Hermann Hans Wetzler (8 September 1870 – 29 May 1943) was a German-American composer.

Life

Wetzler was born in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Germany. His father was from

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

, his mother was German. He grew up in Chicago in affluent circumstances and studied first at the University of Cincinnati - College-Conservatory of Music, from 1885 at the

Hoch Conservatory Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium – Musikakademie was founded in Frankfurt am Main on 22 September 1878. Through the generosity of Frankfurter Joseph Hoch, who bequeathed the Conservatory one million German gold marks in his testament, a school for ...

in Frankfurt piano and violin with

Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; ; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic music, Romantic era, she exerted her influence o ...

Hugo Heermann Hugo Heermann (3 March 1844, in Heilbronn – 6 November 1935, in Meran, Italy) was a German violinist. He studied the violin with Lambert Joseph Meerts at the Koninklijk Conservatorium (Brussels), Koninklijk Conservatorium in Brussels, and later ...

Bernhard Scholz Bernhard E. Scholz, (30 March 1835 – 26 December 1916) was a German conductor, composer and teacher of music. Life Bernhard Scholz was born in Mainz in 1835. He was intended by his father to take over his father's business (Lithographi ...

Iwan Knorr Iwan Otto Armand Knorr (3 January 1853 – 22 January 1916) was a German composer and music teacher. Life A native of Gniew, Knorr was taken to southern Russia at the age of four, where he was surrounded by Russian folk music. His mother taught ...

and Engelbert Humperdinck.Biography
on ''ZB Collections'' In 1903, he founded the Wetzler Symphony Orchestra with donations, at which

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

made his US conducting debut in 1904 and premiered his ''

Sinfonia Domestica ''Symphonia domestica'' (published in 1904 as SYMPHONIA DOMESTICA and in 1926 as Symphonia domestica), Op. 53, is a tone poem for large orchestra by Richard Strauss reflecting the secure domestic life valued by the composer and accordingly dedi ...

''.curriculum vitae
in Nachlassverzeichnis, Zurich 2007, ] In 1905 Wetzler returned to Germany to work as a Kapellmeister in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the Germany, German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was ...

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, Halle,

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

and

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. After the latter contract was not renewed in 1923, he lived in Cologne as a freelance composer and conductor. He wrote major works for orchestra from 1917 and finally also the opera ''The Basque Venus'' based on a libretto by his wife Lini Wetzler ''née'' Dienstbach (1876–1933).Wetzler, Hermann Hans
on Treccani (in Italian) In 1929, he moved to

Brissago Brissago (, ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Locarno (district), district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland, bordering Italy. Brissago lies on the western shore of Lake Maggiore and includes the Brissago Is ...

, in 1932 to

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

, where he lectured in 1933, and then to

Ascona 300px, Ascona Ascona ( ) is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore. The town is a popular tourist destination and holds the yearly Ascona Jazz Festival. ...

. In Germany, he was banned from performing in 1935 because of his Jewish origins. After the outbreak of war, he left Switzerland and settled in New York in 1940, where he died on 29 May 1943 at the age of 72. His estate has been in the

Zentralbibliothek Zürich ''Zentralbibliothek Zürich'' (Zürich Central Library) is a library in Zürich, Switzerland. It is the main library of both the city and the University of Zurich, housed in the ''Predigerkirche Zürich, Predigerkloster'', the former Black Fria ...

since 2006 and contains, in addition to music autographs and writings, around 10,000 letters, 6000 reviews and photographs.

Work

* Theatermusik zu Shakespeares ''Wie es euch gefällt'' (1917), op. 7 * ''Weissenrode'', Symphonische Phantasie für Orchester (1922), op. 10 * ''Visionen'' for Orchester (1923), op. 12 * ''Assisi'', Legende für Orchester (1924), op. 13 * ''Die baskische Venus'', Opera after

Prosper Mérimée Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, an import ...

(1928), op. 14 * ''Symphonie concertante'' for violin and orchestra (1932), op. 15

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wetzler, Hermann Hans 20th-century German composers German Classical-period composers Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States American classical composers 1870 births 1943 deaths Musicians from Frankfurt

Life

Work

Further reading

References

External links