“The piece we are going to create won’t exploit topical themes which will be dated in a year but rather will reflect the definitive shape of our time. For that reason it will have an impact far beyond its own age. The task is to create the new genre which treats the completely transformed manifestation of life in our time in our time in an appropriate manner” (Hailey, 25).

I thought a lot about this quote in terms of the commodification of music during Weill’s years of musical production, as well as the “appropriate manner” of the hit song. Weill sees his songs as a transformation from the inapplicable music culture of the bourgeoisie to a readily accessible genre for his audience.  I can’t help but think that this musical accessibility is all too conjoined with the commodification of its production. In my mind, the production of Weill’s music becomes  a commodity when its integrity is forsaken in order to reach a broader audience. Reproductions are scored for the piano and simplified so that more people would be able to play them. However, Weill does not associate this with the degradation of his music; instead, he urged his publishers to do this so that the relatively untrained musician could have access (Hailey, 26). This is a stark contrast from Schumann, who valued musical integrity over accessibility tenfold.  For Weill, the music was made for the audience, not for the music itself. I think this is what Weill meant when he said that his music would “reflect the definitive shape of our time”, as most within his society were musical laymen, who consume music rather than appreciate it in Schumann-esque terms.