Kurt Weill 1900–1950

Name ______Class ______Date ______World War II Erupts Biography Kurt Weill 1900–1950

WHY HE MADE HISTORY The post- World War I era was a time of severe economic depression in Europe. Kurt Weill was a distinguished composer famous for his musicals. His works commented on the social problems Berlin faced in the 1920s. Later when he moved to the United States, he wrote for Broadway.

As you read the biography below, think about Time Life Pictures/Getty Images how Kurt Weill’s music helped describe the social problems of the era. Why would a composer want to make social commentary with his music?

In the years following World War I, Berlin became the cultural center of Germany’s Weimar Republic. These postwar years were filled with turmoil and inflation. The literature, art, theater, music, and dance of the times commented on the social issues that were most pressing. Composer Kurt Weill was one of many artists who used his talent to focus on problems in German society. Born in Dessau, Germany, Weill was the son of a religious teacher and cantor, a person who sings prayers in a Jewish religious service. His father introduced him to the piano at a young age. By the time he was 12, Weill was already composing music. During his formal music education in Berlin, he studied composition with some of the top composers in Europe. It was during this time that Kurt Weill realized his music could also contain a message. His message was about the problems in German society. In the 1920s Weill composed a series of socially conscious one-act operas. In 1928 he collaborated with the poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht to produce The Threepenny Opera. It was a version of The Beggar’s Opera (1728), an English musical about life among thieves and murderers. Although Weill’s version is set in turn-of-the-century London, it closely mirrors the poverty, deception, and politics of German life at the time. The Threepenny Opera ultimately became his best-known work. His ballad “Mack the Knife” became a musical hit and the show became a hit. Later, in the 1950s, it became one of the longest-running shows on Broadway. As the Nazis came to power, Weill found it difficult to create the kind of music that had become his trademark. The Nazis refused to let people

Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. 5 World War II Erupts Name ______Class ______Date ______World War II Erupts Biography criticize German society. They banned books, shut down theatrical productions, and censored the works of many artists, including Weill. His music was banned from the radio, recordings, and theater. As a result of the Nazi persecution, Weill fled to Paris in 1933. In 1935 Kurt Weill came to the United States, where he worked as a musical theater composer on Broadway. Here he combined his talent of tackling problems on the stage with his interest in creating popular American music. Weill wrote several successful musicals that brought social commentary to Broadway. These kinds of musicals had not been seen in American theaters for a long time. Weill’s Knickerbocker Holiday (1938) included a thinly disguised critique of President Roosevelt and the New Deal. Later, in his show Lady in the Dark (1941), he joined with lyricist Ira Gershwin (composer George Gershwin’s brother) to focus on psychoanalysis. They brought the psychology of Sigmund Freud to the musical stage for the first time. In Weill’s hands Broadway musicals gained a new depth of meaning. For the first time since his exile began, Weill achieved the fame and recognition he had once enjoyed in his homeland. Weill continued to work on a wide range of musical projects until he died in 1950.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN? 1. Recall What kind of music did Kurt Weill compose? What effect do you think he want his music to have on the listener?

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______2. Analyze How did the censorship of Kurt Weill’s music shape his career?

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ACTIVITY Write a short scene that includes a song which conveys a pressing social issue facing modern day society. You might want to use an existing song and write new words for it.