Symphony No. 7 (Symphonie Nr. 7)

List of works

1943 to 2012

Commissioned by the Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester for their 100th anniversary

Period of composition 1983-84
Duration 46 minutes

I Dance
II Calmly moving
III Perpetuum mobile
IV Calm, sustained

World premiere 1. December 1984

Berlin

Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester
Conductor Gianluigi Gelmetti

In this work, I had wanted completely to submit to the traditional rules of the classical symphony so as to mould my musical expression as if in a furnace and enable it to reach the listener as directly and clearly as possible.
The first movement is a kind of German dance, an Allemande, so to speak; the second one a Lied. The third, in strict scherzoform, is a representation of the sufferings of the German poet Friedrich Hölderlin, in Dr Autenriedth’s mental institution in Tübingen. The last movement is a setting of Hölderlin’s poem “Half of Live”.

Hans Werner Henze

4 Flauti	2° e 3° anche Ottavini, 4° anche Flauto contralto
2 Oboi
1 Corno inglese
1 Heckelphon
4 Clarinetti	4° anche Clarinetto basso
1 Clarinetto contrabbasso
4 Fagotti	4° anche Controfagotto

6 Corni
2 Trombe in do
2 Trombe in re
3 Tromboni tenori
1 Trombone basso
1 Trombone contrabbasso
1 Tuba bassa

Percussione I	2 Tamtam 2 Bongos 6 Tomtom Timpani Maracas Glockenspiel Campane tubolari
Percussione II	Tamburo piccolo 2 Bongos Grancassa Glockenspiel Marimba Gong cinese
Percussione III	3 Piatti sospesi 3 Tamtam Tamburello basco Guiro Frusta Vibrafono Crotali
Arpa
Pianoforte
Celesta
Archi