Hans Werner Henze (1926-2012)

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

News just in from Schott:

http://www.schott-music.com/news/archive/show,8049.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20109290

I really like his opera L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe (The Hoopoe and the Triumph of Filial Love)', which I sincerely hope will one day be staged by one of the major UK companies.

[Serial_Apologist]

Goodbye Hans!

RIP - and thank you for all the wonderful committed music you gave us!



I shall play the Double Concerto written for Heinz and Ursula Holliger - whose final chorale always beings me tears, and seems the only appropriate response atm.

[amateur51]

Very sad news of a great composer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmRpoA74BME

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-QXenhBrhg

[heliocentric]

Very sad. So much of his music is very precious to me. This feels like a personal loss although I only once met him briefly.

[Petrushka]

Very sad news. I saw him once only, at the first UK performance of his 8th Symphony at the Proms in 1995. He gave an interesting pre-Prom talk that night.
I have the 7th, 8th and 9th symphonies on CD and will play one of them this evening.

[Serial_Apologist]

Very sad news. I saw him once only, at the first UK performance of his 8th Symphony at the Proms in 1995. He gave an interesting pre-Prom talk that night.

You were very fortunate to have been there. If I'm not mistaken, this talk was broadcast on R3 at the time?

I have the 7th, 8th and 9th symphonies on CD and will play one of them this evening.

I have to admit I was not aware of a tenth symphony...

[Pianorak]

I seem to remember being taken as a child to a performance of Koenig Hirsch at Bielefeld Stadttheater (must have been some time before 1959) with Henze in the audience. Don't remember anything about the music but can still visualize the stage set. Since I cannot find any confirmation I may have simply dreamed the whole episode.

[Serial_Apologist]

I'm so glad I found this piece, which I mentioned in Msg 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsV3jEPhURU&feature=relmfu

Stravinskyians may find it too expressionistic, and Schoenbergians too Stravinskyian! If you have any means of dampening the treble end of the spectrum on your computer, I would recommend using it.

I am sure there was much more to the unresolved row between Henze and Nono triggered by the following work than the former's bridging of aesthetic boundaries considered irreconcileable among composers following a broadly post-Webernian aesthetic in the late 50s - Henze was looking back by way of Stravinsky neoclassicism - that Dresden Amen! - even Britten's "Grimes" here as well as Berg to Mahler, to my ears:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61bsW1uJKqw&feature=related

This was the first Henze I ever heard (on the radio) - it also happens to be the piece that sparked off that split with Nono that lasted the rest of both men's lives - Nono died before there was any chance of a healing or reconciliation, and Henze never figured it out; it illustrates some of the deep musico-ideological disagreements among the European avant-garde in the 10-15 years after WW2. There is definitely a Varese reference at 12.10.

What a feast of Henze youtube has to offer!

[JimD]

I really like his opera L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe (The Hoopoe and the Triumph of Filial Love)', which I sincerely hope will one day be staged by one of the major UK companies.

Yes, there was a nice production available on DVD on Lovefilm, but now it's 'unavailable for rental'.

[Boilk]

An unusually prolific composer for his generation - there's something for everyone in that vast output. I initially got converted with the Voices song cycle (that double album on the pioneering decca Headline label) but my favourites are Arien des Orpheus, Barcarola and the oboe/harp Double Concerto. Much more yet to discover.

I have a BBC Four Henze documentary from maybe 6 or 7 years back, which will hopefully be shown again soon.

Shouldn't this thread be on Talking About Music rather than Platform 3?

[Ed: Yes, moved. Thanks.

ff]

[Anna]

Yes, there was a nice production available on DVD on Lovefilm, but now it's 'unavailable for rental'.

L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe. This was recommended to me, not sure whether by IGi or french frank and I absolutely loved it. I thought it one of the most brilliant operas I had seen. Shame if it's not available for rental at the moment.

[french frank]

I really like his opera L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe (The Hoopoe and the Triumph of Filial Love)', which I sincerely hope will one day be staged by one of the major UK companies.

It was broadcast on Radio 3 some while back - I had a minidisc recording (but now have nothing to play it on). Was it broadcast direct from Salzburg? It would be good to hear that recording again, anyway.

[Suffolkcoastal]

R.I.P. One of the most significant composers of the 2nd half of the 20th century and his sad demise leaves us with very few composers of any significance now living. A composer whose music I have become interested in over the last 10-15 years and have found very rewarding. Also a man who seems to have defiantly stuck to his principles and beliefs. A sad day for Music.

[amateur51]

L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe. This was recommended to me, not sure whether by IGi or french frank and I absolutely loved it. I thought it one of the most brilliant operas I had seen. Shame if it's not available for rental at the moment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_Pf-HsXcqw

[EdgeleyRob]

I am ashamed to say I know very little of his work.
Clearly a towering figure in 20th century music though.
RIP.