Kurt Julian Weill (born March 2 1900 in Dessau, Germany, died April 3 1950 in
New York) was a German‑born American composer best known for his stage works.
His early musical formation began with piano lessons at age twelve and private
instruction from Albert Bing, followed by studies at the Berliner Hochschule für
Musik under Engelbert Humperdinck and Ferruccio Busoni; he composed his first
string quartet in 1918 and a symphonic poem on Rilke in 1919. After gaining
initial recognition with The Threepenny Opera (1928) with
Bertolt Brecht-featuring "Mack the Knife"-he continued to ...