Bernd Aloïs Zimmermann (1918-1970) was one of the most gifted and innovative German composers to emerge following the Second World War, but he was afflicted with a manic-depressive disorder that curtailed his career. Zimmermann was a native of Cologne who continued to teach there following the war; he first made significant impact with his Canto di Speranza (1957) and the viola concerto Antiphonen (1965). Zimmerman's opera Die Soldaten (1965) was a highly influential milestone in postwar European theater and hailed as a masterwork, however Zimmermann took his own life not long after completing his massive Requiem für einen jungen Dichter (1969).