Cause and Curiosity

German edition

Cause and Curiosityrefers to composer Walter Zimmermann's curiosity-driven approach, whose work from its beginnings to the present day is illuminated in conversations with Richard Toop. Between 2002 and 2008, the two met for several conversations, which resulted in a multi-layered kaleidoscope of a composer whose versatility is still to be discovered. Richard Toop, who became known as an exegete of Brian Ferneyhough's work, was always fascinated by the independence of Zimmermann's composing and emphasized its originality in his lecture Shadows of Ideas, which concludes the volume.

Walter-Wolfgang Sparrer took over the transcription and publication of the conversations, supplemented them after Toop's death in 2017, and compiled an extensive picture section. The result is an adventurous book that moves through the work and thinking of a composer whose life motto, Beginner's Mind, becomes tangible here.

Walter Zimmermann's music seems to belong to one of those categories that are invented specifically for things that don't fit anywhere else. Perhaps this is the key to locating his work: where does it fit in? Perhaps simply nowhere. I have often wondered why his compositions were so often overlooked in favor of works by German composers who were undoubtedly less talented and less individual. More and more, I believe the answer lies in the radical independence of his music—it could never be easily co-opted by the cultural agendas of its time. But that is precisely what I appreciate about his music: it shows that nonconformity does not necessarily mean protest, and that affirmation is possible even without trumpets and drums. For me, that is true 'free music' – may it always remain so!"
(Richard Toop, from "Shadows of Ideas")

Richard Toop, born on August 1, 1945, in Chichester, England, studied at the University of Hull and lived in Australia from 1975, where he taught at the Sydney Conservatorium. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was active as a pianist for new music—in a 24-hour marathon in London, he played the first documented solo version of Erik Satie's Vexations. In the mid-1970s, he was part of the Cologne music scene and worked as Stockhausen's assistant at the Cologne University of Music from 1973 until he moved to Australia.

However, Toop made his greatest contribution to new music as an author. His book on Ligeti's life and work (1999) is considered an excellent introduction to Ligeti's music. This was followed in 2005 by his lecture collection Six Lectures from the Stockhausen Courses Kürten 2002. He was also co-editor of Ferneyhough's collected writings (together with James Boros).

After his untimely death on June 19, 2017, Walter-Wolfgang Sparrer, editor of the loose-leaf encyclopedia Komponisten der Gegenwart(Contemporary Composers), took over the editing of the conversations, structuring and annotating them.

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