Hans Werner Henze certainly has been one of the most important composers of our time. Having lived in Italy for nearly 60 years, he has developed his own distinct musical idiom rather influenced by the Italian sense of life. Henze's music "comes from theatre", as he often emphasized, it always used to take a political position, and the major human concerns tend to express themselves in and out of this music in a highly affecting manner.
Most of his 15 operas soon found their way into the international theatre repertory. The recording of his 10 symphonies, achieved by the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Berlin under Marek Janowski with WERGO has just been completed and was highly appreciated by the international music world. His list of works contains pieces of all musical genres.
Having established the "Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte Montepulciano" and the "Münchener Biennale - Internationales Festival für Neues Musiktheater" Henze, as educator and promoter of young talents, has created two festivals which mark a solid start of many now important careers and have become essential events in the international music festival calendar.
Henze has received numerous distinctions - among them several honorary doctorates, the Japanese emperor's "praemium imperiale", the Grand Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and the appointment as "Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur". He played an active part in the musical life - at last as "Capell-Compositeur" of the Dresden Staatskapelle, until he passed away.
Biographical Details
| 1926 | Born in Gütersloh (Westphalia) on July 1 |
|---|---|
| 1942 | Begins to study at the State Music School of Brunswick |
| 1944 |  Military service |
| 1945 | Répétiteur at the Bielefeld Stadttheater |
| 1946 |  Studies at the Institute for Church Music in Heidelberg and with Wolfgang Fortner Participates in the 1st International summer courses for new music in Darmstadt |
| 1947 |  Participates in the 2nd International summer courses for new music in DarmstadtMeets, among others, Alexander Mitscherlich, Hans Mayer, Ricarda Huch, Karl Amadeus Hartmann, Hermann Scherchen, Grete Weil, Walter Jockisch and Jean-Pierre Ponnelle |
| 1948 | Participates in the 3rd International summer courses for new music in Darmstadt, there studies in dodecaphony with René Leibowitz Moves to Göttingen |
| 1949 |  Musical collaborator of Heinz Hilpert at the Deutsches Theater in Constance |
| 1950 | Moves to Berlin Meets Boris Blacher, Heinz von Cramer, Rudolf Wagner-Régeny and Gottfried von Einem Artistic director and conductor of the ballet of the Hessisches Staatstheater at Wiesbaden Meets Luigi Nono |
| 1951 | Robert-Schumann Prize of the city of Düsseldorf First journey to Italy |
| 1952 |  Moves to Munich Meets Ingeborg Bachmann |
| 1953 | Premio RAI (in the context of the Grand Prix Italia) for "Ein Landarzt" (A Country Doctor) Meets William Walton, W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman |
| 1954 |  Meets Igor Strawinsky, Franco Serpa and Frederick Ashton |
| 1955 |  Moves to Naples Last visit of the Darmstadt International summer courses; meets Karlheinz Stockhausen |
| 1956 | Sibelius Gold Medal, London Meets Luchino Visconti |
| 1957 |  Great Arts Award of North Rhine-Westphalia |
| 1958 |  „Undine. Tagebuch eines Balletts“, Piper Verlag München Music Critics Award Buenos Aires Meets Hans Magnus Enzensberger |
| 1959 | Great Arts Award of Berlin |
| 1960 |  Moves to Rome Meets Paul Dessau and Ruth Berghaus Meets Theodor W. Adorno |
| 1960-68 | Member of the West-Berlin Akademie der Künste |
| 1961 | Moves to Castel Gandolfo Arts Award of Lower Saxony, Hanover |
| 1962-67 | Master class for composition at the Salzburg Mozarteum |
| 1963 |  First journey to America; meets Aaron Copland in New York City; Meets Jean Cocteau and Francis Poulenc in Paris Meets Fausto Moroni in Rome |
| 1964 |  Member of the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste, Munich |
| 1965 | Participates in the election campaign for Willy Brandt (together with Ingeborg Bachmann and Günter Grass) Meets Massimo Bogianckino and Elsa Morante |
| 1966 |   Moves to Marino, Villa La Leprara First journey to Japan |
| 1967 | Visiting professor at the Dartmouth College New Hampshire, USA Meets Gastón Salvatore and Rudi Dutschke |
| 1968 | Participates in the Berlin Vietnam-Congress Associate member of the East Berlin Akademie der Künste der Berlin (GDR) The world premiere of the oratorio „Das Floß der Medusa“ (Che Guevara gewidmet) in Hamburg being live broadcast by 22 European radio stations was cancelled after a police raid in the auditorium against students. |
| 1969-70 | Teaching and research activities in La Habana, Cuba Meets Miguel Barnet and the 108 old Estéban Montejo, protagonist of „El Cimarrón“ |
| 1971 |  Honorary doctorate of music of the University of EdinburghMeets Edward Bond |
| 1975 | Honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music, London Meets Jens Brockmeier |
| 1976 | „Musik und Politik. Schriften und Gespräche 1955-76“, dtv, München Ludwig-Spohr Prize of the city of Brunswick Establishes the Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte in Montepulciano (Tuscany) Journey to Australia Secondary residence in London (Knightsbridge) |
| 1979 | Meets Hans-Ulrich Treichel |
| 1980 |
Awards of the city of Positano for the ballets "Ondine" and "Orpheus" |
| 1980-91 | Professor of composition at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Cologne |
| 1981 | „Schriften und Gespräche 1955-79“, Henschel-Verlag, Berlin (GDR) Artistic director of the Accademia Filarmonica Romana |
| 1981-83 | Establishes and becomes artistic director of the Mürztaler Musikwerkstätten, Mürzzuschlag (Styria) |
| 1982 | „Music and Politics. Collected Writings 1953-81“, Faber & Faber, London Honorary member of the Berlin Deutsche Oper Honorary memberg of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York |
| 1983 | „Die Englische Katze. Ein Arbeitstagebuch“, S. Fischer Verlag Frankfurt/Main Bach Prize of the Free Hanseatic City of Hamburg Associate member of the Deutschen Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung, Darmstadt Composer-in-Residence at the Berkshire Music Centre in Tanglewood/MA (USA) Composer-in-Residence at the Cabrillo Music Festival in Aptos/CA (USA) Meets Michael Kerstan at the Schwetzingen Festival |
| 1984 | „Musik und Politik. Schriften und Gespräche 1955-84“, erweiterte Neuauflage, dtv München |
| 1984-86 |  Establishes and becomes artistic director of the DeutschlandsbergerJugendmusikfest (Styria) |
| 1986 | Various festivals in honour of Henze's 60th birthday in Vienna, Aldeburgh, Evian-Les-Bains, Gütersloh, London, Torino, Frankfurt/Main, Lucerne |
| 1987 |
World premiere of an operatic project of his cologne masterclass: „Die Regentrude“ with more than 250 participants in Alsfeld/Hesse (conductor: Markus Stenz, stage director: Michael Kerstan, secnes and costumes: Hermann Haindl) |
| 1988-96 | Establishes and becomes artistic director of the Münchener Biennale, Internationales Festival für neues Musiktheater (Munich) |
| 1988 |  Composer-in-Residence at the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood/MA (USA) |
| 1989 | Artistic director of the Gütersloher Sommerakademie Hans Werner Henze |
| 1989-91 | Artistic director of the Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte, Montepulciano |
| 1990 |
„Apollo d'oro“, Bilbao |
| 1991 | Composer-in-Residence at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Fellow of the Berlin Wissenschaftskolleg 2 major Henze festivals in London |
| 1991-92 | Award of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) Grand Cross of the Order of Merit, Federal Republic of Germany "München leuchtet" Medal in gold Honorary member of the International Society of New Music |
| 1992 |  Member of the Academia Scientarium et Artium Europae, Salzburg |
| 1995 | Music Award of the city of Duisburg in conjunction with the Köhler-Osbahr-Foundation Accademico Onorario of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome |
| 1996 |  „Reiselieder mit böhmischen Quinten. Autobiographische Mitteilungen“, S. Fischer Verlag Frankfurt/Main Annette-von-Droste-Hülshoff Prize of the Landschaftsverband Westphalia-Lippe Special Cultural Award of the city of Munich Honorary doctorate of the University of Osnabrück Honorary Citizen of the city of Montepulciano President of the Contemporary Opera Studio, English National Opera, London Extensive Henze festival in Basel |
| 1997 | Honorary Citizen of the city of Marino (Roma) |
| 1998 |  „Komponieren in der Schule. Notizen aus einer Werkstatt“, Schott-Verlag Mainz „Bohemian Fifths. An Autobiography“, Faber & Faber, London Bayerischer Maximilian Order for Science and Art Honorary Fellow of the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester Premio "Franco Abbiati" 1998 of the Associazione Nazionale Critici Musicali für the production of "Venus und Adonis" at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa |
| 2000 |
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| 2001 | Cannes Classical Award in the category "Best Living Composer" Deutscher Tanzpreis 2001 (German Dance Award) extense Henze festival of the NDR in Hamburg |
| 2002 | Laurence Olivier Award 2000 in the category "Best New Opera Production" for "Boulevard Solitude" at the Royal Opera House London (staging: Nikolaus Lehnhoff) |
| 2003 |  „L’Upupa. Nachtstücke aus dem Morgenland. Autobiographische Mitteilungen“, Propyläen- München Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, Paris Performance of all 10 symphonies at the festival "Présences" in Paris Prize "Neues Hören" of the Internationale Sommerakademie Mozarteum (encouraged and financed by the foundation „Neue Musik im Dialog“, Cologne) for successful presentation of New Music |
| 2004 | „Canciones de viaje con quintas Bohemias“, Antonio Machado Ediciones, Madrid „Briefe einer Freundschaft“ (Briefwechsel mit Ingeborg Bachmann), Piper-Verlag München Honorary doctorate of the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Munich Meets Christian Lehnert |
| 2005 | „Canti di viaggio. Una vita“, Il Saggiatore, Mailand 2005 Serious illness Henze festivals in Dublin and Madrid |
| 2006 | Premio "Franco Abbiati" della critica musicale italiana 2006 for the production of Elegie for Young Lovers at the Teatro delle Muse, Ancona (staging, scenes and costumes: Pier Luigi Pizzi) Henze festivals in Stockholm, Munich, Dortmund and Bünde (next to Bielefeld) |
| 2007 |
„Phaedra. Ein Werkbuch“, Verlag Klaus Wagenbach, Berlin |
| 2008 | „Lettere da un’amicizia“ (Correspondence Bachmann-Henze), EDT, Torino |
| 2009 | Premio "Franco Abbiati" for the Italian premiere of Phaedra at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino 2008 (Conductor: Roberto Abbado, Stage director: Michael Kerstan, Scene and costume designer: Nanà Cecchi) |
| 2010 |
Honorary Doctor of Music of Royal College of Music, London |
| 2011 |  Lifetime Achievement Award of the GEMA Music Author's Award Henze festival in Muenster/Westphalia |
| 2012 |  Henze-focus at the Semperoper Dresden„Capell-Compositeur“ of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden Deceased on 27 October in Dresden |
| 2013 | October: posthumous granting of the honorary doctorate of the University of Florence (Link zum Artikel) |
| 2015 | September: posthumous granting of the "Grifo Poliziano" for his merits in promoting the city of Montepulciano internationally |
