Kurt Weill (1900 - 1950) was a German-Jewish composer and belonged to the Weimar Republic's most prominent intellectuals. Together with ia Bertholt Brecht he wrote socially realistic, critical and sarcastic singing plays, which lashed out against the upper class in favor of the working class. The combination of being a Jew and a socialist made Weill a favored target for the Nazis, who came into power in 1933. After several of his works were burned at the National Socialists scene of burning books in the same year, he fled to Paris. Already two years later he had emigrated to America, where he remained until his death. In the US, Weill became an important composer on Broadway, and he is the author of several of the jazz evergreens, eg September Song and Speak Low. He has been a significant figure in the development of popular music and theater music, and his music has inspired and been used by many of today's musicians, eg David Bowie, Tom Waits, Sting, Marianne Faithfull and others.