Weill, Kurt 1900-50
US composer

Born in Dessau, Germany, he studied under Engelbert Humperdinck and Ferruccio Busoni, and early works included chamber music, two symphonies (1921, 1933) and some stage works. He achieved fame with Die Dreigroschenoper, Bertolt Brecht's modernization of John Gay's Beggar's Opera, in 1928. Other works of that time included Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (1927-29, 'Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'), Die sieben Tods�nden (1933, 'Seven Deadly Sins'), both with Brecht, Die B�rgschaft (1932) and Der Silbersee (1933). A refugee from the Nazis, he settled in the USA in 1934, becoming a US citizen in 1943. In all his works Weill was influenced by jazz idioms, and his later songs, operas and musical comedies, many of which contain elements of social criticism, are amongst the most impressive written for the American stage. They include Lady in the Dark (1940), Street Scene (1946) and Lost in the Stars (1949).