Hans Werner Henze | Composer, Communist, Dandy

From the humanist messages, his personal experiences of Nazism, war, the loss of cultural identity, the opposition to his work and person, to outright public hostility: these formative experiences made Hans Werner Henze Germany’s most political composer. To mark his 100^th birthday in July 2026, this documentary brings the relevance of his music to life, both audibly and visually.

Hans Werner Henze is the musical chronicler of post-war Germany. In his numerous major operas, orchestral works and songs, he addresses the key political and social debates of his time, yet at the same time renders them timeless against the backdrop of his human understanding of music. His commitment to politics and music education is legendary. In 1976, he founded the Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte in Montepulciano, also known as the International Art Workshop, a festival for young musicians and actors.

The directors of the documentary sought out contemporary witnesses and locations to learn more about Henze as a person and as a musician, and in the process discovered some very personal letters recorded on cassette. They also set out in search of previously unpublished songs, which were then recorded for the first time at WDR with soprano Sarah Maria Sun and pianist Jan Philip Schulze.