Bachtrack logo
What's on
Reviews
Articles
News
Video
Site
Young artists
Travel

Kurt Weill (1900-1950)

Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance listings | Weill
Fact file
Year of birth1900
Year of death1950
NationalityGermany
PeriodEarly 20th century
Biography

Kurt Julian Weill (2nd March 1900 – 3rd April 1950) was a German composer, active from the 1920s in his native country and in his later years in the United States, where he fled the Nazi leadership in 1933 and later became a citizen. His work is tied together by a series of common threads: a concern for social justice, an aggressive pursuit of highly-regarded playwrights and lyricists as collaborators (notably Bertolt Brecht, with whom he developed productions such as The Threepenny Opera and The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny) and the ability to adapt to audience tastes no matter where he found himself. Despite the relative brevity of his life, his far-reaching career challenged the purity of preexisting musical styles, working across genres and geographical limitations. He leaves a body of work that comprises operas, ballets and stage works, as well as chamber music,orchestral pieces and concert works.

Loading image...
© Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-2005-0119, CC-BY-SA 3.0
Kurt Weill