Kurt Weill : an illustrated life / Jurgen Schebera ; translated by Caroline Murphy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schebera, Jürgen, 1940-

Standardized Title:

Kurt Weill, 1900-1950. English

Language:

English

German

Subjects (All):

Weill, Kurt, 1900-1950.

Weill, Kurt.

Composers--Biography.

Composers.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xi, 381 pages : illustrations, portraits, music ; 27 cm

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, 1995.

Summary:

Kurt Weill--the famed composer of The Threepenny Opera, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Knickerbocker Holiday, One Touch of Venus, Lost in the Stars, and many other musical works--led a life as rich and complex as the music for which he is so justly acclaimed. This engaging and lavishly illustrated book draws on a wealth of previously unexplored written and pictorial material to present a biography of Weill that is the most up to date and balanced ever written.

Jurgen Schebera explores the many phases of Weill's life, from his childhood as the son of a cantor in the Jewish section of Dessau, Germany, to his renunciation of Germany in 1933, his emigration to America in 1935, and his premature death there in 1950. Schebera describes Weill's rise to prominence during the Weimar Republic, when he created brilliant orchestral and chamber music and became a leading operatic innovator; his marriage, divorce, and remarriage to the famed actress Lotte Lenya; his escape from Nazi Germany, exile in France, and move to America; his collaboration with such famed writers and lyricists as Georg Kaiser, Bertolt Brecht, Maxwell Anderson, Moss Hart, Ira Gershwin, S.J. Perelman, and Ogden Nash; and his efforts in the United States to aid the mobilization for war. He presents fascinating information about Weill's musical creations: an anti-war musical (Johnny Johnson); a biblical drama (The Eternal Road); his first American song "hit," "September Song"; a Kiddush for cantor, chorus, and organ; a new genre of Broadway opera (Street Scene); a musical tragedy (Lost in the Stars); and many other musical ventures in New York and Hollywood. Schebera contends that it is pointless to argue the relative merits of Weill's music from his European and American periods, as many critics have done. As Weill himself said, "I have never acknowledged the difference between 'serious' music and 'light' music. There is only good music and bad music." And, in fact, the current international renaissance of Kurt Weill's works attests to the beauty, originality, and variety of the music he composed throughout his career.

First published in Germany to enthusiastic reviews, this English edition adds new information and illustrations to the earlier work.

Contents:

Part 1 Early Years 1

1 Childhood and Youth in Dessau (1900-18) 3

2 First Period of Study in Berlin (1918-19) 15

3 Theater Experience in Dessau and Ludenscheid (1919-20) 22

4 Master Pupil with Busoni (1921-23) 29

Part 2 Berlin 53

5 One-Act Operas (1924-27) 55

6 Collaboration with Brecht (1927-30) 89

7 The Defense of Opera (1931-32) 181

8 The Neazis and Weill (1933) 195

9 Interlude: Exile in France (1933-35) 211

Part 3 The United States 237

10 Group Theatre and the Playwrights' Company (1935-40) 239

11 Composer of Musicals (1940-45) 272

12 Interlude: We Fight Back 295

13 Broadway Opera (1945-50) 310.

Notes:

"Published with the assistance of the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music."

Includes discography (pages 367-374 ), bibliographical references (pages 360-366 ), and index.

ISBN:

0300060556

OCLC:

31435121