He began publishing his poetry in 1917. He took part in the Spartacist uprising of 1919 in Munich. In the following years he pursued his music studies with Clara Zetkin, Hermann Scherchen and Ernst Krenek. Hans Heinz Stuckenschmidt ranked Wense in 1921 with Erik Satie, Igor Stravinsky and Béla Bartók. Some of Wense's early music showed traits of Dadaism, for example his 1919 opus "Music for piano, clarinet and suspended metal colander." A wealthy older artist, (1889–1960), began at this period to support him financially; this support continued until 1945 and allowed him to follow his various pursuits. Although Wense was gay, his friendship with Woermann was one of the deepest in his life.