Choral Music in the Works of Hans Werner Henze

Abstract

The choral music of Hans Werner Henze (1926–2012) holds a special place not only in the
composer’s overall legacy, but also in the history of Western European music of the second half
of the 20th century. Having analyzed the scores of musical works composed by Henze during the
course of over half a century, the author of the article presents a complex characterization of the
content-based and technical sides of the composer’s choral music. Generalizations are given about
the periodization of the compositions pertaining to the present genre sphere, their idea-related basis,
which determines the choice of literary sources, and classification is presented of the textural and
articulation techniques most characteristic for Henze’s choral writing. Giving due attention to the
organic combination in Henze’s music of traditional principles of textural and timbral organization
with elements of the newest techniques of vocal writing, the author demonstrates a unique approach
for Henze’s Darmstadt surroundings (Luigi Nono, Karlheinz Stockhausen) towards the creation
of choral music which provides for both the preservation of its age-old tradition and the further
development of this historically ancient genre. The techniques used by Henze not only reflect the
general tendencies of evolution of choral music in the third quarter of the 20th century, but in a
number of cases forestall them.
On the basis of this kind of study of the specific features of choral writing in the oratorio “Das
Floß der ‘Medusa’” the author rests upon the particularities of Henze’s conception of “musica
impura,” substantiating its influence not only on the technical compositional, but also on the idealaesthetic
component of one of the most original compositions in world choral musical literature
of the previous century. Special attention is paid to the experiments characteristic of Henze in
combining in one composition singing, speech and speech-like singing (Sprechgesang), which
following the composers of the Second Viennese School he began incorporating back in the 1940s
– being one of the first composers in his generation to do so in his music.

Keywords: Hans Werner Henze, Luigi Nono, Karlheinz Stockhausen, choral music, postwar
avant-garde, music and text, texture, timbre.