Hans Werner Henze's Symphony No. 4 was written in 1955. It was premiered at the Hochschule für Musik, Berlin on 9 October 1963 by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the composer.

Background

The fourth symphony was originally the finale to act two of Henze's opera ''

König Hirsch ' (in English, ''The Stag King'') is an opera in three acts by Hans Werner Henze to a German libretto by after ''Il re cervo'', a theatrical fable (1762) by Carlo Gozzi. He revised it as ''Il re cervo'', premiered in 1963 at the Staatstheater Kas ...

'' (King Stag). The opera was due to be given its first performance on 23 September 1956 in Berlin. Rehearsals went badly. The conductor

Hermann Scherchen Hermann Scherchen (21 June 1891 – 12 June 1966) was a German conductor. Life Scherchen was born in Berlin. Originally a violist, he played among the violas of the Bluthner Orchestra of Berlin while still in his teens. He conducted in Riga ...

insisted on substantial cuts to the score and, as a result, only half of the music was heard at the first performance. Henze rescued one of the cuts - the music from the finale to the second act - and derived his fourth symphony from it. In its original operatic context the music was to accompany a scene in which the king, magically transformed into a white stag, has fled into the forest and spends a year there contemplating his future before realising that he must return to the human world.Thomas Schulz (2011), liner notes for Wergo recording Henze wrote the symphony whilst he was teaching at the Darmstadt Summer School for New Music. Some of his composer colleagues reacted badly to the harmoniousness of Henze's composition.

Structure and style

The symphony is scored for

piccolo The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the so ...

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flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

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oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

cor anglais The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto ...

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clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...

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bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

contrabassoon The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences. Differences from the bassoon The reed is consi ...

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horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

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trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

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trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

s, tuba,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

(3 players),

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

celesta The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ( ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

. It is in a single movement, lasting some 20 minutes. The one movement contains all of the normal elements of the usual symphonic form. It commences with a short, slow introduction followed by a sonata form section, an

adagio Adagio (Italian for 'slowly', ) may refer to: Music * Adagio, a Tempo#Basic tempo markings, tempo marking, indicating that music is to be played slowly, or a composition intended to be played in this manner * Adagio (band), a French progressive m ...

, a scherzo and a rondo-like finale.

Recordings

* Deutsche Grammophon/ Brilliant Classics - Berlin Philharmonic conducted by the composer * Wergo - Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marek Janowski

References

{{Authority control 4 1955 compositions