Hans Werner Henze

The selections of chamber music on this CD by Hans Werner Henze tends toward his lyrical side, and with an emphasis on compositions derived from his theater pieces.

The repertoire suits the Naples based Ensemble Dissonanzen, one of Italy’s leading contemporary music groups, also allowing various members to be showcased as soloist: Marco Cappelli, guitar; Tommaso Rossi, flute; Luca Incoronato, bassoon; Daniele Colombo, violin; and Ciro Longobardi, piano.

The Sonatina for flute and piano was written in 1947, its style owes something to both Fortner (Henze’s teacher in Heidelberg at this time) and Hindemith.

Boulevard Solitude, composed in 1952, established Henze as one of the leading composers of his generation, particularly in the field of music theatre. Ein kleines Potpourri was concocted from the opera for chamber ensemble. The driving Perpetuum mobile movement is a transposition of the opera’s savage Intermezzo.

The Drei Tentos are from Kammermusik for tenor, guitar and octet composed in 1958, when Henze, who had been living in Italy for years, spent some time in Greece. Here, fragments of Hölderlin’s text are musically evoked without being enunciated.

The kaleidoscopic Carillon, Récitatif, Masque is scored for the unusual plucked trio of mandolin, guitar and harp.

Toccata Mistica is one of only a handful of works Henze composed for piano. Its fluid, impetuous tidal waves of sound allude to a disfigured seascape, with the grand piano cast adrift like a raft amid the breakers.

The seven Neue Volkslieder und Hirtengesänge are derived from Henze’s stays in Styria, an Austrian region where folksongs feature the bassoon. Here the folksong melodies are transformed verse by verse and influenced by a complex harmonic and contrapuntal texture in which the bassoon has a soloistic role.

Liner notes by Alessandro Mastropietro.

Ein kleines Potpourri aus der Oper “Boulevard Solitude” (2000) for flute, vibraphone, harp and piano: Berceuse, Gavotte, Galop; Manon Lescaut schreibt einen Brief; Perpetuum mobile
Sonatina aus dem Märchen für Musik “Pollicino” (1979) for violin and piano
Carillon, Récitatif, Masque (1974) trio for mandolin, guitar and harp
Toccata Mistica (1994) for piano solo
Drei Tentos (1958) for guitar solo
Sonatina (1947) for flute and piano
Neue Volkslieder und Hirtengesänge (1983/96) for bassoon, guitar and string trio

Ensemble Dissonanzen
Claudio Lugo, conductor (tracks 1-3 and 17-23)