Tag: Frank Bridge

When it comes to the music of Richard Wetz, all bets are off.

This unsung German composer has been dismissed as a second-rate Bruckner who made some questionable political choices toward the end of his life, under the mistaken impression that it would help to advance his career. (He smoked like a Camry and died in 1935, a month shy of his 60th birthday.) Admittedly, he was also a little too enthusiastic about the whole nationalism thing. He considered Germany’s defeat in World War I a humiliation, so I guess at least we know where he was coming from, even if it seems, as would be the case with so many artists of the time and place, that he sold his soul to the Devil.

His music is grander than grand and plenty solemn, a last gasp of Old School German Romanticism. The Nazis loved Bruckner (who died in 1896 and likely would have been appalled to know it), but for some reason, they had very little use for Wetz. The composer was enlisted to write some occasional works, but his symphonies went nowhere. Ironically, for someone who was so outspoken in his love of country, he was perceived as something of a loner. He was certainly reclusive and felt he could only create within the comfortable surroundings of his home. By extension, he had no interest in contemporary musical developments. He kept right on composing as if it were 1880.

We’ll sample some of Wetz’s music this afternoon, alongside works by fellow birthday celebrants Frank Bridge and Anton Reicha, and performances by pianist Lazar Berman, soprano Emma Kirkby, and conductor Witold Rowicki. Here’s hoping today’s playlist “Wetz” your appetite, from 4 to 7 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

Clockwise from left: Richard Wetz, Frank Bridge, and Anton Reicha