Post submitted by Erin, one of our Student Experience Ambassadors
The 3rd of April 2025 marks the 75th Anniversary of the death of the world renowned composer Kurt Weill. Throughout his life, Weill became most known for writing music for theatre, best known for his collaborations with famous playwright and practitioner Bertolt Brecht. With Brecht, he developed productions such as his best-known work, ‘The Threepenny Opera’, which included the popular ballad ‘Mack The Knife’- a song that was established as a jazz standard by Louis Armstrong and Bobby Darin shortly after his death. Similarly to Brecht, Weill believed in the power of art as a socially useful purpose, such as in theatres, and enjoyed using his music in order to influence audiences and encourage them to ask questions about the structures of society. He is known as one of the greats in music, and his work still has a significant impact within theatre and music today, with his plays still being performed and approaches to composition still being studied in music schools across the world. His collaborations with Brecht created a changing point within theatre, in which performances such as this could be seen to have a purpose far beyond just entertainment.
You can watch a performance of Bobby Darin performing Weill’s ‘Mack the Knife’ from the ‘Threepenny Opera’ here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=557lFG-qq5g