QUICK FACTS
Created Jan 0001
Status Verified Sarcastic
Type Existential Dread
Keywords
bertolt brecht, the threepenny opera, mack the knife, gebrauchsmusik, jewish, nazi, lady in the dark, street scene, saxony

Kurt Weill

“Kurt Julian Weill (pronounced /waÉȘl/; German: [vaÉȘl]; March 2, 1900 – April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer, a figure whose career spanned...”

Contents
  • 1. Overview
  • 2. Etymology
  • 3. Cultural Impact

Kurt Julian Weill (pronounced /waÉȘl/; German: [vaÉȘl]; March 2, 1900 – April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer, a figure whose career spanned continents and genres, leaving an indelible mark on both the concert hall and the theatrical stage. His early years in Germany saw him rise to prominence as a leading composer for the stage, particularly recognized for his groundbreaking collaborations with the playwright Bertolt Brecht . Their partnership produced some of Weill’s most iconic works, including the seminal The Threepenny Opera , a biting satire that introduced the world to the enduringly popular ballad “Mack the Knife ”. Weill harbored a profound belief in the social utility of music, a concept he championed through his embrace of Gebrauchsmusik – music intended for practical, functional purposes. Beyond his theatrical triumphs, he also composed significant works for the concert hall and explored themes of Jewish identity in several of his compositions. The rise of the Nazi regime in Germany forced Weill to flee his homeland in 1933, leading him to immigrate to the United States two years later. In his adopted country, he continued to shape American musical theater with acclaimed works such as Lady in the Dark and the opera Street Scene .

Family and Childhood

Born on March 2, 1900, Kurt Weill was the third of four children born to Albert Weill (1867–1950) and Emma Weill (nĂ©e Ackermann; 1872–1955). He was raised in a devout Jewish household in Dessau, located in Saxony . His father, Albert, served as a cantor in their community. Weill’s musical journey began at the tender age of twelve when he started taking piano lessons. It was around this time that he first ventured into composing, with his earliest known musical composition, “Mi Addir: Jewish Wedding Song,” dating back to 1913.

His formal musical education continued in 1915 under the tutelage of Albert Bing, the kapellmeister at the Herzogliches Hoftheater zu Dessau. Bing provided Weill with comprehensive instruction in piano, composition, music theory, and conducting. Weill made his public debut as a pianist in 1915, performing as both a soloist and an accompanist. In the subsequent years, he dedicated himself to composing numerous lieder , setting to music the words of prominent poets including Joseph von Eichendorff , Arno Holz , and Anna Ritter . He also penned a cycle of five songs titled Ofrahs Lieder, drawing from a German translation of a text by Yehuda Halevi .

In 1918, Weill achieved his Abitur , the German university entrance qualification, from the Oberrealschule in Dessau. At the age of eighteen, he enrolled at the Berliner Hochschule fĂŒr Musik , where he pursued composition studies with Engelbert Humperdinck . His education extended to conducting under [Rudolf Krasselt], and counterpoint with Friedrich E. Koch. Concurrently, he attended lectures on philosophy delivered by luminaries such as Max Dessoir and Ernst Cassirer . That same year, he composed his first string quartet , a work in B minor.

Musical Career

Early Work and Compositions

The economic repercussions of World War I cast a long shadow over Weill’s family, leading to financial difficulties. In July 1919, he temporarily suspended his studies and returned to Dessau. There, he secured a position as a rĂ©pĂ©titeur at the Friedrich-Theater, working under the new Kapellmeister , Hans Knappertsbusch . During this period, his compositional output included an orchestral suite in E-flat major, a symphonic poem inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke ’s The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christopher Rilke, and Schilflieder (“Reed Songs”), a cycle of five songs based on poems by Nikolaus Lenau .

In December 1919, Weill was appointed Kapellmeister at the newly established Stadttheater in LĂŒdenscheid , a position facilitated by his former teacher, Humperdinck. For five months, he was responsible for directing opera, operetta, and singspiel . His compositions from this time include a cello sonata and Ninon de Lenclos, a now-lost one-act operatic adaptation of a 1905 play by Ernst Hardt . From May to September 1920, Weill spent time in Leipzig , where his father had taken on the directorship of a Jewish orphanage located on Gottschedstrasse . Before returning to Berlin in September 1920, he composed Sulamith, a choral fantasy intended for soprano, female choir, and orchestra.

Studies with Busoni

Upon his return to Berlin, Weill sought an audience with the esteemed composer Ferruccio Busoni in December 1920. Impressed by Weill’s compositions, Busoni accepted him into his master class at the Preussische Akademie der KĂŒnste in Berlin, where he was one of five selected students.

From January 1921 to December 1923, Weill studied composition with Busoni and also took counterpoint lessons with Philipp Jarnach . His early works during this period included his first symphony , Sinfonie in einem Satz, along with the lieder Die Bekehrte (setting a text by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ) and two Rilkelieder for voice and piano. Busoni, nearing the end of his life, exerted a profound influence on Weill. While Weill’s initial compositions bore the hallmarks of the post-Wagnerian Romanticism and Expressionism prevalent in German classical music, Busoni championed Neoclassicism . This influence became particularly evident in Weill’s vocal and stage works, which gradually shifted from direct emotional representation to a more detached, often ironic, commentary. This stylistic evolution aligned with Weill’s own developing ideas about Epic theater and the Verfremdungseffekt (distancing effect), concepts later espoused by his future collaborator, Brecht.

To supplement his family’s income in Leipzig, Weill also worked as a pianist in a Bierkeller tavern. In 1922, he became involved with the November Group , a collective of leftist Berlin artists that included composers like Hanns Eisler and Stefan Wolpe . That same year, he composed a psalm, a divertimento for orchestra, and Sinfonia Sacra: Fantasia, Passacaglia, and Hymnus for Orchestra. On November 18, 1922, his children’s pantomime , Die Zaubernacht (The Magic Night), premiered at the Theater am KurfĂŒrstendamm, marking the first public performance of any of Weill’s works in the realm of musical theatre.

Driven by financial necessity, Weill took on private students for music theory and composition between 1923 and 1925. Among his pupils were the renowned pianist Claudio Arrau , conductor Maurice Abravanel , Heinz Jolles (later known as Henry Jolles) , composer Nikos Skalkottas , and singer Esther Zweig . Arrau, Abravanel, and Jolles remained close friends of Weill thereafter. Notably, Jolles’s only surviving composition predating the rise of the Nazi regime in 1933 is a fragment of a four-piano work he and Weill created together.

Weill’s compositions during his final year of study included Quodlibet, an orchestral suite derived from Die Zaubernacht; Frauentanz, a collection of seven medieval poems for soprano and a chamber ensemble; and Recordare, a choral work for soprano and children’s choir, setting text from the Book of Lamentations . Further premieres that year included a performance of his Divertimento for Orchestra by the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Heinz Unger on April 10, 1923. The Hindemith-Amar Quartet presented Weill’s String Quartet, Op. 8, on June 24, 1923. Weill completed his studies with Busoni in December 1923.

Success in the 1920s and Early 1930s

In 1922, Weill became affiliated with the Novembergruppe, a significant association of leftist Berlin artists. This period saw him forge a crucial creative partnership with the dramatist Georg Kaiser , whom he met in February 1924 through conductor Fritz Busch . Their collaboration resulted in several influential one-act operas. It was at Kaiser’s home in GrĂŒnheide during the summer of 1924 that Weill first encountered the singer and actress Lotte Lenya . Their tempestuous relationship led to two marriages, first in 1926 and again in 1937, following a divorce in 1933. Lenya became a steadfast supporter of Weill’s work and, after his death, dedicated herself to promoting his music, ultimately establishing the Kurt Weill Foundation. From November 1924 to May 1929, Weill contributed hundreds of reviews to Der deutsche Rundfunk, an influential radio program guide. Hans Siebert von Heister, who had previously worked with Weill in the November Group, offered him this position shortly after becoming editor-in-chief.

Following their 1926 marriage, Weill and Lenya resided for a period in Georg Kaiser’s apartment in Berlin-Charlottenburg, while Kaiser preferred his lakeside residence.

While Weill achieved some recognition for his early mature non-stage works, such as the String Quartet, Op. 8, and the Concerto for Violin and Wind Orchestra, Op. 12—pieces that showed the influence of composers like Gustav Mahler , Arnold Schoenberg , and Igor Stravinsky —he increasingly gravitated towards vocal music and the realm of musical theatre. His stage works and songs garnered considerable popularity in Germany during the late 1920s and early 1930s. Weill’s music earned admiration from esteemed composers including Alban Berg , Alexander von Zemlinsky , Darius Milhaud , and Stravinsky. However, it also faced criticism from figures like Schoenberg, who later revised his opinion, and Anton Webern .

His most celebrated composition remains The Threepenny Opera (1928), a bold reimagining of John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera , created in collaboration with Bertolt Brecht . The original production of The Threepenny Opera in 1928 was directed by Erich Engel. The work features Weill’s most famous song, “Mack the Knife ” (originally titled “Die Moritat von Mackie Messer”). Textually, Threepenny Opera, much like its predecessor, served as a vehicle for satire and social commentary. For Weill, however, it represented more than just a lyrical critique; it was an opportunity to “make opera the subject matter for an evening in the theater,” a step in his lifelong endeavor to “reform” opera for the contemporary stage. The successful stage production was subsequently adapted into a film by G. W. Pabst in two language versions: Die 3-Groschen-Oper and L’opĂ©ra de quat’ sous. Weill and Brecht attempted to halt the film adaptation through a highly publicized lawsuit, which Weill ultimately won, while Brecht lost.

Weill continued his fruitful collaboration with Brecht on the musical Happy End (1929), which includes the well-known songs “Surabaya Johnny,” “Bilbao Song,” and “Sailor’s Tango.” They also collaborated on the children’s opera Der Jasager (1930) and the opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (1930), the latter featuring the iconic “Alabama Song ,” later famously covered by The Doors , among many others. Weill’s creative partnership with Brecht, though artistically successful, dissolved in 1930 due to political disagreements. While Weill held socialist sympathies, Brecht’s increasingly radical left-wing agenda proved irreconcilable. Weill, as recounted by his wife Lotte Lenya, stated he was unable to “set the Communist Manifesto to music.”

During his time in Germany in the early 1930s, Weill also worked with the American virtuoso banjoist Mike Danzi on an early production of his opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. Weill reportedly commended Danzi’s accurate interpretation of the score’s chords, noting that many other banjoists had complained the parts were not written for their instrument.

Life in Paris and New York

The escalating persecution of Jewish artists and intellectuals under the Nazi regime compelled Kurt Weill to flee Nazi Germany in March 1933. As a prominent Jewish composer with expressed political views, Weill was officially denounced and targeted by the Nazi authorities, who actively interfered with performances of his more recent stage works, including Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, 1930), Die BĂŒrgschaft (1932), and Der Silbersee (1933). Facing an untenable situation in his homeland, he initially sought refuge in Paris. There, he once again collaborated with Brecht on the ballet-chantĂ© The Seven Deadly Sins , following a proposed project with Jean Cocteau that ultimately failed to materialize.

On April 13, 1933, Weill’s musical The Threepenny Opera premiered on Broadway. Despite a promising start, the production closed after only 13 performances amidst mixed reviews. In 1934, he completed his Symphony No. 2, which would be his final purely orchestral work. This symphony was conducted in both Amsterdam and New York by the renowned Bruno Walter . That same year, he also composed the music for Jacques Deval ’s play Marie Galante [fr]. A production of his operetta Der Kuhhandel (A Kingdom for a Cow) brought him to London in 1935. Later that year, he traveled to the United States in connection with The Eternal Road [8], a “Biblical Drama” by Franz Werfel . Commissioned by members of New York’s Jewish community, the play premiered in 1937 at the Manhattan Opera House and enjoyed a successful run of 153 performances.

Weill and his wife, Lotte Lenya, relocated to New York City on September 10, 1935. They initially resided at the St. Moritz Hotel before moving to an apartment on East 62nd Street. During the summer of 1936, they rented an old house near Pine Brook Country Club in Nichols, Connecticut . This location served as the summer home for the Group Theatre , and it was here that Weill, alongside playwright Paul Green , worked on completing Johnny Johnson. Among the other notable artists who spent that summer at Pine Brook were Elia Kazan , Harry Morgan , John Garfield , Lee J. Cobb , Will Geer , Clifford Odets , Howard da Silva , and Irwin Shaw .

Rather than attempting to replicate the musical style of his European compositions, Weill dedicated himself to studying American popular music and stage traditions. His American output featured individual songs and complete shows that not only garnered significant respect and admiration but are also considered pivotal in the evolution of the American musical . In 1939, he composed the score for Railroads on Parade, a grand musical spectacle presented at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York to celebrate the American railroad industry, with a book by Edward Hungerford. Uniquely among Broadway composers of his time, Weill insisted on orchestrating his own works, with very few exceptions, such as the dance music in Street Scene. He collaborated with notable writers, including Maxwell Anderson and Ira Gershwin , and also penned a film score for director Fritz Lang in You and Me (1938). Weill was driven by the ambition to forge a new path for American opera, one that would achieve both commercial success and artistic merit. His most significant endeavor in this pursuit was Street Scene, based on a play by Elmer Rice with lyrics by Langston Hughes . For his contribution to Street Scene, Weill was honored with the inaugural Tony Award for Best Original Score .

During the 1940s, Weill resided in downstate New York , near the New Jersey border, making frequent trips to both New York City and Hollywood for his theatrical and cinematic projects. Weill actively supported political movements advocating for American involvement in World War II . Once America entered the war in 1941, he enthusiastically participated in numerous artistic initiatives aimed at bolstering the war effort, both overseas and on the home front . He and Maxwell Anderson also joined the civil defense effort, serving as air raid wardens on High Tor Mountain between their homes in New City, New York and Haverstraw, New York in Rockland County . Kurt Weill officially became a naturalized citizen of the United States on August 27, 1943.

Weill consistently held the ideal of creating music with a socially beneficial purpose. In the United States, he composed Down in the Valley, an opera that incorporated the folk song of the same name and other American folk melodies. He also wrote several songs to support the American war effort, including the satirical “Schickelgruber” (with lyrics by Howard Dietz ), “Buddy on the Nightshift” (with Oscar Hammerstein ), and—reuniting with Brecht—the “Ballad of the Nazi Soldier’s Wife” (“Und was bekam des Soldaten Weib?”). This latter song, intended for broadcast to Germany, depicted the progression of the Nazi war machine through the gifts sent by a soldier at the front to his proud wife at home: initially furs from Oslo, then a silk dress from Paris, and finally, a widow’s veil from Russia.

Beyond the widely recognized “Mack the Knife ” and “Pirate Jenny ” from The Threepenny Opera, his most enduringly popular songs include “Alabama Song ” (from Mahagonny), “Surabaya Johnny” (from Happy End), “Speak Low ” (from One Touch of Venus ), “Lost in the Stars” (from the musical of the same name), “My Ship ” (from Lady in the Dark ), and “September Song ” (from Knickerbocker Holiday ).

Death

Kurt Weill experienced a heart attack shortly after celebrating his 50th birthday and passed away on April 3, 1950, in New York City. He was laid to rest in Mount Repose Cemetery in Haverstraw, New York . The inscription on his gravestone features lyrics from the song “A Bird of Passage” from Lost in the Stars, a poignant adaptation of a quotation from the Venerable Bede :

This is the life of men on earth:

Out of darkness we come at birth

Into a lamplit room, and then –

Go forward into dark again.

(lyric: Maxwell Anderson )

An excerpt from Maxwell Anderson ’s eulogy for Weill eloquently captured the composer’s legacy:

I wish, of course, that he had been lucky enough to have had a little more time for his work. I could wish the times in which he lived had been less troubled. But these things were as they were – and Kurt managed to make thousands of beautiful things during the short and troubled time he had …

Influence

Weill’s music continues to resonate across both popular and classical arenas. During his lifetime, his work was most famously interpreted by his wife, Lotte Lenya . However, in the years following his death, “Mack the Knife ” gained widespread recognition as a jazz standard, notably through recordings by Louis Armstrong and Bobby Darin . Since then, his music has been recorded by an eclectic array of performers, spanning genres and generations, including Nina Simone , Judy Garland , Frank Sinatra , The Doors , Ella Fitzgerald , David Bowie , Robbie Williams , Judy Collins , John Zorn , Dagmar Krause , Steeleye Span , The Young Gods , and PJ Harvey . His compositions have also been performed by prestigious institutions such as the Metropolitan Opera and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra . Vocalists as diverse as Teresa Stratas , Ute Lemper , Gisela May , Anne Sofie von Otter , Max Raabe , Heinz Karl Gruber , Dee Dee Bridgewater , and Marianne Faithfull have dedicated entire albums to his music.

In 1985, producer Hal Willner released Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill, a tribute album featuring interpretations of Weill’s songs by a diverse group of artists, including Todd Rundgren , Tom Waits , Lou Reed , Charlie Haden , and Sting .

Amanda Palmer , the singer-pianist of the Brechtian Punk Cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls , has Kurt Weill’s name displayed on her keyboard as a tribute. In 1991, the influential Swiss industrial band The Young Gods released The Young Gods Play Kurt Weill, an album dedicated to their interpretations of his songs. Weill’s work has also been cited as a significant influence on Goldfrapp ’s album Felt Mountain. In 2008, Canadian musicians, including Sarah Slean and Mary Margaret O’Hara , performed Weill’s songs in a tribute concert during the inaugural Canwest Cabaret Festival in Toronto. In 2009, Duke Special released an EP, Huckleberry Finn, featuring five songs from an unfinished musical by Kurt Weill based on Mark Twain ’s novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn .

Kurt Weill is recognized as a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame .

Kurt Weill Centre

The Kurt Weill Centre (German: Kurt-Weill-Zentrum) was established in Dessau in 1993. It functions as a museum, library, archive, and media center, and hosts an annual festival dedicated to celebrating the composer’s oeuvre. The center is housed in the Feininger house, a structure designed by architect Walter Gropius and formerly inhabited by the artist Lyonel Feininger . This property is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site, the Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau . The Kurt Weill Centre, with its extensive collection of materials pertaining to the composer, is designated as a cultural memorial of national importance. It is also recognized as one of the “Beacons of light” by the Konferenz Nationaler Kultureinrichtungen (Conference of National Cultural Institutions), an organization representing cultural institutions in the new states of Germany , formerly East Germany .

Kurt Weill Foundation for Music

Founded in 1962 by Lotte Lenya , the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music is a non-profit, private organization dedicated to fostering an understanding of Weill’s life and works and to preserving the legacies of both Weill and Lenya. The foundation oversees the internationally acclaimed Lotte Lenya Competition, manages grant programs, sponsorships, and fellowships, operates the Weill-Lenya Research Center, and awards the Kurt Weill Prize. It also publishes the comprehensive Kurt Weill Edition and the Kurt Weill Newsletter. The board of trustees of this New York-based organization has included prominent figures such as Harold Prince , Victoria Clark , Jeanine Tesori , Tazewell Thompson , and Teresa Stratas .

Relatives

Weill’s maternal grandmother was Jeanette Hochstetter of Liedolsheim in Baden-WĂŒrttemberg . Weill belonged to the Hochstetter family, which produced four notable individuals who achieved distinction in music and literature. His first cousin once removed, Caesar Hochstetter (born January 12, 1863, in Ladenburg , a suburb of Mannheim – his date and place of death are unknown but likely occurred during The Holocaust ), was a composer and arranger who collaborated with Max Reger . Caesar dedicated his Aquarelles, Op. 25, to Kurt.

Caesar’s younger brother, Gustav Hochstetter [de] (born May 12, 1873, in Mannheim – died 1942 in Theresienstadt concentration camp ), was a Professor of Literature at the University of Brussels, a writer, and a poet, and was a friend of Wilhelm Busch . Weill’s second cousin was the child prodigy pianist Lisy Fischer (born August 22, 1900, in ZĂŒrich, Switzerland – died June 6, 1999, in Newcastle upon Tyne , England).

Compositions

Stage Works including Operas, Musical Plays and Operettas

Concert Works

Cantatas

  • 1920: Sulamith, choral fantasy for soprano, female chorus and orchestra (lost)
  • 1927: Der neue Orpheus, cantata for soprano, solo violin and orchestra, Op. 16 (text: Yvan Goll )
  • 1927: Der Tod im Wald, cantata for bass and band (originally part of Das Berliner Requiem)
  • 1928: Das Berliner Requiem, cantata for tenor, baritone, male chorus (or three male voices) and wind orchestra (text: Bertolt Brecht )
  • 1929: Der Lindberghflug , cantata for tenor, baritone and bass soloists, chorus and orchestra (text: Bertolt Brecht; first version, a collaboration with Paul Hindemith , second version, exclusively by Weill, also 1929)
  • 1940: The Ballad of Magna Carta, cantata for tenor and bass soloists, chorus and orchestra (text: Maxwell Anderson )
  • 1946: “Kiddush”, commissioned by cantor David Putterman, premiered at a Kiddush on May 10, 1946, at Park Avenue Synagogue

Chamber Music

  • 1918: String Quartet in B minor (without opus number)
  • 1923: String Quartet, Op. 8
  • 1919–1921: Sonata for Cello and Piano

Piano Music

  • 1917: Intermezzo
  • 1937: Albumblatt for Erika (transcription of the pastorale from Der Weg der Verheissung)

Orchestral Works

  • 1919: Suite for orchestra
  • 1919: Die Weise von Liebe und Tod, symphonic poem for orchestra after Rainer Maria Rilke (lost)
  • 1921: Symphony No. 1 in one movement for orchestra
  • 1922: Divertimento for orchestra, Op. 5 (unfinished, reconstructed by David Drew )
  • 1922: Sinfonia Sacra, Fantasia, Passacaglia and Hymnus for orchestra, Op. 6 (unfinished)
  • 1923: Quodlibet, suite for orchestra from the pantomime Zaubernacht, Op. 9
  • 1925: Concerto for violin and wind orchestra, Op. 12
  • 1927: Bastille Musik, suite for wind orchestra (arranged by David Drew, 1975) from the stage music for August Strindberg’s play Gustav III
  • 1929: Kleine Dreigroschenmusik, suite from Die Dreigroschenoper for wind orchestra, piano and percussion (premiere conducted by Otto Klemperer )
  • 1934: Suite panamĂ©enne for chamber orchestra (from Marie Galante [fr])
  • 1934: Symphony No. 2 in three movements for orchestra (premiere by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Bruno Walter )
  • 1947: Hatikvah, arrangement of the Israeli National Anthem for orchestra

Lieder, Lieder Cycles, Songs and Chansons

  • 1919: “Die stille Stadt”, for voice and piano, text: Richard Dehmel
  • 1923: Frauentanz, Op. 10, song cycle for soprano, flute, viola, clarinet, horn, and bassoon (after medieval poems)
  • 1923: Stundenbuch, song cycle for baritone and orchestra, text: Rainer Maria Rilke
  • 1925: “Klopslied”, for high voice, two piccolos, and bassoon (“Ick sitze da un’ esse Klops” – a Berliner Lied)
  • 1927: Vom Tod im Wald (Death in the Forest), Op. 23, ballad for bass solo and ten wind instruments, text: Bertolt Brecht
  • 1928: “Berlin im Licht-Song”, slow-fox, text: Kurt Weill; composed for the exhibition Berlin im Licht, first performed in Wittenbergplatz (with orchestra) on October 13, and on October 16 in the Kroll Opera (with voice and piano)
  • 1928: “Die Muschel von Margate: Petroleum Song”, slow-fox, text: Felix Gasbarra, for Leo Lania’s play Konjunktur
  • 1928: “Zu Potsdam unter den Eichen” (“In Potsdam under the Oak Trees”), song for voice and piano, alternatively for male chorus a cappella, text: Bertolt Brecht
  • 1928: “Das Lied von den braunen Inseln”, text: Lion Feuchtwanger , from the play of the same name, Petroleum Inseln
  • 1930?: “Lied vom weißen KĂ€se” (“Song of the White Cheese”) – unpublished, discovered at the Free University of Berlin in 2017
  • 1933: “Der Abschiedsbrief”, text: Erich KĂ€stner , intended for Marlene Dietrich
  • 1933: “La complainte de FantĂŽmas”, text: Robert Desnos ; composed for a broadcast of FantĂŽmas in November 1933 (music lost, later reconstructed by Jacques Loussier for Catherine Sauvage)
  • 1933: “Es regnet” (“It’s Raining”), text: Jean Cocteau (translated into German)
  • 1934: “Je ne t’aime pas”, text: Maurice Magre , for soprano Lys Gauty
  • 1934: “Les Filles de Bordeaux”, text: Jacques Deval , from Marie Galante [fr]
  • 1934: “J’attends un navire ”, text: Jacques Deval, from Marie Galante; also released as a standalone song for Lys Gauty; used as the “Hymne der Resistance” during World War II
  • 1934: “Youkali” (originally the instrumental “Tango habanera” from Marie Galante), text: Roger Fernay [fr]
  • 1934: “Complainte de la Seine”, text: Maurice Magre
  • 1939: “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, song for voice and piano, text: Robert Frost (unfinished)
  • 1939: “Nanna’s Lied”, text: Bertolt Brecht, the song of a prostitute from a play satirizing the Nazi party, written as a Christmas gift for his wife Lotte Lenya; quotes the “Ballade des dames du temps jadis ”
  • 1942–1947: Three Walt Whitman Songs, later expanded to Four Walt Whitman Songs, for voice and piano (or orchestra), text: Walt Whitman
    • Oh Captain! My Captain! (Christmas 1941)
    • Dirge for Two Veterans (January 1942)
    • Beat! Beat! Drums! (Spring 1942)
    • Come Up From The Fields, Father (1947)
  • 1942: Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory, patriotic song arrangements for narrator, male chorus, and orchestra, including the “Battle Hymn of the Republic ” (text: Julia Ward Howe ), “The Star-Spangled Banner ” (text: Francis Scott Key ), “America ” (text: Samuel Francis Smith ), and “Beat! Beat! Drums!” (text: Walt Whitman )
  • 1942–1944: Propaganda Songs, for voice and piano; written for the Lunch Hours Follies performed for workers in a New York shipbuilding yard, and subsequently broadcast:
    • 1942: “Buddy on the Nightshift”, text: Oscar Hammerstein
    • 1942: “Schickelgruber”, text: Howard Dietz
    • 1942: “Und was bekam des Soldaten Weib?” (“And what was sent to the soldier’s wife?”), ballad for voice and piano, text: Bertolt Brecht
    • 1944: “Wie lange noch?”, text: Walter Mehring ; premiere: Lotte Lenya

Choral

  • 1923: Recordare, Op. 11

Film Music

Select Discography

Orchestral, Chamber, Choral and Other Works

  • Berliner Requiem / Violin Concerto, Op. 12 / Vom Tod im Walde. Ensemble Musique Oblique / Philippe Herreweghe (Harmonia Mundi, 1997)
  • Kleine Dreigroschenmusik / Mahagonny Songspiel / Happy End / Berliner Requiem / Violin Concerto, Op. 12 / Ballade vom Tod im Walde, Op. 23 / Pantomime I (from Der Protagonist, Op. 14). London Sinfonietta , David Atherton , Nona Liddell (violin), Meriel Dickinson (mezzo-soprano), Mary Thomas (mezzo-soprano), Philip Langridge (tenor), Ian Partridge (tenor), Benjamin Luxon (baritone), Michael Rippon (bass) (Deutsche Grammophon 4594422, 1999)
  • Kurt Weill Ă  Paris, Marie Galante and other works. Loes Luca, Ensemble Dreigroschen, directed by Giorgio Bernasconi (assai, 2000)
  • Melodie Kurta Weill’a i coƛ ponadto. Kazik Staszewski (SP Records, 2001)
  • Complete String Quartets. Leipziger Streichquartett (MDG 307 1071–2)
  • Symphonies 1 & 2. BBC Symphony Orchestra , Gary Bertini (EMI, 1968)

Song Collections

  • Lotte Lenya sings Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins & Berlin Theatre Songs (Sony 1997)
  • Speak Low – Songs by Kurt Weill. Anne Sofie von Otter , conducted by John Eliot Gardiner (Deutsche Grammophon 1995)
  • Youkali: Art Songs by Satie, Poulenc and Weill. Patricia O’Callaghan (Marquis, 2003)
  • The Unknown Kurt Weill (Nonesuch LP D-79019, 1981) – Teresa Stratas , soprano, Richard Woitach , piano. Track list includes: “Nanna’s Lied” (1939), “Complainte de la Seine” (1934), “Klops-Lied” (1925), “Berlin im Licht-song” (1928), “Und was bekam des Soldaten Weib?” (1943), “Die Muschel von Margate: Petroleum Song” (1928), “Wie Lange Noch?” (1944), “Youkali: Tango Habanera” (1935?), “Der Abschiedsbrief” (1933?), “Es Regnet” (1933), “Buddy on the Nightshift” (1942), “Schickelgruber” (1942), “Je ne t’aime pas” (1934), “Das Lied von den Braunen Inseln” (1928)
  • Georgia Brown (English singer) : September Song – Music of Kurt Weill, Decca LP SKL 4509 (1962), conducted by Ian Fraser (composer)
  • Dee Dee Bridgewater : This Is New (2002)

Tributes

See also

Notes and References

Notes

  • ^ In 1947, Weill explicitly disavowed Life (magazine) ’s characterization of him as “a German composer,” writing in a letter to the publication: “Although I was born in Germany I do not consider myself a ‘German composer’…. I am an American citizen and during my dozen years in this country have composed exclusively for the American stage…. I would appreciate your straightening out your readers on this matter.”