''September Songs – The Music of Kurt Weill'' is a music video of 94 minutes recorded in 1994 for

Rhombus Media Rhombus Media is a film and television production company formed in 1978 at the York University Film Department by Barbara Willis Sweete and Niv Fichman, and based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Larry Weinstein joined soon after. Rhombus Media dev ...

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

(Germany),

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

(Canada) and RTP (Portugal). It was produced and directed by

Larry Weinstein Larry Weinstein (born 1956) is a Canadian film director of theatrical and television documentaries, performance films, and dramas. The majority of his films centre on musical subjects and the depiction of the creative process, while his other sub ...

, and written by Weinstein and David Mortin. The film was conceived as a follow-up to the album '' Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill'' whose producer Hal Willner served as the music supervisor in this project. The film was nominated for the 1995

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for Outstanding Cultural Program; it won five

Gemini Awards The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in th ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. An album was released in 1997.

Background

Larry Weinstein was inspired to film ''September Songs'' after he heard '' Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill''. The producer of ''Lost in the Stars'' Hal Willner was engaged to supervise the recording. The backdrop of the performance consists of an abandoned warehouse in Toronto where musicians perform a series of songs by

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...

. Between songs, parts of Weill's biography are narrated. The cast of consists of the Brodsky Quartet,

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist. He is widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major Postmodern literature, postmodern author who influen ...

Betty Carter Betty Carter (born Lillie Mae Jones; May 16, 1929 – September 26, 1998) was an American jazz singer known for her improvisational technique, scatting and other complex musical abilities that demonstrated her vocal talent and imaginative inter ...

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...

and Spanish Fly,

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

, Kathy Dalton,

Bob Dorough Robert Lrod Dorough (December 12, 1923 – April 23, 2018) was an American bebop and cool jazz vocalist, pianist, and composer. He became famous as the composer and performer of songs in the TV series ''Schoolhouse Rock!'', as well as for his wor ...

Charlie Haden Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than fifty years. Haden helped to revolutionize the harmonic concept of bass playin ...

PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer-songwriter. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined local band Automat ...

David Johansen David Roger Johansen (January 9, 1950 – February 28, 2025) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor best known as lead singer of the seminal proto-punk band the New York Dolls. He is also known for his work under the pseudonym Buster Po ...

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

, Mary Margaret O'Hara, The Persuasions,

Stan Ridgway Stanard "Stan" Ridgway (born April 5, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter, and film and television composer known for his distinctive voice, dramatic lyrical narratives, and eclectic solo albums. He was the original lead singer and a founding ...

, Ralph Schuckett, Ellen Shipley,

Teresa Stratas Teresa Stratas (born May 26, 1938) is a Canadian operatic soprano and actress of Greeks, Greek descent. She is especially well known for her award-winning recording of Alban Berg's ''Lulu (opera), Lulu''. She is formally retired. Early life an ...

, the Brodsky Quartet, the Y Chamber Symphony. It also features the voices of

Lotte Lenya Lotte Lenya (born Karoline Wilhelmine Charlotte Blamauer; 18 October 1898 – 27 November 1981) was an Austrian-American singer, diseuse, and actress, long based in the United States. In the German-speaking and classical music world, she is be ...

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

, and Weill. Two artists reprised their performances from ''Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill'':

recorded a second version of " September Song", and

re-recorded " Speak Low" with new arrangement by

Fred Hersch Fred Hersch (born October 21, 1955) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and a 17-time Grammy nominée. He was the first person to play weeklong engagements as a solo pianist at the Village Vanguard in New York City. He has recorded more than ...

and archived voice of Kurt Weill singing the song added.

was originally slated to appear in the first album, but scheduling issues precluded her inclusion. Here she performed "Lonely House", a song which she also added to her album '' I'm Yours, You're Mine''.

and Brodsky Quartet were asked to record "Lost in the Stars" as Willner had seen them performing the song as an encore while on tour. The original video recording was released in 1994 and was shown as part of ''

Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is produced by the PBS member statio ...

'' on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. An album was released in 1997; many of the performances in the album were recorded live in Toronto, but some were recorded elsewhere. Although

performed the two songs in the film, "Youkali Tango" and "Surabaya Johnny" were licensed for inclusion in this album from her own albums but with a little accordion added to "Youkali Tango". Also included in the album are two historical performances: a 1955 recording of Weill's wife

singing " Pirate Jenny", and a 1930 recording of

reciting "

Mack the Knife "Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife" () is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their 1928 music drama ''The Threepenny Opera'' (). The song tells of a knife-wielding criminal of the London underworld n ...

". However, no single could be released from the album due to licensing issues.

Track list

The order of songs is taken from the

Sony Classical Sony Classical is an American record label founded in 1924 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records. In 1980, the Columbia Masterworks label was renamed as CBS Masterworks Records. The CBS Records Group was acquired ...

CD. The order in the film is different and there are more songs in the film: Kathy Dalton sings "Aggie's Sewing Machine" ("Aggie's Song") from '' Johnny Johnson'',

sings the "Cannon Song" from ''The Three Penny Opera'' with Tom and

Bruce Fowler Bruce Lambourne Fowler (born July 10, 1947) is an American trombonist and composer. He played trombone on many Frank Zappa records, as well as with Captain Beefheart and in the Fowler Brothers Band. He composes and arranges music for movies, a ...

and a choreography by Janice Hladki, Ghettoriginal Dance Company performs "Mandalay-B-Boy-Parlay" inspired by the "Mandalay Song" from ''Happy End''. The film also features the Esprit Orchestra playing the "Nocturne" and "Weill Variations" (by Alex Pauk) from Weill's

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

for the play ''Konjunktur'' by Léo Lania and the instrumental "Song of the Goddess" from ''Johnny Johnson'' played by the MGM Studio Orchestra.

References

External links

* * *
''September Songs – The Music of Kurt Weill''
cast and crew, fandango.com
Review
by Dennis Harvey, '' Variety'', 7 August 1995
Review
by Stephanie Zacharek, '' salon.com'', 15 September 1997
Review
by Parry Gettelman, ''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...

'', 19 September 1997
Review
'' Time Out'' * "''September Songs – The Music of Kurt Weill''"

Bilibili Bilibili (stylized in all lowercase), nicknamed B Site, is a Chinese online video sharing website based in Shanghai where users can submit, view, and add overlaid commentary on videos. Bilibili hosts videos on various themes, including ...

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