Richard Wetz (26 February 1875 – 16 January 1935) was a German
late Romantic
Late may refer to:
* LATE, an acronym which could stand for:
** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia
** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law
** Local average treatment effe ...
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
best known for his three
symphonies
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...
. In these works, he "seems to have aimed to be an immediate continuation of
Bruckner, as a result of which he actually ended up on the margin of music history".
Biography
1875–1906: Youth
Richard Wetz was born to a merchant family in
Gleiwitz
Gliwice (; german: Gleiwitz) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder River, Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the re ...
,
Upper Silesia (now
Poland). Although his family owned a piano, no family member was particularly interested in music. The young Richard, who felt drawn to music early on, did not receive regular piano lessons until the age of eight years, but quickly taught himself by composing smaller piano and song pieces. He later stated that he resolved to dedicate his life to music by the age of 13.
After passing his final examinations in 1897, he went to
Leipzig to study at the
conservatoire under such tutors as
Carl Reinecke
Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke (23 June 182410 March 1910) was a German composer, conductor, and pianist in the mid-Romantic era.
Biography
Reinecke was born in what is today the Hamburg district of Altona; technically he was born a Dane, as ...
and
Salomon Jadassohn
Salomon Jadassohn (13 August 1831 – 1 February 1902) was a German pianist, composer and a renowned teacher of piano and composition at the Leipzig Conservatory.
Life
Jadassohn was born to a Jewish family living in Breslau, the capital of the ...
. After only 6 weeks, however, he discontinued his studies after suffering from disillusionment regarding what he considered overly academic lessons. He instead took private lessons from
Richard Hofmann
Richard Hofmann (8 February 1906 – 5 May 1983) was a German football player. He played in 25 internationals for Germany as a centre forward, scoring 24 goals, including the first ever international hat-trick against England by a player from ...
, then leader of the Leipzig music academy, for half a year. At the same time, he took up studies at
Leipzig University, including philosophy, psychology and literature. He studied poets such as
Friedrich Hölderlin,
Heinrich von Kleist and particularly
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who had great influence on his later work as a composer. Likewise, he became a follower of the philosophical ideas of
Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the prod ...
. In the Autumn of 1899, Wetz left Leipzig and moved to Munich, where he began to study music with
Ludwig Thuille. Again in 1900, Wetz interrupted his study and moved to
Stralsund
Stralsund (; Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, Neub ...
where
Felix Weingartner found him employment as a theatrical bandmaster. After some months he was in the same position in
Barmen
Barmen is a former industrial metropolis of the region of Bergisches Land, Germany, which merged with four other towns in 1929 to form the city of Wuppertal.
Barmen, together with the neighbouring town of Elberfeld founded the first electric ...
(now
Wuppertal), but only a short time later he found himself again unemployed in Leipzig. Here he educated himself further in music history, also studying scores of classical and modern composers.
Anton Bruckner
Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...
and
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
became his most important role models.
1906–1935
Wetz was appointed a manager of the
Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in ...
music association in 1906. He fell in love with the town and remained there for the rest of his life. Until this point, Wetz's published compositional works had almost exclusively been
piano songs
''Piano Songs'' is a studio album by pianists Bruce Brubaker and Ursula Oppens performing music composed by Meredith Monk, released on March 24, 2014 by ECM New Series.
Track listing
Personnel
Adapted from the ''Piano Songs'' liner notes.
...
, though he twice tried to write opera. He wrote the librettros for both works, ''Judith'' (
op. 13) and ''The Eternal Fire'' (op. 19). His one act play, ''The Eternal Fire'', was performed in 1907 in
Hamburg and
Düsseldorf, but with little success. In 1909 he received a better reception with his ''Kleist-Ouvertüre'' (op. 16) which
Arthur Nikisch conducted in Leipzig.
Musical Times link
During the following years, Wetz devoted himself to the music profession. He gave lessons in the Erfurt city conservatoire (in 1911–1921, composition and history of music), and honed his skills in
conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duti ...
various choirs (the Erfurt Song Academy in 1914/15, the "Riedelscher Gesangverein" in Leipzig, and after 1918, the "Engelbrechtscher Madrigalchor"). He also worked in composing choral music, ''
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
'', and orchestral accompaniments. Some of the most notable works of the period were the ''Song of Life'' (op. 29), ''Hyperion'' (op. 32) (after
Friedrich Hölderlin) and a setting of the Third Psalm (op. 37). However, his mature style had not yet fully developed. In 1917, Wetz become a lecturer (assistant professor), and in 1920 professor, of the history of music and composition to the ducal college for music in
Weimar. In 1917 he completed his First Symphony in C minor (op. 40). The symphonies No. 2 in A major (op. 47) and No. 3 in B flat minor (described as B flat major, op. 48) followed in 1919 and 1922.
In parallel, Wetz worked on his two string quartets in F minor (op. 43) and E minor (op. 49). Afterwards, he devoted himself to working on choral pieces. Thus originated the
Requiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...
in B minor (op. 50) and the Christmas Oratorio on Old-German poems (op. 53), possibly his most significant compositions. Wetz also wrote monographs about models
Anton Bruckner
Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...
(1922) and
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
(1925) as well as
Ludwig van Beethoven (1927).
In the mid-1920s the composer organized and led in Erfurt numerous music parties in which he performed his own works. He resigned the formal management of the Erfurt music association in 1925, but remained the central figure of the musical life of the city. In 1928 Wetz and
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
were appointed foreign members of the Prussian Academy of the Arts. A short time later Wetz was called to the
Berlin College of Music where he rose to be one of the most successful composition teachers. He left, however, in favor of his posts in Erfurt and Weimar. During the last years of his life, the work at the Weimar college of music increasingly took up his time. Nevertheless, he managed to produce further compositions. As his last great work, in 1933 he completed his
violin concerto in B minor (op. 57). In 1934, the town appointed him the music representative of the city of Erfurt.
In October of that year, Wetz was diagnosed with lung cancer, brought about by excessive smoking. Although strongly impaired, the composer continued with unbroken creative urge, working on the outlines of an oratorio, ''Love, Life, Eternity'' after the texts of
Goethe, which he wanted to be a monument to his favorite poet. The work, however, was left unfinished on his death. A fourth symphony was also left in a fragmentary state, and a third string quartet was also found incomplete amongst his papers. Richard Wetz died on 16 January 1935 in Erfurt, age 59. According to his will the fragments of the Goethe oratorio were to be completed by the composer
Werner Trenkner Werner may refer to:
People
* Werner (name), origin of the name and people with this name as surname and given name
Fictional characters
* Werner (comics), a German comic book character
* Werner Von Croy, a fictional character in the ''Tomb Ra ...
, who Wetz considered his greatest pupil. Trenkner failed at completing the work due to civil disputes, and the sketches have since been lost.
Reception
:~ Richard Wetz, 1932
During Wetz's lifetime, his works remained little known outside the circle of his devotees and music-lovers in his home region, to the point that he became nearly unknown after his death. Since that time, his compositions have continued to draw few fans despite the eagerness of his enthusiasts and his reputation as a great music pedagogue. Politically, Wetz made decisions towards the end of his life that may have had an effect on his standing after his death: after the end of the
First World War, he became a confessed nationalist who saw the position of his vanquished Germany as a humiliation and longed for resurgence of national greatness, which seemed possible to him in 1933 with the seizure of power by the National Socialists (the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
). In May of that same year he enrolled into the
Nazi Party and took over the leadership of the music department of the Erfurt branch of the Kampfbund für deutsche Kultur, where he hoped he could thereby gain the goodwill and the support of the Nazi rulers. This, however, had little influence on his ability to spread his work, leaving him the role of composing primarily propaganda pieces.
His most significant interpreter was the conductor
Peter Raabe, who performed for the first time all of the Wetz symphonies, and was appointed shortly after Wetz's death in 1935 to be the chairman of the imperial music hall. It was Raabe who founded a Richard Wetz society in 1943 in
Gleiwitz
Gliwice (; german: Gleiwitz) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder River, Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the re ...
. Raabe's work remained greatly hampered, however, by the
Second World War. In the post-war period, Wetz's reputation suffered from his identification with National Socialist ideology, as well as the rapid developments of contemporary music at that time which had passed over the tradition-conscious late romantic.
The fact that Wetz had preferred the life in provincial Erfurt to that of the real music metropolises, and that he was never moved to create popular compositions which could have increased his reputation, did little to bring Wetz and his works to the broader general public. Indeed, some conductors questioned the quality of his compositions until the 1990s (especially during the arrangements for celebrations in his honour in Erfurt in 1955, 20th anniversary of his death and what would be his 80th birthday). Only recently have his creations been rediscovered. For example, the requiem of the composer was performed for the first time in sixty years in September 2003 at the Erfurt church's music festival, under the direction of George Alexander Albrecht.
Style
If one considers the life of Richard Wetz, it is not surprising that in the 1929 ''Riemann Music Encyclopedia'' he was stated to have "arranged to be a loner ". His stature was less than other composers of the time and the new achievements of contemporaries such as
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
,
Maurice Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...
or
Franz Schreker
Franz Schreker (originally ''Schrecker''; 23 March 1878 – 21 March 1934) was an Austrian composer, conductor, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, Schreker developed a style characterized by aesthetic plurality (a mixture ...
left him behind. Increasingly, the accepted cultural pessimism violently railed against the kind of music that Wetz was writing. Wetz was more related in attitude with such keepers of 19th century tradition such as
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...
,
Hans Pfitzner and
Franz Schmidt, than his contemporaries.
According to his own statements, he depended on familiar surroundings for his composition: "I can compose only with myself at home. Neither on a summer holiday nor during longer vacations I have ever created anything". Statements like this explain why Wetz began to devote himself increasingly to the composition of symphonies and larger choral works only when he settled in Erfurt, but also why he later refused all offers for more lucrative positions and commissions. The seclusion - bordering on isolation - from the mainstream of the German music scene of the past allowed Wetz to concentrate completely upon the development of his own personal style.
Wetz wrote only vocal works in his early days. He often returned to this style until his dying days, which explains why this is the largest part of his output. Wetz counts as one of the most important song composers of his generation. The authorities in this field that Wetz looked to were
Franz Schubert,
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
,
Peter Cornelius and
Hugo Wolf
Hugo Philipp Jacob Wolf (13 March 1860 – 22 February 1903) was an Austrian composer of Slovene origin, particularly noted for his art songs, or Lieder. He brought to this form a concentrated expressive intensity which was unique in late Ro ...
. Liszt, especially, strongly influenced the tonal patterns of Wetz's early work, although even then Wetz was already forging his own path. This creative period culminates in two operas and ''Kleist-Ouvertüre'', an orchestral work inspired by the tragic destiny of the poet.
From the beginning of Wetz's Erfurt years, his choral works moved away from Liszt's influence bit by bit and
Anton Bruckner
Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...
began to influence the composer. His striving to imitate Bruckner's tonal language shows in the fact that no stylistic break arises between these compositions and earlier works. Wetz learned even more from Bruckner, his clear form structures and the sense of an organic growth of the music without it being overwhelming. Nevertheless, a large measure due to Bruckner, he typically composed
powerful and ceremonious effects without stylistic peculiarities.
Wetz's three symphonies are powerful, introverted works in the style of
late romantic
Late may refer to:
* LATE, an acronym which could stand for:
** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia
** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law
** Local average treatment effe ...
symphonic
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...
music being cultivated at the time, yet his works show their own distinct personalities separating them from the tradition. For Wetz, the subdued nature of the closing passages of his works confirm the integrity of these works. The first symphony's end, for instance, begins in the key of C minor (as Bruckner did also) and almost dissolves in a bright major key before, after a recall of earlier music, an austere and minor-mode conclusion not heard in any Bruckner finale (closer to the mood of the conclusions to some Bruckner opening movements) comes around. This was certainly influenced by the spirit of the times in which he lived, which were certainly not typical. His quartets follow the same techniques in form and gesture as his symphonies, but these were invested with substantially more intense feeling than the more public symphonies.
In his later works, Richard Wetz increasingly refined his style. He began to use chromatic harmonies in even stronger measure in his tonal language. A change to a more polyphonic style already apparent in the string quartets becomes apparent in other works, most notably in the organ piece ''Passacaglia and Fugue'' (op. 55 of 1930). After that point, the influence of Bruckner drops away. In his masterpieces, the requiem and the Christmas oratorio, Wetz discovers a synthesis of symphonic and vocal music in which he summarizes his accumulated musical experience. The violin concerto shows what is probably the most daring formal arrangement in the whole output of the composer and is comparable to the similar violin concerto by Pfitzner, written in the same key (B minor). Although illness and death took Wetz prematurely, he remains nevertheless "One of the great and unmistakable talents of German late romanticism".
Works
The list of works of Richard Wetz contains 58 Opuses, in addition there are a small number of compositions which were published without numbering. Op. 1-4 and Op. 6 are not considered discoverable any longer, and the composer declared some other early works provided with opus figures as invalid.
Opera
* ''Judith'', Op. 13 (3 Acts; Libretto: Richard Wetz)
* ''Das ewige Feuer'' (''The Eternal Fire''), Op. 19 (1 Act; Libretto: Richard Wetz. 1904; published 1905, premiered 1907)
Choir works
*''Traumsommernacht'' (''Summer's-Night Dream''), Op. 14 for women's choir and orchestra (pub. Kistner, 1912)
: (Recording: Augsburg college of music chamber choir,
Rhineland-Palatinate State Philharmonic, Werner Andreas Albert, 2004)
* ''Gesang des Lebens'' (''Song of Life''), Op. 29 for boys' choir and orchestra (pub. Kistner, 1910)
: (Recording: Rhineland-Palatinate State Philharmonic and State Youth Choir,
Werner Andreas Albert, 2001)
* ''Chorlied aus Oedipus auf Colonos "Nicht geboren ist das Beste"'' (''Choir song from Oedipus on Colonos: "Not born is the best"''), Op. 31 for mixed choir and orchestra (after
Sophocles) (pub. Kistner, 1912)
* ''Hyperion'', Op. 32 for baritone, mixed choir and orchestra (after
Hölderlin), vocal score published by Kistner, 1912
: (Recording: Markus Köhler, Augsburg college of music chamber choir, Rhineland-Palatinate State Philharmonic, Werner Andreas Albert, 2004)
* ''Der dritte Psalm'' (''The third Psalm''), Op. 37 for baritone, mixed choir and orchestra
* Four secular songs (Kyrie, Et incarnatus est, Crucifixus, Agnus Dei) for choir,
A cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
, Op. 44
* ''Kreuzfahrerlied'' (''Crusader song''), Op. 46 for mixed choir (after
Hartmann von Aue) (published 1910)
* Requiem in B minor, Op. 50 for soprano, baritone, mixed choir and orchestra (pub. 1925)
: (Recording: Marietta Zumbült, Mario Hoff, Erfurt Cathedral Choir, Weimar Philharmonic Choir, Thuringian Weimar State Orchestra,
George Alexander Albrecht,CPO 2003.)
* ''Ein Weihnachts-Oratorium auf alt-deutsche Gedichte '' (''A Christmas Oratorio on old-German poems''), Op. 53 for soprano, baritone, mixed choir and orchestra
* ''Drei Weihnachtsmotetten für unbegleiteten gem. Chor'', Op. 58
* ''Liebe, Leben, Ewigkeit'', (''Love, life, eternity'') Oratory fragment (after
Goethe, missing)
Orchestral works
* ''Kleist-Ouvertüre'' in D minor, Op. 16 (Kistner, 1908)
: (Recording: Rhineland-Palatinate State Philharmonic, Werner Andreas Albert, CPO 1999)
* Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 40 (pub. Simrock, 1924)
: (Recording:
Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra, Roland Bader, CPO 1994)
* Symphony No. 2 in A major, Op. 47 (pub. 1921)
: (Recording: Rhineland-Palatinate State Philharmonic, Werner Andreas Albert, CPO 1999)
* Symphony No. 3 in B minor, Op. 48
: (Recordings: Rhineland-Palatinate State Philharmonic, Werner Andreas Albert, CPO 2001)
: (
Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Erich Peter, 1981, Sterling)
* Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 57 (pub. 1933)
: (Recording:
Ulf Wallin
Ulf Wallin is a Swedish classical violinist and professor at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin.
Life
Born in Växjö, Wallin studied at the Royal College of Music, Stockholm and at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst ...
(Violin), Rhineland-Palatinate State Philharmonic, Werner Andreas Albert, CPO 2003)
Chamber music
*
Sonata
Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...
for Solo Violin in G major, Op. 33 (Kistner, 1913)
*
String Quartet
The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...
No. 1 in F minor, Op. 43 (Kistner, 1918)
* String Quartet No. 2 in E minor, Op. 49 (Simrock, 1924)
Organ music
* Passacaglia and Fugue in D minor, Op. 55 (pub. 1930)
: (Recording: "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme",
Silvius von Kessel
Silvius Carlos Benedict von Kessel (born 20 February 1965) is a German organist, improviser, composer and choirmaster.
Career
Von Kessel was born in Oldenburg. He is Cathedral Organist and Choirmaster of Erfurt Cathedral, the capital of th ...
, 2000, Motette)
: (Recording: "Orgelland Niederlausitz Vol. 1", Lothar Knappe, 2003, H'ART)
* Kleine Toccata in E minor
Piano music
* ''Romantische Variationen über ein Originalthema'' (''Romantic variations on an original theme''), Op. 42 (published 1917)
Songs
* over 100 songs for voice and piano, including:
** Op. 5, ''6 Lieder für eine mittlere Singstimme mit Begleitung des Klaviers.'', a set published in 1901, including ''Wiegenlied'' (''Cradle song''), Op. 5 No. 3
** ''Die Muschel'' (''The shell'') Op. 9 No. 2 (poem by Richard Schaukal. Published 1904)
** Op. 10. Five songs for soprano with piano accompaniment
** Op. 15. Six songs for mezzo-soprano with piano accompaniment
** Op. 20. Five songs for baritone or mezzo-soprano with piano accompaniment
** Op. 21. Five songs for mezzo-soprano with piano accompaniment.
** Op. 22. Five songs for soprano or mezzo-soprano with piano accompaniment.
* also some songs with orchestral accompaniment, including
** Op. 51. Two songs for voice and small orchestra (published 1929 by Greiner & Pfeiffer).
Writings
* ''
Anton Bruckner
Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...
. Sein Leben und Schaffen'' (''Anton Bruckner. His life and work''), 1922
* ''
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
'', pub. Leipzig: Reclam, 1925
* ''
Beethoven. Die geistigen Grundlagen seines Schaffens'' (''Beethoven. The mental foundation of his work''), 1927
See also
*
Requiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...
*
List of string quartet composers
*
List of compositions for violin and orchestra
References
English
* John Williamson, ''The Cambridge Companion to Bruckner'', p. 260,
* Derek Watson, ''Bruckner (Master Musicians)'', p. 71-,
* Arthur Elson, ''The Book Of Musical Knowledge'', p. 232,
* Charles J. Hull, ''Chronology of European Classical: Vol 2 '', p. 651- (Multivolume),
German
* G. Armin: ''Die Lieder von Richard Wetz'' (''The songs of Richard Wetz''), Leipzig 1911.
* E. L. Schellenberg: ''Richard Wetz'', Leipzig 1911.
* H. Polack: ''Richard Wetz'', Leipzig 1935.
* E. Peter und A. Perlick (editors): ''Richard Wetz als Mensch und Künstler seiner Zeit'' (''Richard Wetz as a human and an artist of his time'', publication of the East Central Europe research center; A 28), Dortmund 1975—Extensive volume with first hand reports and self certifications.
* W. Huschke: ''Zukunft Musik. Eine Geschichte der Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar'' (''Future music. A History of the Franz Liszt Conservatory of Music at Weimar''), Weimar 2006, —Wetz' activity as a composition teacher receives detailed mention.
Further reading
*Peter, Erich, ed. ''Richard Wetz (1875 - 1935) als Mensch und Künstler in seiner Zeit : eine Dokumentation mit zeitgenössischen Darstellungen und Selbstzeugnissen zum 100. Geburtstag des Meisters.'' Dortmund : Auslieferung, Forschungsstelle Ostmitteleuropa, 1975.
External links
English
Musicweb: Biography of Richard Wetz February 2, 2002
May 1, 2001
Tony Gualtieri
Classicstodayreview of ''Symphony No. 3; Gesang des Lebens''
*
German
Literature on Richard Wetzin the
German National Library
klassika.info – Short profile of composer, includes picture and list of workserfurt.de – Short profile of Richard Wetz*
ttp://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/search/-/dosearch/1/fastsearch/richard+wetz JPC Music - Richard Wetz (Commercial site)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wetz, Richard
1875 births
1935 deaths
19th-century classical composers
19th-century German composers
19th-century German male musicians
20th-century classical composers
20th-century German composers
20th-century German male musicians
German male classical composers
German opera composers
German Romantic composers
Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar
Male opera composers
People from Gliwice
People from the Province of Silesia
Pupils of Salomon Jadassohn