Composer of our Time
We have arranged the paintings chronologically, and where there is a direct relationship to a piece of Henze's music, we have faced the corresponding passage from the particell, autograph, score or piano reduction with the respective painting.
All institutions that would like to show these pictures in the future, so far the Casa di Goethe in Rome, the Philharmonie in Berlin and the Gütersloh Theatre, may set their own priorities according to their possibilities and needs.
The title of the exhibition Songs of Colour refers directly to Henze's autobiography Reiselieder mit böhmischen Quinten. In the Italian translation, the Bohemian fifths are omitted because both volumes of the autobiography are collected in one book.
Even if he had only created these paintings for his own amusement, he had published them himself on various occasions - that alone now justifies this compilation. In addition, the pictures tell such an expressive story about his music and his life that a publication seems almost imperative. This is exactly how the exhibition was appreciated by visitors and experts alike.
