Weill manuscripts found

Press, 9 November 1983, Page 24

Weill manuscripts found

NZPA New York Fourteen manuscripts of early compositions by Kurt Weill, most of them unknown to scholars and musicians, have come into the possession of the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, it was disclosed recently.

The announcement was made by Mr Kim Kowalke, a noted Weill scholar and president of the foundation, in the course of a paper presented as part of an international conference on Weill (1900-50), the GermanAmerican composer of such works as “The Threepenny Opera,” “The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny,” “Street Scene,” and “September Song.”

The conference was held at Yale University in New

Haven and was co-spon-sored by the foundation and the Yale Music Library, which houses the WeillLenya Archive. (Lotte Lenya was Weill’s wife and close musical associate). The new manuscripts all pre-date 1921, although an exact dating must await further study as the material came into Mr Kowalke’s possession only on October 14, and he has seen some of it only in photocopied form. The scores include a six-move-ment orchestral work (probably from 1919), Weill’s only known solo piano piece, and several songs. Although they are student works, the discoveries are of particular interest to Weill experts because so little has been known of his

music from this period, and because what is known — chiefly a cello sonata and a string quartet in B minor (an autographed score of which is part of the new cache) — is considered of high quality. “The discovery of a large number of a major composer’s autographed scores more than 60 years after their composition is an extraordinary event under any circumstances,” Mr Kowalke said. “But in this case, the manuscripts preserve some unknown works, some of which may indeed enter the repertory and will certainly enhance the focus of our picture of Weill’s career.”

Even Miss Lenya, who died in 1981, was unaware of the existence of the

manuscripts. They were in the possession of Mrs Rita Weill, the widow of the composer’s elder brother, Hans, who had been given them by Weill in 1922.

Soon after Miss Lenya’s death, the Weill Foundation was alerted to the existence of the material by Mrs Weill’s daughter, Hanne Weill Holesovsky. Mrs Weill expressed an interest in selling the manuscripts to the foundation, which is supported by royalties from Weill’s works, and Mr Kowalke was allowed to make a part catalogue of the manuscripts. But Mr Kowalke said that Mrs Weill had demanded a high price and no agreement had been reached at the time of her death on September 46.