Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by the composer (1966) WARNING: Video contains images of erotic art which might offend sensitive viewers. This was scored in 1955 for large orchestra. It was intended as Act 2 of an opera "King Stag" {Konig Hirsch}. There were evidently some problems with the staging of the production, so Henze decided to rework the vocal parts of Act 2 into an orchestral texture where the vocals are replaced with solos from the orchestra, such as violin, viola, clarinet, oboe, trumpet, and other small groupings. The result is an unbroken span of strange and magical enchantment, quite unique to Henze's style. The basic motif is the story of King Stag who lives deep inside a forest. The forest has chased out all the intruders, leaving the stag alone and devoid of companionship. Although he has the body of a stag, he has the soul of a human, and so longs to go back to the cities and find human relationships. This creates conflict and an unresolved dilemma, which he tries to discuss with the trees of the forest. The unique style of the music lends itself to an erotic interpretation. I first purchased this recording way back in 1969 when I was still a teenager, and I was already then enchanted by this strange music, and I played it often. There is a strong sense of the Feminine Principle, contrasted against the elements of harsh sexual debauchery. Henze subsequently produced scores for several cinema art films which featured the passions of human sensuality. (There are some intensely sensual moments in his 7th symphony). I find no copy of this 4th Symphony on YouTube, so I offer here a copy of my old LP (from a subsequent CD re-release) for Henze fans to enjoy or discover. I have embellished the video with a generous sequence of erotic pictures which are entirely my own subjective impressions in symbolic form. These must not be taken by the listener as any attempt to create a story board. But I suspect the composer might have enjoyed my general direction.

• published: 12 Sep 2013
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