Piano Works

In his early twenties, Hans Werner Henze was searching for his personal signature, his personal style. The "neoclassical" Sonatina of 1947 was followed by Variations op. 13, in which he used Schönberg's twelve-tone technique. In Germany, as a leftist who did not want to follow the dogmas of the avant-garde circle, he soon found himself between two stools - and went to Italy. The Lucy Escott Variations (1963) on a theme from Bellini's Sonnambula or Cherubino (1980), as well as the Préludes to Tristan (2003) leave no doubt about his close ties to opera. In 1959, however, there was still a piano sonata that was completely "far removed from the theater": "I believe that the problems of sonata - fugue will always come back to us as questions and insist on answers." (Henze) And his politically alert spirit always watches over all his works. Great music by a great composer, ideally interpreted by Jan Philip Schulze.