Hermann Große-Schware was born in 1931 in Castrop-Rauxel. He studied music pedagogy and composition (with Hermann Schroeder) and jazz arranging (with Heinz Gietz) at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Cologne. He won many renowned composition prizes for his choral works; his piano songs, chamber music, and orchestral works were also performed.



Große-Schware taught music in Viersen (where he also directed the city music school for youth in its formative years) and in Mönchengladbach. He helped preserve and develop the Ensemblia Festival. In 1997 he became the chairman of the North Rhine-Westphalia regional division of the Deutscher Komponistenverband (German Composers' Association).