824

Kurt Weill

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:20,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD
Kurt Weill

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Auction Date:2015 Apr 15 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Eminent German-American composer (1900–1950) best known for such evergreen stage works as the Threepenny Opera, Mahagonny, and Knickerbocker Holiday. A number of his songs, including ‘Mack the Knife’ and ‘September Song,’ take a place among the most durable standards of the 20th century. Scarce autograph musical manuscript, 9.5 x 12.25, six pages on three sets of adjoining musically lined sheets within a 10.25 x 13.25 cover folder, signed and inscribed on the front in bold fountain pen, “The Manuscript of The Song of the Free (The United Nations Anthem), for Gertrude Lawrence as a token of my undying affection, Kurt Weill. New York City, May 30, 1942.” Written entirely in Weill’s hand, the manuscript is headed “Song of the Free by Archibald MacLeish, Music by Kurt Weill,” and contains the music and lyrics of the song in its entirety. Edge tears to the cover folder, and scattered creases and soiling (most significantly affecting the cover folder), otherwise fine condition.

A prominent Jewish composer, Weill fled Nazi Germany in 1933 and emigrated to the United States in 1936. His interest in American literature became a vital part of his music, composing settings for the work of poets and writers including Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, Archibald MacLeish, and Maxwell Anderson. According to the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, "Song of the Free" was composed for the war effort between February and April, 1942. Written in collaboration with modernist poet Archibald MacLeish, this was one of several patriotic pieces Weill composed as a part of the American mobilization campaign to rally support during World War II. Musical manuscript material in Weill's hand is extremely rare.