Henze is one of the major opera composers of the twentieth century. His Boulevard Solitude (1950–74), König Hirsch (1953–56), Elegy for Young Lovers (1959–87), The Young Lord (1964), The English Cat (1980–90), L’Upupa (2000–2003), and others regularly feature on the programs of German (and sometimes also of Austrian) opera houses. I realize that to express an opinion on Hans Werner Henze based solely on my few personal encounters with him, which go back decades, would be grossly unjust. The same goes for his music: I do not know enough of it for me to form a considered judgment. All I can do is to record my disappointment at his decision not to elaborate on the replies he sent me in 1983.

I.

I have not had a similar experience but music by other composers does often influence mine: Machaut and Bach, Monteverdi and Verdi, C. M. von Weber and Alban Berg. This is a continuous dialogue conducted over centuries and that is also what nourishes my musical thinking, that is what my music is born from, and that is to which it owes its characteristic features.

II.

Birdsong, the variety of noises, the wind in nooks of houses and in the foliage of trees, vibrations of the human voice which can be magical but also unbearable, the sound of instruments—I need all that for composing, they are part of my consciousness. The noise of machines, the swears and lies of those in power, the screams of the sufferers, the tortured, the oppressed have induced me to render my music expressive and easy to understand; to resist horror through strict form.

III.

Self-repetition occurs when the artist takes himself too seriously and ritualizes whatever he may have achieved; when he forgets about modesty, his curiosity ebbs away and he becomes useless.