TITLE: Suite from "The Three Penny Opera" (1928)

• German Title: Kleine Dreigroschenmusik

COMPOSER: Kurt Weill (1900-1950)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Weill was recognized as one of the three most influential composers of his generation in Germany. The other two were Ernst Krenek and Paul Hindemith. He was a pupil of Busoni and was close friends with Bertolt Brecht, whom he collaborated with on several operas, including Singspiel, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny and The Three-Penny Opera. He established himself with his first opera, Der Protagonist, premiered in Leipzig in 1926. Although Weill had already composed many other works including two symphonies, a string quartet and violin concerto, it was after this opera that the Universal Edition Publishing Company offered him a contract that would insure a steady income from any future work that he composed. In 1935, he moved to the USA, where he cut loose from the European art-music tradition, and devoted himself wholeheartedly to composing for the Broadway stage. He became a US citizen in 1943.

MOVEMENTS: Eight

1. Ouverture (Overture)
2. Die Moritat van Mackie Messe (Ballad of Mack the Knife)
3. Anstatt-Dass Song (Instead-of Song)
4. Die Ballade vom angenehmen Leben (Macheath's song of "living the good life")
5. Polly's Lied (Polly's Song of Disillusionment)
6. Tango-Ballade (The Ballad of the Procurer)
7. Kanonensong (Cannon Song)
8. Dreigroschen-Finale (Finale)

PERFORMANCE TIME: 21' 33"

INSTRUMENTATION: 17 Instruments

• 2 Piccolos, 2 Bass Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 1 Alto Sax, 1 Tenor Sax, 2 Trumpets, 1 Trombone, 1 Tuba, 1 Piano, Percussion, 1 Banjo, 1 Guitar, 1 Bandoneon (a sort of Concertina)

EDITIONS: Rental

1. Theodore Presser, Presser Place, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
2. Universal Editions, European American Music Distributors

COMPOSITION SKETCH AND MUSICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Weill composed a suite of music from the opera, The Three Penny Opera for wind instruments, so that many nightclub bands throughout Europe were able to play portions of the opera for dancing. Bertolt libretto from The Three Penny Opera was a redesign of John Gay's famous Beggar's Opera. The characters had the same names, and Brecht and Weill had a dual purpose, similar to that of Gay, which was to protest social conditions of their day. When the Nazis gained power in 1933, they prohibited his music to be performed, and even asked theaters to return the music for destruction. Needless to say, the work was not destroyed, and nine years after the collapse of the Third Reich, the work was performed at New York's Theatre de Lys with English translation. Most of the characters of the stage work are depicted in the eight brief movements of the suite. Otto Klemperer, conductor of the Kroll Opera in Berlin, commissioned Weill to score the work for winds into a concert suite. The first recording was made by the Berlin State Opera Orchestra, distributed by Vox Recording Company, shortly after World War II.

SELECTED RECORDINGS:

RELATED WEBSITES:

Tribute to Kurt Weill - http://www.youkali.com/weill.html

Synopsis of Theatrical Works - http://www.mtr.org/exhibit/weill/weill.htm