Work of the Week - Hans Werner Henze: The English Cat

The members of the R.S.P.R., the Royal Society for the Protection of Rats, a society of cats dedicated to vegetarianism, meet in the living room of Mrs Halifax, a wealthy lady...

This is the curious opening of Henze’s opera The English Cat that will delight an audience in Münster on 26 June.  Directed by Ernö Weil, the staging will be part of "Henze! Festival Münster".

Henze accurately describes the creation of his opera in his book "The English Cat: A Working Diary":

In March 1978, I wrote a letter to the poet and playwright Edward Bond telling him about the dramatisation of a piece by Balzac taking place in the world of animals (particularly the world of cats) entitled « Peines de coeur d’une chatte anglaise » which I had seen and enjoyed in Paris.

Even during the performance, I had already begun to hear music associated with masquerades, parables and the style of 19th century opéra comique, a sinister and off-key music for a sinister and off-key story. This had prompted me to write to Edward Bond with whom I had already collaborated on two occasions and produced an opera (We come to the River) and a ballet (Orpheus).

The entire work is constructed on the variation principle of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations with the extension of this principle according to the characteristics and possibilities provided by the musical drama. A series of thematic centres are brought to life by degrees and are in turn subjected to variation along the lines of the development of the characters onstage; these undergo further development processes until they come into contact with one another producing new conflicts and strange fusions.

The main characters and the different social groups are allotted obligate instruments which help the listener to follow the concurrence of these processes, providing repeated references almost in the manner of a progress report. Because I believe in the revolutionary strength of humans, this is optimistic music which laughs and cries and has the intention of moving the distinguished audience to laughter and tears.

Further performances of The English Cat take place on 29 June and on 3, 8, and 13 July. During this time, multiple chamber music and symphonic performances will also be performed along with the youth opera Pollicino and screenings of selected films for which Henze composed the score.

• Hans Werner Henze - Profile
• Information on Henze! Festival Münster on the website of the theatre
• New feature: read more about Henze´s stage works