# Kurt Weill (1900-1950)



## Sid James

Perhaps no other composer's music has been as adaptable as that of the German-born *Kurt Weill *(1900-1950). In Germany during the turbulent inter-war Weimar years, Weill teamed up with Bertolt Brecht, who wrote lyrics to songs like _The Ballad of Mack the Knife_ which came from their _Threepenny Opera_. This song has proved to be one of the most "covered" of the century, with people like Lotte Lenya (Weill's wife, they married twice - the second time after a five year divorce), Jascha Heifetz, Louis Armstrong, Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald & even Michael Buble  putting down their own "takes" of it.

Weill's roots were clearly in the European classical music tradition, he studied with guys like Humperdinck & Busoni. He did compose a number of concert works, but his heart lay in the song realm. Weill famously said words to the effect that he didn't care about posterity, he wanted to compose music for "now." His stage shows tended to speak to the current issues of the times (often political), whether in Germany or in the USA where he arrived in 1935 & it wasn't long before he teamed up with American lyricists like Ira Gershwin & Alan Jay Lerner to conquer Broadway.

Even in the more "commercial" world of America, Weill refused to fit neatly in the "cliched" box of Broadway musicals, creating topical shows such as _Lady in the Dark _(which spoke to issues of psychoanalysis) & his final work, _Cry, The Beloved Country _(also called _Lost in the Stars_, speaking to issues of Apartheid in South Africa). As the liner notes of the Naxos Weill collection I have says - "From Weimar Germany to Eisenhower America. Who could score a hit everywhere down the line? No one, except for Kurt Weill." (Quote: Richard Ouzounian)

Here's_ The Ballad of Mack the Knife_, performed by -

*Lotte Lenya* (in German) -






Violinist *Jascha Heifetz *playing Stefan Frenkel's arrangment, with Emanuel Bay on piano (recorded in 1945 in NYC).






*Louis Armstrong* - His first recorded version of this song was one of the biggest hits of 1956 (but here is a live recording from 1959) -






*Ella Fitzgerald* - from her famous Berlin Concert - my favourite version because she forgets the lyrics & does some wonderful & imaginative improvisation! -






The most chilling song I have heard by Weill also comes from _Threepenny_ - _*Pirate Jenny*_, here sung by Lenya (in English) later in her career (post-WW2). The lyrics speak to issues of social oppression & the clash of ideologies & class wars that was a huge issue in Weimar Germany. Of course, not much is said in a literal way, it's all mainly kind of symbolic - the pirate ship clearly represents doom, death, destruction -






But Weill could also compose a good romantic ballad. Eg. here is *Speak Low *(From _One Touch of Venus _- lyrics by Ogden Nash) - *sung by the composer himself *-






& the delightful *Sarah Vaughan *-


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## kv466

Amazing artist!...'Lost In The Stars' gets me going every single time I hear it...used the music many times


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## elgar's ghost

Very keen on Weill and I really need to dig deeper - Street Scene and early works like The Tsar Has His Photograph Taken and The Protagonist are a priority. Away from his stage works I really like the Violin Concerto and 2nd Symphony.


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## Tapkaara

Interesting that he studied with Busoni. Busoni was one if Sibelius's best friend. Aha, a connection!


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## Sid James

Tapkaara said:


> Interesting that he studied with Busoni. Busoni was one if Sibelius's best friend. Aha, a connection!


Thanks for mentioning this, I didn't know that. Another "connection" is that Weill's* Symphony No. 1* (1921) presages (in some ways) what Sibelius would do in his mighty 7th symphony. Weill's symphony is three movts. flowing into eachother (no break in between). It's roughly 25 minutes in duration. As you can guess, this is one of the precursors to what Sibelius did in his final symphony, fusing all of the movts. together into one continuous flow. I think that Sibelius symphony is more complex than Weill's, although the Finn is in the key of C major, but I'm not sure how far he strayed, or what he did with this key? Anyway, I Weill's first symphony doesn't have a key assigned, so I guess it's "atonal." But to my ears, both of them sound quite modern, but in different ways. Weill encloses a kind of Bergian slow movt. - the longest in the work - between two kind of brash & jazzy outer movts. It's like a prelude, followed by the "meat between the bread" (the slow movt.), then a kind of postlude or epilogue (but that's just my way of seeing it). The inner slow movt. is very beautiful & kind of lush, much like a concerto grosso how he brings out instruments, esp. string instruments, in lovely solos integrated (yet apart) from the "texture" or "flow" of the music. It's just so good, imo, a very good thing to listen to, like other one-movt. symphonies (& the Sibelius is the main one, but there are some less prominent others). I doubt that Sibelius would have heard this Weill symphony, as I think I read in the liner notes that it was "lost" & didn't resurface after some years (or decades?) following Weill's premature death in 1950. Judging from this (I haven't heard the rest of the disc, image below, on your favourite Naxos label) Weill definitely had the "chops" in the "serious" classical realm, but he just decided to put all (or most) of his "eggs" in the "basket" of stage works, the songs from which I think are just awesome...


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## Tapkaara

Yes, Sibelius 7 is in C. But no less than Ralph Vaughn Williams said: _You (Sibelius) are the only composer that could make C sound completely fresh. _So, despite its key, it is still an utterly original work, though it seems Weill explored a a continuous movement symphony a litter earlier than Sibelius.

And it is POSSIBLE that Sibelius heard it, even if it resurfaced in 1950; Sibelius died in 1957. Being a homebody par excellence, Sibelius spent much time in his study listening to broadcasts of musical performances. He was interested in "modern" music, though he was not always enamored by it. Interestingly, he was keen on Schonberg and Bartok, though he was usually much less complimentary of Stravinsky.

So, if the rediscovery of the Weill symphony was a big deal, if it were broadcast, it's entirely possible Sibelius heard it. In all of my readings, though, I do note note any instances in which the Finnish master mentions Weill's name.

Having said all of that, I will try to YouTube the symphony and report back what I think.


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## starthrower

EMI has a nice 2 CD set coming out in February. Includes both symphonies and the violin concerto, plus a disc of songs.
http://www.amazon.com/Weill-Symphonies-1-2-Concerto/dp/B006660TMG/ref=pd_sim_sbs_m_5


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## starthrower

elgars ghost said:


> Very keen on Weill and I really need to dig deeper - Street Scene and early works like The Tsar Has His Photograph Taken and The Protagonist are a priority. Away from his stage works I really like the Violin Concerto and 2nd Symphony.


Capriccio has two inexpensive 5 CD sets of the stage works.
http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Capriccio/C7178
http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Capriccio/C7184

Sid didn't mention the Doors cover of Whiskey Bar. The original is on volume 2. The Rise And Fall Of The City Of Mahagonny.


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## elgar's ghost

starthrower said:


> Capriccio has two inexpensive 5 CD sets of the stage works.
> http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Capriccio/C7178
> http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Capriccio/C7184
> 
> Sid didn't mention the Doors cover of Whiskey Bar. The original is on volume 2. The Rise And Fall Of The City Of Mahagonny.


Good value indeed but sadly would involve buying some of the same recordings twice.


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## millionrainbows

My first real "serious" encounter with Weill. He is surprisingly good!


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## starthrower

millionrainbows said:


> My first real "serious" encounter with Weill. He is surprisingly good!
> 
> View attachment 123424


I have that CD. A good selection of works.


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## MusicSybarite

This week I tried his _Das Berliner Requiem_ with no much success. Ok, it's not bad, just sounded ironically short of substance. Otherwise, his two symphonies are must-hear for any late-and-neoromantic/classical music fan.


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## AeolianStrains

I always really liked Bobby Darin's version of Mack the Knife (perhaps above many others), and that whole album of his (_That's All_, 1959) is superb. It's just so _cool_ and _hip_.


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