About the work
Kurt Weill composed this one-act folk opera to a libretto by Arnold Sundgaard, originally as a twenty-minute radio version in 1945; in 1948 he expanded it, commissioned by the publisher Schirmer at the request of Indiana University, into a forty-minute stage version for music students. This version premiered on 15 July 1948 in Bloomington, Indiana, conducted by Ernst Hoffmann and directed by Hans Busch.
Plot
Young Brack Weaver falls in love with Jennie Parsons, but her father pressures her to go to the dance instead with the wealthy creditor Bouché. When a drunken Bouché attacks Brack, Brack kills him in self-defence and is sentenced to death; on his last night before the execution he briefly escapes from jail to see Jennie once more before facing his fate.
Cultural significance
Weill wove familiar American folk songs such as “Down in the Valley” and “The Lonesome Dove” together with newly composed choral music, creating a deliberately simple work for school and amateur stages. It remains one of the most frequently performed American operas at music schools and amateur theatres today.