Ursache und Vorwitz

English edition

Ursache und Vorwitz points to an attitude driven by curiosity on the part of composer Walter Zimmermann, whose work from its beginnings to the present day is examined in conversations with Richard Toop. Between 2002 and 2008, the two met for several conversations, resulting in a multifaceted kaleidoscope of this 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 Walter Zimmermann's independent composing and emphasized his originality in the lecture Shadows of Ideas, which concludes this book. Walter-Wolfgang Sparrer undertook the transcription and publication of the conversations, completing them after Richard Toop's death in 2017 and enriching the volume with a wealth of illustrative material. The result is an adventurous book that meanders through the works and thinking of the composer, whose motto in life, "Beginner's Mind," can be experienced in its pages. “Walter Zimmermann’s music is more like the categories one invents for things that don’t belong anywhere. Perhaps this is the key to ‘localizing’ his work. Where does it fit? Perhaps it simply doesn't fit. I have often wondered why his compositions have been neglected in favor of works by undeniably less talented and less individual composers. And I increasingly believe that the answer is that his work has always been too independent—it has never been easy to place it within the current cultural agenda. But this is precisely what I appreciate about his music: it shows that nonconformity does not always have to mean protest, that even a kind of affirmation is conceivable that is not pompously based on 'drums and trumpets'. For me, this is 'free music' in the truest sense of the word. May it always continue like this!" Richard Toop, from: Shadows of Ideas

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