La citation dans la pensée créatrice de Bernd Alois Zimmermann

The use of quotation is a crucial element in Bernd Alois Zimmermann's (1918-1970) creative thinking. This thesis explores the evolution of Zimmermann's compositional approach to the use of this procedure. The first chapter defines four categories of borrowing which correspond, although in a non-exclusive manner, to the features which characterize four compositional periods: stylisation, homage, teleological genesis and pluralism (A compositional technique defined by the composer around 1960 and aiming at representing a spherical conception of time). The second chapter considers the nature, source and content of the quotations and focuses on the recurrence of the identical fragments, themes and types of writing common to several works. It also establishes that the same logic--where theological concerns and the concept of time function as essential points in a network of reference--unifies older works with more recent ones. The third chapter analyzes the strategic role of passages containing quotations with respect to global form and as solution to compositional problems which confronted the composer. The fourth chapter deals with methods of construction which characterize passages with quotations and demonstrates the composer's fascination with Franco-Flemish polyphonic techniques (cantus firmus, proportional canon and isorhythm). In these contexts, borrowed fragments tend not only to have a historical association with such structural types, but also stem from a repertoire supposedly universal. This permits the creation of textures charged with meaning and allows the listener to perceive different superimposed layers