Bertolt Brecht, Die Dreigroschenoper [The Threepenny Opera]

Piet Defraeye (University of Alberta)

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Ed. by Jill E. Twark, East Carolina University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1929

Places

Germany (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Music (any)
- Classical Music
  - Opera

Resources

Die Dreigroschenoper (usually translated as The Threepenny Opera) is one of Bertolt Brecht’s best known works, likely the most performed, and certainly the one play that provided Brecht with much-needed cash throughout his adult life. It is the outcome of a successful collaboration between three gifted artists: Bertolt Brecht, German composer Kurt Weill (1900-1950), and the German-American scholar and writer Elizabeth Hauptmann (1897-1973), whose stake in the project has historically been undervalued. Most commonly, she is credited as a contributing translator, as for instance avows on its website devoted exclusively to the Threepenny chronicle. Both Hauptmann and Weill had collaborated with …

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4715 words

Citation: Defraeye, Piet. "Die Dreigroschenoper". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 November 2016 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=12223, accessed 05 April 2025.]