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Richard Wetz (1875-1935)
Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 40
I. Ruhig bewegt - angfangs ewtas gehalten 0:00
II. Scherzo: Leicht bewegt, aber nicht zu schnell 19:43
III. Sehr langsam und ausdrucksvoll 30:55
IV. Finale: Kraftig und entschieden bewegt 44:32
Cracow Philharmonic Orchestra
Roland Bader, conductor
Richard Wetz (1875 - 1935) was a German late Romantic composer best known for his three symphonies. Wetz was born to a merchant family in Gleiwitz, 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 and Salomon Jadassohn. 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, then leader of the Leipzig music academy, for half a year. He later became a follower of the philosophical ideas of Arthur Schopenhauer. 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 where Felix Weingartner found him employment as a theatrical bandmaster. After some months he was in the same position in Barmen (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 and Franz Liszt became his most important role models. Wetz was appointed a manager of the Erfurt 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, though he twice tried to write opera. He wrote the librettros for both works, Judith (op. 13) and The Eternal Fire (op. 19). In 1909 he received a better reception with his Kleist-Ouvertüre (op. 16) which Arthur Nikisch conducted in Leipzig. 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 various choirs (the Erfurt Song Academy in 1914/15, the "Riedelscher Gesangverein" in Leipzig, and after 1918, the "Engelbrechtscher Madrigalchor"). 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, He 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, 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. 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. Durg 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 October of 1934, 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.
27 июл 2024
