Bernd Alois Zimmermann
Concerto + Photoptosis + Tratto II
Wergo (Germany) 1972
WER 60062 (LP) Black logo on label.
sleeve : EX(SOC, wrinkle on one corner)
media : EX/EX(some slightly noise)
Released in 1972, this album presents works by German composer B. H. Zimmermann, who left behind numerous experimental compositions from the 1960s onward. A1 is a concerto performed by cellist Siegfried Palm with the South West German Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ernest Bour. B1 is a prelude for large orchestra, performed by the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under Hans Zender, and features a magnificent, densely layered sound making extensive use of tone clusters. The real highlight, however, is the electronic music piece on B2. One of only two electronic works Zimmermann produced during his lifetime, it was composed for Expo ’70 in Osaka and played from tape inside the spherical auditorium of the West German Pavilion, directed by Stockhausen. Created entirely from sine waves, it is a remarkable piece of electronic sound that seems to expand space and time itself.
B1: Photoptosis
B2: Tratto II