September Song

September Song (When Kurt Weill moved to America in 1935, he more or less abandoned serious European music traditions and threw himself into composing from the Broadway stage. He went so far as to intentionally subordinate the artistic criteria he had previous lived with in order to write commercially in the popular style. It would have been impossible, however, for him to have completely subdued the cultivated melodic and harmonic language that had become so characteristic, particularly in the Brecht collaborations. September song is one of his best loved and most performed songs of this era, with its typically quirky harmonies and recitative-like middle eight. Performance notes: The arrangement is well covered with suggested expression marks; try to make them tell but never play in an exaggerated manner. The essence of Weill’s music is slightly understated, straight-faced irony. The percussion is optional but desirable. )