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Bernd Alois Zimmermann - Recomposed
Product Details
Description
Bernd Alois Zimmermann (1918–1970) was one of the most distinctive composers in the musical avant-garde after the Second World War. While Karlheinz Stockhausen served as a kind of ‘generator’ in Cologne during the 1950s and 60s, inventing completely new sounds and techniques, Zimmermann was in many ways his opposite, a ‘transformer’ who redefined previously existing material by placing it in new contexts and collage-like structures, anticipating the ideas of the Postmodernists.
Zimmermann created these new contexts on many levels. Especially in his younger years, he arranged and orchestrated songs and piano pieces using brash and daring instrumental colors. These arrangements then found their way into his works that are now recognized as modern masterpieces: “Alagoana”, “Konzert”, “Sinfonie in einem Satz”, “Stille und Umkehr”, etc. His self-composed works employing numerous quotations as well as his arrangements ‘recomposing’ previously existing music are juxtaposed in the excellent recordings presented by WERGO in this collection. It contains more than three hours of music as well as an extensive booklet with a wealth of information and an interview with Heinz Holliger, the guiding spirit behind this production. Holliger conducted all of the recordings and has worked for years to ensure that Zimmermann’s long-forgotten arrangements were rescued, published, performed, and recorded. The performances and recordings took place as part of the celebrations organized by the WDR in Cologne in honor of Zimmermann’s 100th birthday.
This new release from WERGO presents a fresh perspective on the composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann, whose tragic suicide shortly after the completion of “Stille und Umkehr” shocked the musical world. His fascinating instrumental effects and his embrace of popular and traditional music make his works feel much more at home in our contemporary world than they did in the cultural atmosphere of his time, with its faith with technology and progress.
A production of Westdeutschen Rundfunks, Köln, licensed by WDR mediagroup GmbH.
With the kind support of Strecker-Stiftung as well as Kunststiftung NRW.
Anyone following the Wergo series will need little prompting to acquire this latest release, but those new to or curious about this composer should make it their first port of call on what will prove an engrossing if unsettling journey. (Gramophone, February 2023)
Unexpected and delightful, with lively performances by the WDR Sinfonieorchester conducted by Heinz Holliger, this is an absolute tonic. (The New York Times, 7th December 2022)
Content
CD 1:
Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Alagoana. Caprichos Brasileiros. Ballet for orchestra
Heitor Villa-Lobos: A Lenda do Caboclo (arr. for orchestra by B.A. Zimmermann)
Darius Milhaud: Leme, from Saudades do Brazil. Suite de Danses op. 67, No. 3 (arr. for orchestra by B.A. Zimmermann)
Darius Milhaud: Sorocaba, from Saudades do Brazil. Suite de Danses op. 67, No. 1 (arr. for orchestra by B.A. Zimmermann)
Alfredo Casella: Bolero, from Undici pezzi infantili op. 35, No. 4 (arr. for orchestra by B.A. Zimmermann)
Alfredo Casella: Carillon, from Undici pezzi infantili op. 35, No. 4 (arr. for orchestra by B.A. Zimmermann)
Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Bolero moderato arranged for orchestra
Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Chunchitos for orchestra, from Maskentanz der Chunchos (after Aru Amunyas. Danzas y aires sobre motivos folkloricos aimaras y quechuas de Bolivia para piano, No. 4 by Hans Helfritz)
Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Laquitas for orchestera, from Danza del altiplano (after Aru Amunyas. Danzas y aires sobre motivos folkloricos aimaras y quechuas de Bolivia para piano, No. 10 by Hans Helfritz)
Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Pjusi-Phias for orchesterq, from Danza del altiplano (after Aru Amunyas. Danzas y aires sobre motivos folkloricos aimaras y quechuas de Bolivia para piano, No. 3 by Hans Helfritz)
Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Bergère légère for soprano and orchestra (based on a french song of the 18th century in the piano version by Jean Baptiste Weckerlin)
Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Maman, dites-moi for soprano and orchestra (based on a french song of the 18th century in the piano version by Jean Baptiste Weckerlin)
Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Jeunes fillettes for voice and orchestra (based on a french song of the 18th century in the piano version by Jean Baptiste Weckerlin)
Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Un petit rien for small orchestra
Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Rheinische Kirmestänze for 13 Wind Instruments
CD 2:
Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Kontraste for small orchestra
Modest Petrowitsch Mussorgski: Reiseeindrücke aus der Krim (arr. for orchestra by B.A. Zimmermann)
Modest Petrowitsch Mussorgski: Au village (arr. for orchestra by B.A. Zimmermann)
Franz Liszt: Die drei Zigeuner (arr. for vocals and orchestra by B.A. Zimmermann)
Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Intermezzo (Valse triste) for orchestra
Franz Liszt: Oh! Quand je dors (arr. for vocals and orchestra by B.A. Zimmermann)
Sergei Wassiljewitsch Rachmaninow: Romanze, from Morceaux de Salon op. 10, No. 6 (arr. for saxophone and orchestra by B.A. Zimmermann)
Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Concertino for piano and orchestra
Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Konzert for orchestra, 3rd version
CD 3:
Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Sinfonie in einem Satz for large orchestra, 2nd version
Ferruccio Busoni: Ballettszene III, from Zwei Clavierstücke op. 30a (arr. for orchestra by B.A. Zimmermann)
Friedrich Smetana: Polka, from Das Landmädchen for orchestra (arr. for orchestra by B.A. Zimmermann)
Friedrich Smetana: Oves, from Böhmische Tänze, Band II, No. 3 (arr. for orchestra by B.A. Zimmermann)
Antonín Dvořák: Causerie, from Poetische Stimmungsbilder op. 85, No. 11 (arr. for orchestra by B.A. Zimmermann)
Walter Niemann: Im Teehaus, from Japan. Ein Zyklus op. 89 (arranged for two violins, viola, violoncello, double bass, harp and piano by B.A. Zimmermann, 1st version)
Zoltán Kodály: Il pleut dans la ville, from 7 Klavierstücke op. 11, No. 3 (arranged for two violins, viola, violoncello, double bass and piano by B.A. Zimmermann)
Cyril Scott: Lotus Land, from Two Pieces op. 47, No. 1 (arranged for flute, harp, two violins, viola, violoncello and double bass by B.A. Zimmermann)
Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Souvenir d’ancien balet for two violins, viola, violoncello, double bass and piano (after Musicalischer Parnassus. 9 Suites for cembalo, Suite No. 2 „Calliope”, No. 2 Ballet by Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer)
Paul Haletzki: Vater und Sohn. Intermezzo scherzoso (Arr. for small orcheastra by B.A. Zimmermann)
Edmund Nick: Blues (arr. for orchestra by B.A. Zimmermann)
Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Stille und Umkehr. Orchesterskizzen
Performers
More Information
This small box of three CDs is exceptional in three regards. On the one hand, it documents Heinz Holliger’s and the WDR Symphony Orchestra’s continuing commitment to the music of Bernd Alois Zimmermann with recordings made over a period of 18 years. Secondly, in addition to some compositions that are now rarely heard, previously completely unknown orchestral arrangements have been recorded for the first time – colourful arrangements between bread-and-butter everyday and artistic originality. And thirdly, this amazing treasure trove makes it vividly clear how diverse radio was in the 1950s. (For the jury: Michael Kube)
After World War II, the modernist composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann produced orchestral arrangements of French chansons and Villa-Lobos for West German radio. The conductor (and oboist) Holliger has rescued those sparkling adaptations from oblivion. Crucially, he also provides fresh looks at Zimmermann originals like “Alagoana,” with its funhouse-mirror reflections of Villa-Lobos (and Milhaud). Seth Colter Walls, New York Times
’Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Recomposed’ is a wide-ranging collection drawn from across his career. Alongside a representative selection of radio and ‘light’ music it features two seminal works, Symphony in One Movement and Stille und Umkehr, in performances that amply reaffirm Heinz Holliger as a conductor of the front rank.
