Composer Kurt Weill is best known for his Dreigroschenoper, and any symphonies were unknown to me. He wrote two symphonies, in 1921 and 1934 respectively. The second was premiered in Amsterdam by the Concertgebouw Orchestra under Bruno Walter. That premiere happened before the first performance of the first symphony. Just a few months before Weill had fled Nazi Germany, so he finished his second in Paris. It would be his last symphony.
While writing it I am listening to it again, but that first symphony doesn’t work for me. Somehow I cannot connect to it. Maybe the second is slightly better for me, with some dark colouring and dramatic moments. Even though Kurt Weill claimed there was no message behind it, the drama in it seem to suggest a mind in turmoil. Leaving Germany and living through such terrible times must have left a mark on the music.