Walter Zimmermann: Songs of Innocence & Experience

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The work of American experimentalists, especially Cage's music of the 1940s, gave Zimmermann his starting point...The musical means may change...but the pared-down, almost self-denying character... — The Guardian, 29th November 2012, 3 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 17th Dec 2012
Catalogue No: MOD-CD-245
Label: Mode
Length: 2 hours 23 minutes

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Zimmermann, W: 10 Fränkische Tänze

Work length13:02

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Sonar Quartett

No. 1, —

Track length1:24

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No. 2, —

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Track length1:45

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Track length3:08

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Zimmermann, W: Keuper

Work length7:01

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Sonar Quartett

Zimmermann, W: Festina Lente

Work length26:33

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Sonar Quartett

I. Patientia

Track length10:41

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II. Occasio

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III. Poenitentia

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IV. Regressus in Infinitum

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Zimmermann, W: Songs of Innocence & Experience - 23 Ritornels

Work length22:09

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Allen Ginsberg
Sonar Quartett

Zimmermann, W: Die Sorge geht über den Fluß

Work length46:27

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Susanne Zapf

I. Pt. 1, 1989-91 (For Stefan Schädler)

Track length17:14

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II. Pt. 2, 2001

Track length29:13

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Zimmermann, W: Taula / Novo Ben

Work length15:57

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Nikolaus Schlierf

I. Taula

Track length7:03

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II. Novo Ben

Track length8:54

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Zimmermann, W: 10 Fränkische Tänze

Work length12:02

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$13.00

Sonar Quartett

No. 1, —

Track length1:08

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No. 2, —

Track length1:09

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No. 3, —

Track length1:02

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No. 4, —

Track length1:18

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Track length0:17

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Track length0:18

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Track length1:33

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Track length0:46

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Track length1:31

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No. 10, —

Track length3:00

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This is the first complete recording of Walter Zimmermann’s string quartets.

The '10 Fränkische Tänze', from the project Lokale Musik (Local Music) explore the folk music of Franconia in Germany. They are built on research of old peasant books of dances, some dating back to the early 19th century and the beginning of the notation of folk music. The many dance melodies including waltzes, Schottische [German polka], mazurka, galop etc. are captured, rejected and presented in just intonation, lending them an archaic character. It can be performed with or without a drone, both versions are presented here.

'Songs of Innocence & Experience' is a composition with 20 ritornellos after William Blake’s cycle of poems 'Songs of Innocence'. The spirit of each poem is condensed and projected onto children songs, which Zimmermann recorded on the streets of Nuremberg. The songs were transcribed with all their intonation inaccuracies and with their repeated phrases which point to both the recollection and forgetting of the melodies. These recordings as well as Allan Ginsberg’s interpretation of Blake’s 'The Tyger' poem are interwoven into the quartet.

'Festina Lente' explores the phenomena of listening to the fast music within the surface of slow passages and to the slow music within the surface of fast passages.

'Die Sorge geht über den Fluss' [Care Crosses the River] for solo violin is based on the 220th Fable of Hyginus, from which it takes its title. Zimmermann composed the piece like a diary: “Each day, I composed one line and if that was not the case, a rest with a fermata replaces sound, so that the structure of the diary from January 1, 2000, to April 1, 2000, produces the form alternating between composed and silent portions.”

'Taula/Novo Ben', for viola with voice (one performer), is the first of the cycle of works written for instrumentalists who also sing. This project creates a new, extremely demanding discipline. They are not just simple songs, but a performer’s challenging investigations of his/her instrument and his/her voice. At a time of much specialization in new music, this cycle leads back to the basic forms of music making which date back to the troubadours for whom it was natural to accompany their own vocal performances, although their songs were easier. Composer supervised recordings by Germany’s Sonar Quartett.

Liner notes by Walter Zimmermann and Rainer Pöllmann. Cover art by Nanne Meyer.

Reviews

29th November 2012

The work of American experimentalists, especially Cage's music of the 1940s, gave Zimmermann his starting point...The musical means may change...but the pared-down, almost self-denying character of the music, with nothing rhetorical about it all, has remained constant.

Walter Zimmermann: Songs of Innocence & Experience

2 CDs

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