Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill entered the world on the 2nd of March 1900 in Dessau. He grew up in a religious Jewish family within the Sandvorstadt district of Saxony. His father Albert worked as a cantor there. The young Kurt began piano lessons at age twelve. His earliest preserved composition dates to 1913 and carries the title Mi Addir: Jewish Wedding Song. In 1915 he studied privately with Albert Bing. This kapellmeister taught him piano, composition, music theory, and conducting. Weill performed publicly for the first time that same year. He played both as an accompanist and soloist. The following years produced numerous lieder set to poems by Joseph von Eichendorff and Arno Holz. He also wrote Ofrahs Lieder based on Yehuda Halevi's text. Weill graduated from Oberrealschule in 1918. He enrolled at the Berliner Hochschule für Musik at eighteen. There he studied composition under Engelbert Humperdinck. Rudolf Krasselt taught him conducting while Friedrich E. Koch instructed counterpoint. Philosophy lectures came from Max Dessoir and Ernst Cassirer. That same year he composed his first string quartet in B minor. Financial hardship struck his family after World War I ended. July 1919 saw Weill abandon his studies and return to Dessau. He worked as a répétiteur at the Friedrich-Theater under Hans Knappertsbusch. During this period he composed an orchestral suite in E-flat major. A symphonic poem followed on Rainer Maria Rilke's The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christopher Rilke. Schilflieder appeared as a cycle of five songs to poems by Nikolaus Lenau. December 1919 brought an appointment as Kapellmeister at the Stadttheater in Lüdenscheid. This role lasted five months before he moved again. From May to September 1920 he resided in Leipzig where his father directed a Jewish orphanage. Sulamith emerged as a choral fantasy for soprano, female choir, and orchestra during that time. Back in Berlin he interviewed Ferruccio Busoni in December 1920. Busoni accepted him as one of five master students at the Preussische Akademie der Künste. Studies continued from January 1921 until December 1923. He wrote his first symphony Sinfonie in einem Satz during that year. Busoni influenced his move away from post-Wagnerian Romanticism toward Neoclassicism. Weill also supported his family by playing piano in a Bierkeller tavern. In 1922 he joined the November Group's music faction. That year produced a psalm and a divertimento for orchestra. His children's pantomime Die Zaubernacht premiered on the 18th of November 1922. It marked the first public performance of any musical theatre work by Weill. Financial need drove him to teach private lessons from 1923 to 1925. Students included Claudio Arrau and Maurice Abravanel. Jolles remained a friend whose sole surviving composition predates the Nazi rise. Further premieres occurred in 1923 including a Divertimento for Orchestra by the Berlin Philharmonic. The Hindemith-Amar Quartet performed his String Quartet Op. 8 on the 24th of June 1923. Weill finished his studies with Busoni in December 1923.
Weill met singer Lotte Lenya at Georg Kaiser's house in Grünheide during summer 1924. They married twice: once in 1926 and again in 1937 after divorcing in 1933. Her support proved vital throughout their partnership. In February 1924 conductor Fritz Busch introduced him to dramatist Georg Kaiser. This connection led to several one-act operas. His best-known work emerged as The Threepenny Opera in 1928. It reworked John Gay's The Beggar's Opera through collaboration with Bertolt Brecht. Engel directed the original production that year. The piece contains Mack the Knife which became his most famous song. Textually it functions as satire and social commentary. For Weill it offered opera itself as subject matter for an evening in theater. A film adaptation followed starring G. W. Pabst in two language versions. Weill and Brecht attempted to stop this film through a well publicized lawsuit. Weill won while Brecht lost. He continued working with Brecht on Happy End in 1929. Songs from that show include Surabaya Johnny, Bilbao Song, and Sailor's Tango. Der Jasager appeared in 1930 as a children's opera. Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny arrived in 1930 featuring Alabama Song. That track later recorded by The Doors among many others. Their association ended over politics in 1930. Though Weill associated with socialism he could not set the Communist Manifesto to music according to Lotte Lenya. During early 1930s he collaborated with American banjoist Mike Danzi. Rehearsals for Mahagonny involved Danzi interpreting chords accurately. Most other banjoists complained they were not written for their instrument at all. Weill fled Nazi Germany in March 1933. Prominent Jewish composers like him faced denunciation for political views. Nazi authorities criticized performances of his stage works including Mahagonny and Der Silbersee. In Paris he worked again with Brecht on ballet The Seven Deadly Sins after a failed project with Jean Cocteau. On the 13th of April 1933 The Threepenny Opera premiered on Broadway but closed after thirteen performances. Reviews remained mixed throughout its run.
Weill left Germany officially denounced for his political sympathies. He became a target of Nazi authorities who interfered with performances. His flight began in March 1933 when he went first to Paris. There he collaborated once more with Bertolt Brecht on The Seven Deadly Sins. A production of Der Kuhhandel took him to London in 1935. Later that year he traveled to the United States regarding The Eternal Road. This Biblical Drama by Franz Werfel premiered in 1937 at Manhattan Opera House running 153 performances. He and Lotte moved to New York City on the 10th of September 1935. They lived initially at St. Moritz Hotel before moving to an apartment at 231 East 62nd Street. During summer 1936 they rented a house near Pine Brook Country Club in Nichols Connecticut. Artists like Elia Kazan Harry Morgan John Garfield Lee J. Cobb Clifford Odets Howard da Silva Irwin Shaw summered there too. Weill made a study of American popular music rather than continuing European styles. His output included individual songs and entire shows becoming highly respected works. In 1939 he wrote Railroads on Parade for the World's Fair celebrating American railroads. Edward Hungerford provided the book text. Unique among Broadway composers he insisted on writing his own orchestrations except dance music in Street Scene. He worked with writers such as Maxwell Anderson and Ira Gershwin. A film score followed for Fritz Lang titled You and Me released in 1938. Street Scene based on Elmer Rice's play featured lyrics by Langston Hughes. Weill won the inaugural Tony Award for Best Original Score for that work. He sought new ways creating American opera commercially and artistically successful. The most interesting attempt remained Street Scene itself.
Weill lived downstate New York near the New Jersey border during the 1940s. Frequent trips occurred to both New York City and Hollywood for theatre and film work. He studied American popular and stage music instead of repeating European compositions. His American output became seminal works developing the American musical genre. Railroads on Parade appeared at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. Edward Hungerford wrote its book text. Weill insisted on writing his own orchestrations throughout this period. Only dance music in Street Scene required exceptions. Collaborators included Maxwell Anderson and Ira Gershwin. You and Me served as a film score directed by Fritz Lang in 1938. Street Scene derived from Elmer Rice's play with lyrics by Langston Hughes. This production earned him the first Tony Award for Best Original Score. He aimed to create an American opera balancing commercial success with artistic merit. Down in the Valley incorporated American folk songs alongside original material. Songs like Speak Low Lost in the Stars My Ship September Song emerged from these efforts. Mack the Knife and Pirate Jenny remained famous tracks from earlier German years. Alabama Song Surabaya Johnny also retained popularity across decades. The song Nanna's Lied written as Christmas present for Lotte Lenya quotes Ballade des dames du temps jadis. Three Walt Whitman Songs later expanded to Four Walt Whitman Songs for voice or orchestra. These pieces included Oh Captain! My Captain! Dirge for Two Veterans Beat! Beat! Drums! Come Up From The Fields Father. His ideals of socially useful purpose guided all compositions.
Weill actively participated in political movements encouraging American entry into World War II. After America joined the war in 1941 he collaborated enthusiastically on numerous projects supporting the effort abroad and at home. He and Maxwell Anderson volunteered as air raid wardens on High Tor Mountain between New City Haverstraw Rockland County. Weill became a naturalized citizen of the United States on the 27th of August 1943. He wrote Down in the Valley including the title song plus other American folk tunes. Several songs supported the American war effort directly. Schickelgruber featured lyrics by Howard Dietz. Buddy on the Nightshift used Oscar Hammerstein words. Und was bekam des Soldaten Weib? returned Brecht collaboration with new context. This ballad chronicled Nazi war machine progress through gifts sent to proud wives. Furs arrived from Oslo silk dresses came from Paris until widow's veils reached them from Russia. Propaganda Songs appeared for Lunch Hours Follies performed shipbuilding workshop workers then broadcast widely. Three Walt Whitman Songs included Oh Captain! My Captain! Dirge for Two Veterans Beat! Beat! Drums! Come Up From The Fields Father. These pieces reflected patriotic sentiment during wartime. His ideals of socially useful purpose remained central throughout these years.
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Common questions
When was Kurt Weill born and where did he grow up?
Kurt Julian Weill entered the world on the 2nd of March 1900 in Dessau. He grew up in a religious Jewish family within the Sandvorstadt district of Saxony.
Who were Kurt Weill's teachers during his early musical education?
Kurt Weill studied privately with Albert Bing who taught him piano composition music theory and conducting. Later at the Berliner Hochschule für Musik he studied composition under Engelbert Humperdinck while Rudolf Krasselt taught him conducting and Friedrich E. Koch instructed counterpoint.
What is Kurt Weill best known for creating in 1928?
The Threepenny Opera emerged as Kurt Weill's best-known work in 1928 through collaboration with Bertolt Brecht. It reworked John Gay's The Beggar's Opera and contains Mack the Knife which became his most famous song.
Why did Kurt Weill flee Nazi Germany in 1933?
Kurt Weill fled Nazi Germany in March 1933 because prominent Jewish composers like him faced denunciation for political views. Nazi authorities criticized performances of his stage works including Mahagonny and Der Silbersee.
When did Kurt Weill become a naturalized citizen of the United States?
Weill became a naturalized citizen of the United States on the 27th of August 1943 after living downstate New York near the New Jersey border during the 1940s.