Hans Werner Henze (born 1926) is a German composer of unusual productivity and diversity of style. He is best known for unorthodox operas such as Boulevard Solitude (1952), with its unique treatment of the "Manon" story used by Puccini, and the comic opera Der junge Lord (1965). His later works show his political affiliation with socialism, as in a requiem for Che Guevara, the Cuban revolutionary.

Born in Gütersloh, Germany, on July 1, 1926, Hans Werner Henze majored in piano and percussion at the Staatsmusikschule in Braunschweig. He was drafted into the Germany army in 1943 and served in the tank corps before being taken prisoner by the British.

Early Training and Work

After World War II, Henze became a student of composer Wolfgang Fortner at Heidelberg. The style of Henze's first mature compositions--a violin sonata, a chamber concerto, and the First Symphony (1947)--was neoclassic in the manner of Igor Stravinsky and...