Born on 1 July 1926 in Gütersloh, Westphalia, Hans Werner Henze, one of the best-known contemporary German composers, died Saturday, 27 October, at the age of 86.

"Hans Werner Henze, one of the most versatile and influential composers of our time, has died," Schott Music, his publisher, said in a statement on its website, adding that the composer died in Dresden.

According to critics, Henze's music draws influence from many sources, entwining elements from Italian and Arabic music along with jazz, rock and popular music. His compositions are marked by neo-classicism, serialism, atonality, with some marked by a strong influence of Stravinsky.

Henze lived most of his life in self-imposed exile in Italy where he moved in 1950s in opposition to general political climate that dominated Germany, including homophobia and intolerance to leftists. In Italy he became member of the Communist Party, and created compositions honoring Ho Chi Minh and a requiem for Che Guevara, Das Flos der Medusa (The Raft of Medusa).

His political commentaries echoed in a number of his works, including the opera We Come to the River.