Vanguard Reed Quintet returns to First Presbyterian Church of Ypsilanti on April 19 for an evening of reed quintet music exploring ideas of nature, mythology, and storytelling!
Threepenny Suite by Kurt Weill | Vanguard Live @ Ypsilanti Freighthouse
The Threepenny Opera is a play by Bertolt Brecht with music by Kurt Weill, inspired by jazz and German dance music of the 1920s. The Overture opens the play, and it sounds like Weill drew more upon European classical music, especially in the fugue-like section in the middle. "Mack the Knife" serves as a prologue to the play, introducing the main character Macheath. The song has become a jazz standard, recorded by artists like Bobby Darin, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra.
These two movements are selections from a suite from the opera, arranged by Raaf Hekkema of the Calefax Reed Quintet.
VanguardTV: Mack the Knife by Kurt Weill
The Threepenny Opera is a play by Bertolt Brecht with music by Kurt Weill, inspired by jazz and German dance music of the 1920s. "Mack the Knife" serves as a prologue to the play, introducing the main character Macheath. The song has become a jazz standard, recorded by artists like Bobby Darin, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra.
The version we're playing here is from an arrangement of a suite from the opera by the fine folks at the Calefax Reed Quintet. The melody gets passed around the ensemble and the accompaniment in each iteration changes the character, from cutesy and cheeky to bombastic and dramatic.
We hope you enjoy and we can't wait to perform this for you in person soon!
Vanguard Reed Quintet returns to First Presbyterian Church of Ypsilanti on April 19 for an evening of reed quintet music exploring ideas of nature, mythology, and storytelling!