Finding Aids

Biographical Sketch

Kurt Weill (1900-1950) is best known as a composer of operas, including the famous Threepenny Opera, a modern treatment of the eighteenth-century Beggar’s Opera. Weill studied with Bing, Humperdinck and Busoni and was much influenced by the early twentieth-century theater and social criticism. Upon the victory of the Nazi party in Germany, Weill and his wife fled the country, arriving first in England and ultimately settling in the United States. Weill was a particularly successful assimilator of diverse idioms, including American popular song and jazz.

 

Provenance

The manuscripts comprising this collection were purchased by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music (KWF) from Universal-Edition in December, 2023. They are on deposit at the Sibley Music Library’s RTWSC by mutual agreement of the KWF and the SML.

 

Scope and Content

The collection includes many of Weill’s most important works for musical theater, including scores for his most famous work, Die Dreigroschenoper. It also includes some chamber and solo works. It constitutes a very important resource for the study of Weill’s music, especially textual studies, owing to the fact that several of the works exist in more than one version and with annotations by Weill and major interpreters.

 

Associations

Other manuscript material on deposit at RTWSC reflecting the composer/publisher working relationship is the G. Schirmer Collection, comprised of manuscripts and proof copies of numerous works by American composers in G. Schirmer’s catalogue.

 

Restrictions and Use

Copyright restrictions apply. Materials are generally available for study for performance and scholarship.

 

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DESCRIPTION OF SERIES

Series 1: Manuscripts

The series includes holograph manuscripts of the works of Kurt Weill. The manuscripts are arranged in numerical order according to the Universal Edition inventory number.

Series 2: Microfilms

This series contains microfilm copies of many of the manuscripts in Series 1.

 

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INVENTORY

Series 1: Manuscripts

Box 1

Folder 1	Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny. UE 544. Full score.
Folder 2	Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny. UE 551. Libretto (original version).
Folder 3	Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny. UE 560. Libretto (new version).
Folder 4	Berlin im Licht. WS Weill 22. Military Band version.

 

Box 2

Folder 1	Burgschaft. UE 600. Full score.
Folder 2	Burgschaft. UE 601. Piano reduction.
Folder 3	Burgschaft. cf. UE 600. New Scene.

 

Box 3

Folder 1	Dreigroschenoper. No. UE #. Full score.
Folder 2	Dreigroschenoper. UE 704. Piano reducation.
Folder 3	Dreigroschenoper: Kanonensong. UE 580.
Folder 4	Dreigroschenoper. Libretto proofs. UE 549.
Folder 5	Dreigroschenoper. Tangoballade. UE 555.
Folder 6	Dreigroschenoper: libretto typescript. UE 548.
Folder 7	Frauentanz. UE 603. Full score.
Folder 8	Frauentanz. UE 606. Full score.
Folder 9	Happy End. Surabaya Johnny. UE 554.
Folder 10	Happy End. Bilbao-song. UE 802.

 

Box 4

Folder 1	Jasager. UE 541. Full score.
Folder 2	Jasager. UE 605. Piano reduction.
Folder 3	Jasager. Neue Fassung. WS Weill 37.
	Jasager. Personenverzeichnis WS Weill 37.
Folder 4	Kleine Dreigroschenmusik. UE 597. Full score.
Folder 5	Lied von den braunen Inseln. UE 602. Piano & voice.
Folder 6	Lindberghflug. WS Weill 1. Full score.
Folder 7	Lindberghflug. UE 598. Full score.
Folder 8	Lindberghflug. UE 703. Piano reduction.
Folder 9	Lindberghflug. Vorstellung des Fligers Lindbergh. UE 553.

 

Box 5

Folder 1	Mahagonny Songspiel. Rolle der Bessie. UE Q 475.
Folder 2	Muschel von Margate. UE 552. Voice and piano.
Folder 3	Neue Orpheus. No UE number. Full score.
Folder 4	Protagonist. No UE number. Full score, 307 pp.
Folder 5	Protagonist. UE 540. Piano reduction.
Folder 6	Quodlibet. UE 545. Full score.

 

Box 6

Folder 1	Royal Palace. Libretto. UE 558.
Folder 2	Royal Palace. UE 557. Piano reduction.
Folder 3	Silbersee. UE 596. Full score.
Folder 4	Silbersee: final draft. WS Weill 44. Full score.
Folder 5	Silbersee. UE 559. Piano Reduction.
Folder 6	Silbersee. Ouverture (sketch), Der Bäkker bäckt uns Morgenbrot (fragment) WS Weill 43, 44.

 

Box 7

Folder 1	String Quartet. UE 537. Full score.
Folder 2	Violin Concerto. No UE number. Full score.
Folder 3	Violin Concerto. UE 542. Piano reduction.
Folder 4	Zar lässt sich photographiere UE 599. Full score.
Folder 6	Zu Potsdam unter den Eichen. UE 543. Choral score.

 

Series 2: Microfilms

Box 8

Folder 1	Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny. UE 544 Partitur; UE 551 Textbuch, urfassung; UE 560 Textbuch, neue Fassung, 3. Act; UE Q 475 Mahogonny Songspiel Rolle der Bessie.
Folder 2	Burgschaft. UE 600 Partitur.
Folder 3	Burgschaft. UE 601 klavierauszug E. Stein; UE none Neue Szene.
Folder 4	Dreigroschenoper. Partitur; UE 704 klavierauszug; UE 548 textbuch; UE 549 libretto proofs; UE 580 kanonensong; UE 555 tangoballade & Programmzettel.
Folder 5	Happy End, etc. Happy End: UE 802 bilbao-Song; UE 554 Surabaya Johnny; Der Jasager: UE 541 partitur; UE 605 klavierauszug; WE Weill 37 neue fassung; WS Weill 37 personenverzeichnis.
Folder 6	Protagonist, etc. Protagonist: UE none partitur; UE 540 klavierauszug (Stein/KW annotations); royal Palace: UE 558 textbuch (KW annotations); UE 557 klavierauszug (KW annotations).
Folder 7	Silbersee. Silbersee: UE 596 partitur; UE 559 klavierauszug (Stein/KW annotations); WE Weill 43 Der Bakker backt uns Morgenbrot; WS Weill 43 fragment folgt K1A; WS Weill 44 partitur, final draft.
Folder 8	Zar lässt sich fotographieren. UE 599 partitur.
Folder 9	Berlin im Licht, etc. Berlin im Licht WS Weill 22 band version; Frauentanz UE 603 partitur; UE 606 partitur; Kleine Dreigr. UE 597 partitur; Lied von den braunen Inseln: UE 602 Gesang und kl; Muschel von Margate UE 552.