

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 (self-referential), or from a different composer's work (appropriation). Sometimes the quotation is done for ...

Life

Zimmermann was born in Bliesheim (now part of

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 that flows through it, the Erft. The neighbouring towns are Brüh ...

) near

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

. He grew up in a rural Catholic community in western Germany. His father worked for the German

Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regiona ...

(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 Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

(or Nazis) closed all private schools, he switched to a public Catholic school in

where, in 1937, he received his

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen ye ...

, the German equivalent of a high school diploma. In the same year, he fulfilled his duty for the

Reichsarbeitsdienst The Reich Labour Service (''Reichsarbeitsdienst''; RAD) was a major organisation established in Nazi Germany as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarise the workforce and indoctrinate it with Nazi ...

and spent the 1937/1938 winter semester studying pedagogy at the Hochschule für Lehrerausbildung (lit. University for Teacher Training) in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

. He began studying

Music Education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origin ...

Musicology Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

and

Composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

in the winter of 1938 at the University for Music in Cologne. In 1940, he was drafted in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

(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 (; 17 February 1913 – 29 August 1972) was a Polish, later naturalised French, composer, conductor, music theorist and teacher. He was historically significant in promoting the music of the Second Viennese School in Paris after ...

and

Wolfgang Fortner Wolfgang Fortner (12 October 1907 – 5 September 1987) was a German composer, composition teacher and conductor. Life Fortner was born in Leipzig. From his parents, who were 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, short for Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo ( it, Accademia Tedesca Roma Villa Massimo), is a German cultural institution in Rome, established in 1910 and located in the Villa Massimo. The fellowship of the German Academy in Rom ...

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

Academy of Arts, Berlin The Academy of Arts (german: Akademie der Künste) is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The Academy's predecessor organization was fo ...

), especially after his opera ''

'' (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). The composer's depressive tendencies led to an emotional crisis, compounded by a quickly deteriorating eye problem. On 10 August 1970, Zimmermann committed suicide at his home in Königsdorf near

– just five days after completing the score of his last composition, ''Ich wandte mich und sah an alles Unrecht das geschah unter der Sonne''. At the time, he was preparing another opera, ''Medea'', after

Hans Henny Jahnn Hans Henny Jahnn (born Hans Henny August Jahn'';'' 17 December 1894 – 29 November 1959) was a German playwright, novelist, and organ-builder. Personal life Hans Henny Jahn was born in 1894 in Stellingen, one of Hamburg's suburbs, and was the s ...

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 style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing sty ...

, continued with free

atonality Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on a ...

and twelve-tone music and eventually arrived at serialism (in 1956). His affection for

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

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 (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) 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. He is known for his groundb ...

Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mon ...

, 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 In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

and Classical to

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and

Pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

) 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 (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an Assemblage (art), assemblage of different forms, thus creat ...

(the ballet ''Musique pour les soupers du Roi Ubu''). In his vocal works, especially his ''Requiem for a Young Poet'', 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".'Bernd Alois Zimmermann, Germany (1918–1970)
UbuWeb
(Accessed 28 May 2006)

Works

* ''Extemporale'' for piano (1946) * ''Capriccio for Piano'' * ''Lob der Torheit'' (burlesque cantata by

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

), for solo, choir and large orchestra (1947) * ''Enchiridion 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) * ''Enchiridion II'' for piano (1951) * Concerto for oboe and chamber orchestra (1952) * ''Des Menschen Unterhaltsprozeß gegen Gott'' (lit. ''The People's Maintenance Suit Against God'')

Radio opera Radio opera (German: 'Funkoper' or 'Radiooper') is a genre of opera. It refers to operas which were specifically composed to be performed on the radio and is not to be confused with broadcasts of operas which were originally written for the stage. ...

in three acts with text from

Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño (, ; ; 17 January 160025 May 1681) was a Spanish dramatist, poet, writer and knight of the Order of Santiago. He is known as one of the most distinguished Baroque ...

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 Busch Heinrich Christian Wilhelm Busch (14 April 1832 – 9 January 1908) was a German humorist, poet, illustrator, and painter. He published wildly innovative illustrated tales that remain influential to this day. Busch drew on the tropes of f ...

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 trio A 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. The term can also refer to a group of m ...

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 Roi ''Ubu Roi'' (; "Ubu the King" or "King Ubu") is a play by French writer Alfred Jarry, then 23 years old. It was first performed in Paris in 1896, by Aurélien Lugné-Poe's Théâtre de l'Œuvre at the Nouveau-Théâtre (today, the Théâtre de ...

" by

Alfred Jarry Alfred Jarry (; 8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a French symbolist writer who is best known for his play ''Ubu Roi'' (1896). He also coined the term and philosophical concept of 'pataphysics. Jarry was born in Laval, Mayenne, France, ...

(1966) * ''

'' Opera in four acts,

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, 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 li ...

by the composer after the drama of the same name by

Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz (23 January 1751, or 12 January in the Julian calendar – 4 June 1792, or 24 May in the Julian calendar) was a Baltic German writer of the ''Sturm und Drang'' movement. Life Lenz was born in Sesswegen (Cesvaine), ...

(1965) * Concerto for Cello and Orchestra ''en forme de pas de trois'' (1966), dedicated to Siegfried Palm * ''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 ' (''Requiem for a Young Poet'') is an extended composition by Bernd Alois Zimmermann, written from 1967 to 1969 for two speakers, soprano and baritone soloists, three choirs, jazz band, organ, tapes and a large orchestra. Subtitled ''Lingual'' (sp ...

— 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

Notes

*''A portion of this article was translated from the corresponding article in the German Wikipedia.''

Citations

# Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent German-language Wikipedia article (retrieved 28 May 2006). # 'Bernd Alois Zimmermann, Germany (1918–1970
UbuWeb
(Accessed 28 May 2006) # McCredie, Andrew D. (with Marion Rothärmel): 'Zimmermann, Bernd Alois', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 8 May 2006
Grove Music

External links

General purpose

*
Music for the (Un)faint of Heart: Bernd Alois Zimmermann at 100
by Michael Schell, Second Inversion *
Homepage of the Bernd-Alois-Zimmermann-Society (BAZG)

von

Michael Denhoff Michael Denhoff (born 25 April 1955 in Ahaus) is a German composer and cellist. Life Denhoff has lived and worked in Bonn since 1982. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, where his teachers included Günter Bialas and Hans Wer ...

Anmerkungen zu Bernd Alois Zimmermann
by

Jörn Peter Hiekel Jörn Peter Hiekel (born 1963) is a German musicologist. Life Born in Göttingen, Hiekel first studied musicology, art history and history at the universities of Cologne and Bonn before he completed his double bass studies at the Musikhochsch ...

Bernd Alois Zimmermann bibliography
by Ralph Paland

Listening

*
Listen to "Preludio" from Zimmermann's ''Die Soldaten'' at Acousmata music blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zimmermann, Bernd Alois 1918 births 1970 suicides People from Erftstadt German Roman Catholics 20th-century classical composers German opera composers Male opera composers People from the Rhine Province Suicides in Germany Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln alumni German male classical composers 20th-century German composers 20th-century German male musicians Reich Labour Service members German Army personnel of World War II