Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze (born July 1, 1926, Gütersloh, Germany) is a German composer well known for his left-wing political convictions. He left Germany for Italy in 1953 because of a perceived intolerance towards his politics and homosexuality. He continues to live in the village of Marino in the Lazio region of Italy. An avowed Marxist and member of the Italian Communist Party, Henze has produced compositions honoring Ho Chi Minh and Che Guevara. The librettist of his requiem for Che Guevara, titled Das Floß der Medusa (The Raft of Medusa), was among several people arrested at the 1968 Hamburg premiere for placing a red flag on the stage. Henze spent a year teaching in Cuba, though he later became disillusioned with Castro. His music is extremely varied in style, having been influenced at various times by atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, and jazz.
Hans Werner Henze (born July 1, 1926, Gütersloh, Germany) is a German composer well known for his left-wing political convictions. He left Germany for Italy in 1953 because of a perceived intolerance towards his politics and homosexuality. He continues to live in the village of Marino in the Lazio region of Italy. An avowed Marxist and member of the Italian Communist Party, Henze has produced compositions honoring Ho Chi Minh and Che Guevara. The librettist of his requiem for Che Guevara, titled Das Floß der Medusa (The Raft of Medusa), was among several people arrested at the 1968 Hamburg premiere for placing a red flag on the stage. Henze spent a year teaching in Cuba, though he later became disillusioned with Castro. His music is extremely varied in style, having been influenced at various times by atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, and jazz.
Works For Double Bass
*2022 stock* 'Hans Werner Henze was, during his lifetime, probably the most-performed composer of western modern music, and his advanced yet sensuously traditional music remains an important presence on stages around the world today. Henze was deeply attached to Italy, where he spent a large part of his life. The roots of this album go back to a personal meeting between Henze and the Italian double bass virtuoso Daniele Roccato when Roccato was attempting to obtain Henze’s blessing for a theater…
Heliogabalus Imperator / Works For Orchestra
*2022 stock* The relationship between Hans Werner Henze and Oliver Knussen was one of great mutual respect. The German composer admired the British conductor and composer for electrifying performances of Henze’s own and other composers’ works. Knussen was an untiring and enthusiastic champion of his friend Henze’s music. The recordings collected here display Knussen’s deep understanding of Henze’s music. Knussen conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra in sensitive and meticulous performances of comp…
Piano Works
Jan Philip Schulze has been playing Henze’s piano works “in his sleep,” as he says. Indeed he has worked with the composer intensively on every piece, yet during the recording sessions he was noticeably surprised, while listening back to recordings, to find himself confronted by the work afresh, discovering new sides to it which he had previously experienced differently.
Musica Da Camera: Ensemble Dissonanzen
The selections of chamber music on this CD by Hans Werner Henze (b.1926) tend toward his lyrical side, and with an emphasis on compositions derived from his theater pieces. The CD's repertoire especially suits the Naples-based Ensemble Dissonanzen, featuring the talents of its guitarist, Marco Cappelli. The 'Sonatina for Flute and Piano' was written in 1947, its style owing something to both Fortner (Henze's teacher in Heidelberg at this time) and Hindemith. 'Boulevard Solitude,' composed in 195…
Guitar music Vol.1
Often described as one of Europe's foremost living composers, Hans Werner Henze could perhaps more accurately be described as Europe's greatest living composer. Born in 1926, Henze's career spans sixty years, his style encompasses everything from neo-classicism to post-modernism, his works include everything from grand operas to intimate quartets, and his music embraces everything from ecstatic lyricism to agonizing expressionism. In this disc devoted to his music for guitar, Henze's intimate, l…