According to the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, as soon as Weill came to the U.S., he wanted to write what he called “democratic” music: “...within an amazingly short time, Weill learned to write in the popular American style. In collaboration with some of the most sophisticated lyricists of the day, Weill produced a series of musicals for Broadway.” He worked with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, Ogden Nash, and Langston Hughes. His most famous song was Mack the Knife with lyrics by Berthold Brecht. It’s been called the first pop song about a villain, not a hero.
A sepia-toned photo of musician Kurt Weill, when he was 19, in 1919. He was already demonstrating his unique compositional talents. Photo credit: Hoenisch, via Weill-Lenya Research Center, Kurt Weill Foundation for Music Image source: The New York Times
It is the birthday of the composer who wrote the music for "The Threepenny Opera." German-American musician Kurt Weill was born on this day in the year 1900.
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