Composer

He was the legendary seducer—and ultimately ended up in hell: Don Giovanni in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's version, Don Juan in the ancient Spanish legend, and in Nikolaus Lenau's work, which inspired Richard Strauss's tone poem . Both works offer a captivating auditory experience, as does Henze's overture to a theater. Carl Maria von Weber's favorite instrument was the clarinet, perhaps also because he was commissioned by the Bavarian King Maximilian I to write his Concerto No. 1. While widely performed internationally, it remains (for now?) a hidden gem in Vienna.

EPSG:4326

MUK.sinfonieorchester | Don Giovanni & Don Juan

Wiener Konzerthaus

Hans Werner Henze was not an ivory tower composer: uncompromising as well as politically committed, he viewed composing not in terms of style but rather as a means of exploring consciousness. Das Floß der Medusa (The Raft of the Medusa), dedicated to revolutionary leader Che Guevara, caused a scandal in the heated atmosphere of the 1960s. It tells the story of the frigate Méduse, which sank in 1816, and whose passengers, abandoned by its officers, drifted on a raft in the Atlantic Ocean for four weeks – an allegory of the abuse of power by those in authority. Sir Simon Rattle has immersed himself in this music, whose dark power and impulsive despair are impossible to ignore. Jörg Widmann will also be the featured soloist in the world premiere of Zones of Blue by Siemens Prize winner Olga Neuwirth.

Sir Simon Rattle | Das Floß der Medusa

Gasteig HP8

In the run-up to the performances of Richard Strauss's "Elektra," the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and the NDR Vokalensemble, under their chief conductors Alan Gilbert and Klaas Stok, will devote a joint concert to other heroic myths in music. It becomes clear: the oft-praised heroism itself is a myth. For just as Elektra, in her supposedly self-sacrificing fight against injustice, becomes a possessed murderer herself, so too do the protagonists of this concert program "fail": Orpheus cannot free his wife Eurydice from the underworld because he is looking around for her; Napoleon, to whom Ludwig van Beethoven originally wanted to dedicate his "Eroica," tramples on the human rights he proclaimed; and Prometheus, another hidden "dedicatee" of the symphony that has itself become a myth, also makes several mistakes as the legendary originator of human civilization...

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra & Vocal Ensemble / Klaas Stok / Alan Gilbert

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

Ingo Metzmacher

San Carlo Theatre

In 1891, Richard Strauss read Don Quixote, a novel of adventurous knightly tales by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes, which had been suggested to him by Cosima Wagner. The book must have made a lasting impression on the composer. He worked on the symphonic poem for six years before it premiered in Cologne in 1898. British cellist Steven Isserlis will lend his instrument’s voice to the title character. Always by his side: Sancho Panza, brought to life by the violist Emiko Yuasa – who has been the First Principal Viola of the BRSO since last March. We are delighted to welcome back Daniel Harding, who will transport us into mythical worlds in this concert – which also include Hans Werner Henze’s Erlkönig. Between the two works, Haydn’s “La passione” in F minor will provide an intense, even existential experience.

Daniel Harding | Don Quixote

Munich Residence

Movie Night

CongressCentrum Pforzheim CCP

Alexander Ferkey – DMA Recital

Hamel Music Center

As the template for his opera, Die Englische Katze (1983), Hans Werner Henze turned to a story by Honoré de Balzac from the early 1840s, illustrated by the famous caricaturist, Grandville. The libretto for Die Englische Katze was delivered by the English author Edward Bond, with whom Henze had already collaborated successfully with his previous opera, We Come to the River. If this was a passionate plea against the war, at first glance this animal parable, Die Englische Katze, appears to be apolitical, indeed, even harmless or amusing. The story about the ageing tomcat, Lord Puff, president of a vegetarian-nourishing “Royal Society for the Protection of Rats” and his young wife Minette, who falls in love with another, daring and exciting tomcat, Tom, ends tragically however, and serves as a wicked satire. Minette is drowned by the other cats, Tom is stabbed in the back, just after he has inherited a large sum of money. The insensitive, hypocritical cat society that only looks out for its own benefit gets off scot free.

Die Englische Katze

1968: Students and civil rights movements demonstrate worldwide in the streets, Martin Luther King is assassinated, and the reform projects of the Prague Spring are crushed by invading Warsaw Pact troops—a politically symbolic year. That same year, Hans Werner Henze's oratorio was also scheduled to premiere in Hamburg, but the premiere was met with protests and a police intervention in the concert hall. The scandal made The Raft of the Medusa instantly famous. The libretto is based on the true, scandalous story of a shipwreck off the west coast of Africa: While those responsible sought safety in lifeboats, 154 crew members and passengers were abandoned to the ocean on a makeshift raft.

The Raft of the Medusa — Bavarian Radio Choir · WDR Choir · ORF RSO · Metzmacher

Felsenreitschule

In pursuit of their degrees at SFCM, each student presents a recital that represents their artistry and craft. Student Recitals feature repertoire curated by students with guidance from their faculty instructor. 

Eric Yang, cello - First Year Master's Recital

San Francisco Conservatory of Music

In pursuit of their degrees at SFCM, each student presents a recital that represents their artistry and craft. Student Recitals feature repertoire curated by students with guidance from their faculty instructor.

Yosef Feinberg, cello- First Year Master's Recital

“It is the best thing I have written in my life”, declared Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1784 of his piano quintet. Many of his most famous works had not yet been written, but the quintet remains a Mozartian jewel, with its melodic beauty and charming dialogues between the instruments. It is no wonder that the young Ludwig van Beethoven was inspired by Mozart’s example to write an equally enchanting quintet. Members of the Berliner Philharmoniker play both works with pianist Kit Armstrong. Contemporary counterpoints are provided in the form of wind quintets by Hans Werner Henze and Wolfgang Rihm.

Philharmonic chamber music Piano quintets by Mozart and Beethoven with Kit Armstrong

Berliner Philharmonie

This recital is given in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music. Zachary Wuorinen is a student of Timothy Pitts. 

Zachary Wuorinen, Double Bass

Alice Pratt Brown Hall

The sea already sounds whipped up in the overture of the opera "The Wreckers" - after all, people here live off what the sea washes ashore after a storm. Tirrenio also comes from the sea to fool the ball guests with his nymphs in Henze's ballet "Undine" - with a colorful and virtuoso divertissement.

On the Saving Shore

Meistersingerhalle

“Spielfreude,” the joy of playing, describes the sheer physical and emotive pleasure of performing at the keyboard. Mark Robson’s recital offers a program that largely takes its cue from this idea, with pieces from a range composers including Ligeti, Glass, Cowell, Messiaen, Aldo Clementi and Ginastera, with premieres by Peter Knell, Hannah Rice and Daniel Rothman. Also featured will be Schoenberg’s Zwei Klavierstücke, Op. 33 in honor of the composer’s 150th birth anniversary.

Mark Robson: Spielfreude

One California Plaza

From ancient times to the present day, music and dance have captured the spirit of humanity. Today's concert showcases three contrasting composers: Malcolm Arnold, Hans Werner Henze, and Edward Gregson. Arnold's Four Scottish Dances, composed in 1957, draws its inspiration from traditional Scottish folk dances. Henze's Ragtimes and Habaneras, written in 1976, was famously performed by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band at the BBC Proms that same year. Finally, Gregson's Dances and Arias merges lively, energetic dances with soulful, contemplative melodies, bringing the concert to a rousing conclusion.

Royal Welsh College Brass Band: Dances for Brass

Bute Park

The Prince of Homburg – a dreamer, nonconformist, hero?

Fehrbellin, 1675: Prince Friedrich dreams he’s an acclaimed victor in battle but is laughed at by everybody. The command goes out before the real fight begins that no-one’s to attack until the electoral prince explicitly orders it. But Homburg high-handedly leads a charge that could lead to victory and is sentenced to death for insubordination ...

The Prince of Homburg

Oper Frankfurt

Sarah Heimberg, trumpet

Northwestern Bienen School of Music

Concert in Tuttlingen

Tuttlinger Hallen

Pomp, flourishes, and wigs – when it comes to the harpsichord, many people primarily associate it with the Baroque period. But at the beginning of the 20th century, this instrument, which had been forgotten for a long time, experienced a true renaissance. Mahan Esfahani presents classics from this period as well as even more contemporary works that catapult the harpsichord from the past into the present.

Mahan Esfahani, Cembalo

Music of the time #GRAPE

Museum Ludwig

Maximilian Hornung regularly enchants his Blaibach audiences with his outstanding chamber music partners. Now you can experience him in his purest form: as a breathtaking soloist performing two of Johann Sebastian Bach's famous cello suites and exciting modern works.

Maximilian Hornung – cello solo

Blaibach Concert Hall

Since the 2023/2024 season, Frenchman Pierre Bleuse has been chief conductor of the Paris-based Ensemble Intercontemporain. As the successor to great musicians such as Pierre Boulez and Peter Eötvös, he is thus the full-time guardian of modernism. NDR audiences have already experienced the trained violinist at the "Elbphilharmonie Visions" festival in 2025, among others. Now, as part of the Hamburg International Music Festival, Bleuse has compiled a program of 20th-century works whose common denominator is its complexity.

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Pierre Bleuse

When Franz Schubert wrote his Octet in 1824, he created a new eight-person ensemble that has endured to this day. The Scharoun Ensemble was founded in 1983 for this work and consists primarily of clarinet, bassoon, horn, two violins, viola, cello, and double bass. The members of the Berlin Philharmonic are among the most exciting chamber music ensembles and are constantly expanding their repertoire with new works—as is the case in this concert, dedicated to the 100th birthday of Hans Werner Henze.

Scharoun Ensemble Berlin / Siyabonga Maqungo / Jürgen Ruck

Does a composer know that a work will be his last? And does the music convey world-weariness, farewell, or serenity? The renowned Schumann Quartet explores these questions as part of the Hamburg International Music Festival, which in 2025 has the theme "The End," with the last string quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven and featured composer Hans Werner Henze

Schumann Quartet

Matthias Pintscher, newly appointed conductor of the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra and an expert on the music of the 20th and 21st centuries, has programmed a birthday greeting and – in keeping with the music festival motto “The End” – two very different farewell works for his guest conducting engagement with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra.

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Leonidas Kavakos / Matthias Pintscher

Seven prisoners escape from a concentration camp during the Nazi era; only one survives and gropes his way to freedom on a dangerous path. Hans Werner Henze used the material from Anna Seghers's seminal novel as the basis for his Ninth Symphony, which, according to the composer, is "an expression of the greatest reverence for the people who resisted during the period of Nazi-fascist terror and who gave their lives for freedom of thought."

Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra / Berlin Radio Choir / Vladimir Jurowski

From the 1960s onwards, political engagement became a central driving force behind the work of composer Hans Werner Henze. The 'voices' that speak in different languages are those of the poor and disenfranchised, as captured by politically engaged poets from around the world. The result is a cycle that has affinities with musical theatre, offering a stirring musical experience that consciously follows in the tradition of Hanns Eisler and Paul Dessau.

Ensemble Modern

Alte Oper

This concert is part of the Bavarian Radios' musica viva series. Musica viva is one of the world’s most famous forums for future-oriented and contemporary music, where many experimental works and performances for orchestra and chamber music receive their premiere.

Matthias Pintscher | Streich · Reinvere · Henze

4th Youth Concert

The Requiem speaks of "the fears and sorrows of people in this time, of illness and death, of love and loneliness" – Hans Werner Henze wrote this funeral music in memory of Michael Vyner, a longtime friend and artistic director of the London Sinfonietta, who died young in 1989. Now the work, whose movements are reminiscent of the Latin requiem mass and yet find their eloquent expressiveness in the wordless sphere of instrumental music, is heard in memory of the important German composer.

Composer

Hans Werner Henze

Events

Upcoming events

Apr 17, 2026

Concert in Tuttlingen · Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim

Apr 17, 2026

Mahan Esfahani, Cembalo · Elbphilharmonie

May 2, 2026

Music of the time #GRAPE · WDR Sinfonieorchester

May 10, 2026

Maximilian Hornung – cello solo · Konzerthaus Blaibach

15 - 17 May, 2026

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Pierre Bleuse · Elbphilharmonie

Past events

Mar 16, 2026

MUK.sinfonieorchester | Don Giovanni & Don Juan · Music and Arts Private University of the City of Vienna

6 - 7 Feb, 2026

Sir Simon Rattle | Das Floß der Medusa · Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

About

Hans Werner Henze hasn't added a bio