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As Schoenberg was writing “A Survivor from Warsaw”, a young German composer was beginning to come terms with his own creativity, and his own response to the war in which he had fought. Bernd Alois Zimmermann composed some of the bleakest and boldest visions in 20th century music, in his opera Die Soldaten, his Requiem for a Young Poet, and in his very final piece, Ecclesiastical Action. In the summer of 1970 Zimmermann sent his family away on holiday and committed suicide at his home. Zimmermann’s former pupil, the composer York Holler, musicologist Paul Griffiths and soprano Laura Aikin, who has performed the role of Marie in Die Soldaten, discuss the composer, his pioneering work and his role in shaping the music of the 20th century. Broadcast in April 2014. Photo credit: Hannes Kilian