Bernd Alois Zimmermann- THE NUMBERED/IMPROVISATIONS,TRATTO (ca.1972) Heliodor/Wergo

Today would have been Bernd Alois Zimmermann's 94th birthday. He died in 1970, aged only 52 years.Excerpt from the (enclosed) notes to Tratto:

The experimental stage in the history of electronic music is not yet closed, and everything is pressing so toward the stormy further development that, for the time being, only technical novelties are expected in the way of progress. But technical progress says nothing at all about the state of composing. There are electronic compositions which,from a musical point of view,are far behind Schoenberg's Variations for Orchestra, Op.16. To put it otherwise, it is not the technical manipulation of the new sound medium that is decisive, but the question as to whether the specific characteristics of the new medium have been understood and can be used profitably for musical composition.
And so, I asked myself if it would be right to neglect using sine vibrations as a basic material,and if the fact that this doubtless pure electronic fabric has til now proven to be not very flexible nor expressive could be explained by the way it has been treated til now. The conviction that there are still undiscovered possibilities led to the point of departure in composing "Tratto"(...)

Excerpt from the (embarrassing) notes to "The Numbered/Improvisations":

What attraction does jazz have to the composers who do not directly stem from it?
If one wants to imply that such an attraction can - with very few exceptions - be generally observed, then one can say perhaps the attraction that is to be seen is that of naturally talented people who make music together. But talent for what?
First of all, for a completely spontaneous way of playing certain instruments, which is not necessarily to be learned in the school,but which somehow functions like doors or gates through which something wishes to exit...



Side One:
The Numbered (Ode to freedom in the form of a dance of death from the music to the radio play "The Numbered" by Elias Canetti)Improvisations (on the jazz episode from the second act,second scene of the opera "The Soldiers").
Performers: The Manfred Schoof Quintet

Side Two:

Tratto (Composition for electronic sounds in the form of a choreographic study) 1966





















It is unclear exactly how the two pieces listed on side A are divided as it is not labeled precisely.
discogs labels the pieces as track one and track two, but there is no visible or audible separation to merit this.
I believe that the two pieces alternate back and forth for the duration of side A.
(1) or (1)