«He was a very good pianist who constantly resisted all virtuosity; and this was precisely why he became a virtuoso in the freedom of sounds. He created a music that reached the limits of what was bearable».

There is a long list of records, CDs and cassettes that document the music of Dieter Roth. He played in many ensembles and made recordings, both in public concerts and in private spaces. One important series of audio documents is the collection of different records with the collective title Rarely heard music. These recordings were made in collaboration with friends and artist colleagues such as Günter Brus, Oswald Wiener, Gerhard Rühm, Dominik Steiger, Christian L. Attersee, Hermann Nitsch and Arnulf Rainer. In addition to this, Dieter Roth was also active as a music publisher. He released numerous records and cassettes by Hermann Nitsch, Dominik Steiger and André Thomkins, but also music by less famous friends. Now, for the first-ever time, a comprehensive catalogue raisonné is being published of Dieter Roth’s complete musical oeuvre, including all its special editions, documents, divergences and deviants. Guy Schraenen, publisher and editor of the book Vinyl, has written a knowledgeable, valuable contribution on the record covers, while Michel Roth offers brief, well-informed texts on the assorted contents of the works edited here. There are further essays by Klaus Renner and by Björn Roth – the son and close artistic comrade-in-arms of the artist – who enrich this publication with their reminiscences of their collaborations with Dieter Roth in his legendary recording studio Bali and of the concerts they experienced with him.

Language: English / German