For Lockdown Tape number 13 Dirk Wietheger chose Serenade by Hans Werner Henze, a piece that has accompanied him since his youth. Here on the blog, Dirk Wietheger tells how the piece also awakened his interest in Contemporary Music.

“With the piece Serenade by Henze, I have brought out an old piece from my music cabinet, which has a very special meaning for me personally: I first played it in 1988 at the age of 15. It was the first piece of new music (though not the latest music) which captivated me in my youth and stimulated my imagination. It consists of nine little character pieces by the 26-year-old (i.e. also young) Henze, which he wrote as parts of a music to Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. They became a real classic of cello literature. I am convinced that these pieces played a decisive role in my becoming aware of the music of our time. Who would have thought that one day, as a member of the Ensemble Musikfabrik, I would meet the old master two years before his death, when we rehearsed and premiered his opera Gisela with our youth ensemble Studio Musikfabrik?”

Dirk Wietheger