Künstlerische Zusammenarbeit zwischen Ehekonvention und Sublimation. Hans Werner Henzes Bühnenschaffen mit Ingeborg Bachmann, W.H. Auden und Chester Kallman

A preference for music theatre works is characteristic of Hans Werner Henze's oeuvre, as is his close collaboration with famous 20th-century authors, who wrote the libretti for his music theatre works. This paper explores the artistic collaborations of Hans Werner Henze and Ingeborg Bachmann on the one hand and Henze, Chester Kallman and W.H. Auden on the other in the context of their joint operatic work, surviving correspondence and poetological essays. This is set against the backdrop of how personal relationships can influence collaboration in the performing arts. In both cases, the letters and biographical writings of the aforementioned working groups, read from a gender perspective and with regard to creativity, forms of relationship and artistic collaboration, point to a tension between potential and desired personal relationships, the confrontation with marriage as a conventional social framework and artistic collaboration as a long-term connection.