Kurt
Weill was
born in
Dessau, Germany, on 2nd March, 1900.
He studied music under Engelbert
Humperdinck and Ferruccio Busoni and his early works included two
symphonies.
In 1927 Weill collaborated with the writer, Bertolt
Brecht to produce the musical play, Mahagonny.
They then produced The
Threepenny Opera (1928).
Although based on
The Beggar's Opera
that was originally produced in 1728, Brecht added his own lyrics
that illustrated his growing belief in Marxism.
Weill also worked with Brecht on Happy
End (1929).
Weill was a socialist
and when Hitler gained power in 1933 he was forced to flee from Germany.
He settled in the United States where he soon became involved in the
Group Theatre in New York. Founded by
Harold Clurman, Cheryl
Crawford and Lee Strasberg, the
Group was a pioneering attempt to create a theatre collective, a company
of players trained in a unified style and dedicated to presenting
contemporary plays. Others involved in the group included Elia
Kazan, Stella Adler, John
Garfield, Luther Adler, Will
Geer, Howard Da Silva, Franchot
Tone, John Randolph, Joseph
Bromberg, Michael Gordon, Paul
Green, Clifford Odets and Lee
J. Cobb. Members of the group tended to hold left-wing political
views and wanted to produce plays that dealt with important social
issues.
In 1936 Harold Clurman and Cheryl
Crawford of the Group Theatre commissioned
Weill to write the music for Johnny Johnson,
an anti-war play written by Paul Green.
Over the next few years Weill wrote the music for several theatre
productions including Lady in the Dark
(1940), Street Scene (1946) and
Lost in the Stars (1949).
Weill wrote the music for several Hollywood films including You
and Me (1938), Blockade
(1938), Knickerbocker Holiday
(1944), Lady in the Dark (1944),
Where Do We Go From Here (1945),
Salute to France (1946) and One
Touch of Venus (1948). Kurt Weill died in New
York on 3rd April, 1950.
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