# Hans Werner Henze String Quartets



## starthrower

Any fans of these works? They rarely get talked about here. I'd own a recording by now if there was something readily available and affordable. The Arditti Quartet recordings on Wergo have been out of print for awhile.

I'm listening to one of the quartets now on YouTube. Maybe not radical and innovative, but there's a vigorous quality to these works that I find compelling.


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## Torkelburger

I'm a huge fan of his works in general. I have his symphonies on CD and also regularly listen to his other works on youtube. I haven't heard the operas though, which I believe are supposed to be his best works. He is one of the pillars of the second half of the 20th century. Right up there with Penderecki, Xenakis, and Ligeti. The quartets are wonderful.


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## starthrower

I just snagged a used copy of this from Rhino Records. Yowsa!!!


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## Guest

starthrower said:


> I just snagged a used copy of this from Rhino Records. Yowsa!!!


I can't imagine any other recordings that could improve upon this one, certainly as far as performances go.


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## starthrower

Yeah! The Arditti Quartet is tough to beat. I'm looking forward to the CDs.


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## starthrower

Well they popped my balloon by cancelling my order, so I won't be hearing these quartets very soon.


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## elgar's ghost

starthrower said:


> Well they popped my balloon by cancelling my order, so I won't be hearing these quartets very soon.


That's a pity - is that the only available recording?


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## starthrower

It's not really available because it's out of print. There are pricey used copies for sale. I don't know if there are any other recordings, but I really wanted the Arditti Quartet CD.


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## GioCar

It looks like their are available on Amazon.co.uk.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Henze-Strin...ie=UTF8&qid=1411679153&sr=1-19&keywords=henze

Are you sure it is out of print? Even on Amazon.it there seems to be 5 available copies...

http://www.amazon.it/Henze-String-Q...&ie=UTF8&qid=1411679136&sr=1-6&keywords=henze


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## tgkohn

As you say, it is available as a CD on Amazon, both in US and UK. Perhaps also in Germany.
I happen to have a vinyl LP for sale. In the moment, I am trying to list it on Amazon.com (US), but I am awaiting "support" from them to list it as an LP in addition to the CD.

(I have decided to record all my LPs to digital format because of a plan to move to a smaller home in my retirement. My collection of about 1200 records is slowly being converted...)



GioCar said:


> It looks like their are available on Amazon.co.uk.
> 
> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Henze-Strin...ie=UTF8&qid=1411679153&sr=1-19&keywords=henze
> 
> Are you sure it is out of print? Even on Amazon.it there seems to be 5 available copies...
> 
> http://www.amazon.it/Henze-String-Q...&ie=UTF8&qid=1411679136&sr=1-6&keywords=henze


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## tgkohn

Henze wrote the quartets in 1947 (#1), 1952 (#2), and the mid-1970s. The earliest clearly shows the composer's development beyond his master teacher (Hans Pfortner), and the second shows his beginning affinity with the Second Viennese School (Schönberg and his students). The last quartets, written in a span of four years, reveal a remarkable consistency and an innovative use of contrapuntal and motivic development. In many regards, Henze experimented with textures among the instruments without passing into, say, the more extreme sonorities of "Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima." Instead, one can hear a working out of motivic concepts initiated by Beethoven's first quartet and extended into larger forms by Schönberg in his Kammersymphonie. Often in development sections the melody is broken up among the instruments and the harmonic sub-themes lend a forward thrust and alternating release that clarifies the formal structures.


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