Weill, Blitzstein, and Bernstein: A Study of Influence
by Dr. Rebecca Schmid, PhD in Musicology
226 Pages
67 music exx. and 4 b/w illus.
Series: Eastman Studies in Music
Series Vol. Number: 189
Imprint: University of Rochester Press

Hardcover
9781648250606
June 2023
$105.00 / £90.00

Ebook (EPDF)
9781800109315
June 2023
$29.95 / £24.99

Review by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON, Mass. — Dr. Rebecca Schmid’s Weill, Blitzstein, and Bernstein: A Study of Influence examines the influence of Kurt Weill on the careers and egos of Marc Blitzstein and Leonard Bernstein (in addition to other notable artists such as Lotte Lenya, Stephen Sondheim, Igor Stravinsky, Bertolt Brecht, and even playwright and critic Dorothy Parker). It became available in June 2023 and may be purchased via the University of Rochester Press on the Boydell & Brewer website.

Weill, Blitzstein, and Bernstein: A Study of Influence is a largely successful work that will complement the library of Weill, Blitzstein, and Bernstein scholars if those scholars skip over Schmid’s first chapter “Why Influence?” Schmidt begins the chapter by quoting T.S. Eliot: “No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone… His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation to the dead poets and artists.”  Continue reading →