Hans Werner Henze | German composer, 86

German composer Hans Werner Henze, 86, whose prolific and wide-ranging work included a wealth of operas and 10 symphonies, died Saturday, his publisher said.

Mr. Henze died in the eastern German city of Dresden, long-standing publisher Schott Music said in a statement, calling him "one of the most important and influential composers of our time." It didn't disclose the cause of death.

Mr. Henze's work over the decades straddled musical genres. He composed stage works, symphonies, concertos, chamber works and a requiem, and once said that "many things wander from the concert hall to the stage and vice versa."

His operas ranged from the 1950s Ein Landarzt ("A Country Doctor"), based on a story by Franz Kafka, to L'Upupa, written in 2002 and the only opera for which Mr. Henze wrote his own libretto. Other works included the musical dramas Elegy for Young Lovers and The Bassarids, and the oratorio The Raft of the Medusa - dedicated to Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara.

Mr. Henze was born July 1, 1926, in Guetersloh in western Germany. After studying and starting his career in music and theater in West Germany, he left the country in 1953 for Italy.

Alongside his operas, Mr. Henze was known for his symphonies, among them "Sinfonia N. 9," finished in 1997 - a choral symphony based on Anna Seghers' novel The Seventh Cross that reflected his antifascist convictions.

His final symphony, Sinfonia No. 10, completed in 2000, was premiered by Sir Simon Rattle with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. - AP