ABSTRACT
In 1906 Richard Wetz was appointed director of the Musikverein and Musikakademie in Erfurt, a position he held until 1925. During this period, he began to attract more attention as a composer. In terms of internal structural detail, Wetz adopts certain features that are intrinsically Brucknerian. In terms of tonality Wetz follows Bruckner's propensity for sustaining the home key for both the opening movement and the Scherzo. Yet throughout the First Symphony Wetz appears to be far less exploratory than Bruckner in his tonal modulations which tend towards classical conventions. As demonstrated by the Urmotif, the melodic ideas in Wetz's First Symphony are generally more four-square in design than those used by Bruckner, and the frequent recourse to sequences tends to inhibit natural symphonic development. It is noticeable too that at moments where Wetz seems to lose his way, he resorts to somewhat aimless reiteration of Bruckner's favoured quintuplet patterns.
