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Born: 2 March 1900, Dessau,
Germany
Died: 3 April 1950, New
York, USA
Weill,
Kurt
Born in Germany ,
he later lived in the United States .
Weill was a leading figure in the German musical life during the period
of the Weimar Republic. Like Hindemith ,
he believed music should be "useful"
and serve the masses, rather than be detached from them, as Wagner
and his successors did.
He
was a son of a synagogue cantor and a composer of Jewish music.
He wrote various operas ,
among which "The Threepenny Opera"
("Die
Dreigroschenoper") (which is in fact a modern version
of John Gay's
older opera "The beggars' Opera",
was successfully presented in London
in Handel's
period). The opera includes Cabaret songs,
jazz music, and popular style songs. It's
content - social criticism written by Bertolt
Brecht. With the rise of Nazis to power in
Germany ,
and after having produced another opera "The
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny" ("Aufstieg
und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny"), that provoked a storm,
Weill fled Germany.
In the United States, Weill mostly
wrote for Broadway musicals, through which he believed he could address
society and serve it.
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Weill on the WWW
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Description
He Was
![His Profession](../icons/conduct.gif)
He Lived in the
Twentieth Century
In
Germany
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