Dessau composed operas, scenic plays,
incidental music, ballets,
symphonies and other works for orchestra, and pieces for solo instruments as well as vocal music. From the 1920s on, he was fascinated by
film music. He composed music for early movies of
Walt Disney, as well as background music for silent pictures and early German films. In exile in Paris he wrote the
oratorio Haggadah shel Pessach after a
libretto by
Max Brod based on the
Haggadah. In the 1950s in collaboration with
Bertolt Brecht he focused on the musical theatre. During that time several of his operas were produced. He also wrote (utility music) for the propaganda of the
German Democratic Republic. At the same time he lobbied for the
avant-garde music (e.g.
Witold Lutosławski,
Alfred Schnittke,
Boris Blacher,
Hans Werner Henze and
Luigi Nono). His compositions were published by
Schott Music. •
Einstein, 1969–1973, libretto by
Karl Mickel, 16 February 1974 •
Leonce und Lena, 1976–1979, libretto by after
Georg Büchner's play, 24 November 1979
Incidental music •
99% – eine deutsche Heerschau (1938, which became
Furcht und Elend des Dritten Reiches) 1938 •
Guernica 1938 •
Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder 1946–1949 •
Der gute Mensch von Sezuan 1947–1948 •
Die Ausnahme und die Regel 1948 •
Herr Puntila und sein Knecht Matti,
folk play, 1949 •
Wie dem deutschen Michel geholfen wird. Clownspiel (clown play) 1949 •
Der Hofmeister 1950 •
Herrnburger Bericht for youth choir, soloists and orchestra 1951 •
Mann ist Mann 1951–1956 • '''' 1952–1953 •
Don Juan 1953 •
Der kaukasische Kreidekreis 1953–1954 •
Coriolan 1964
Film music •
Alice the Fire Fighter (Alice und ihre Feuerwehr) (21.8.1928), ''Alice's Monkey Business
(Alice und die Flöhe)
(25.9.1928), Alice in the Wooly West
(Alice und die Wildwest-Banditen)
(18.10.1928) and Alice Helps the Romance
(Alice und der Selbstmörder)'' (31.1.1929) by
Walt Disney • ''L'Horloge Magique. 2. La Forêt enchanté
(Der verzauberte Wald)
(7 September 1928) and L'Horloge Magique. 1. L'Horloge Magique
(Die Wunderuhr)'' (12 November 1928) by
Ladislas Starevich •
Doktor Doolittle und seine Tiere (15 December 1928) by
Lotte Reiniger with arrangements of music by
Kurt Weill,
Paul Hindemith and a private composition • Musical director in musical and operetta films together with
Richard Tauber (among others
The Land of Smiles,
Melody of Love). with melodies by
Franz Lehár and
Bronisław Kaper •
400 cm^3 documentary •
Stürme über dem Mont Blanc (1930),
The White Ecstasy (1931) and
S.O.S. Eisberg (1933), all directed by
Arnold Fanck •
Adventures in the Engadin (1932) •
White Cargo (by
Robert Siodmak),
Yoshiwara (by
Max Ophüls),
The Novel of Werther (by Ophüls) •
Crossroads (1938) •
Gibraltar (1938) •
Final Accord (1938) •
The White Slave (1939)
Works for choir •
Deutsches Miserere for mixed choir, children's choir, soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists, large orchestra, organ and
trautonium 1943–1944 •
Internationale Kriegsfibel for soloists, mixed choir, and instruments 1944–45 •
Die Erziehung der Hirse, a musical epic for one narrator, one solo voice, a mixed choir, a youth choir, and a large orchestra 1952–1954 •
Vier Grabschriften. •
Grabschrift für Gorki for one or several male voices and brass (1947) •
Grabschrift für Rosa Luxemburg for mixed choir and orchestra •
Grabschrift für Liebknecht •
Grabschrift für Lenin • 5 Songs for three female voices
a cappella: • "Die Thälmannkolonne" • "Mein Bruder war ein Flieger" • "Vom Kind, das sich nicht waschen wollte" • "Sieben Rosen hat der Strauch" • "Lied von der Bleibe" • " Appell der Arbeiterklasse" for alto and tenor solo, narrator, children's and mixed choir and large orchestra, 1960–1961
Songs • "Kampflied der schwarzen Strohhüte" 1936 • "
Freiheit" (also known as "Thälmann-Kolonne") 1936 • "Lied einer deutschen Mutter" 1943 • "Das deutsche Miserere" 1943 • "Horst-Dussel-Lied" 1943 • "Wiegenlied für Gesang und Gitarre" 1947 • "Aufbaulied der FDJ" 1948 • "Zukunftslied" 1949 • "Friedenslied" for one solo voice with one accompanying voice (text: Bertolt Brecht after
Pablo Neruda) 1951 • "Der Augsburger Kreidekreis" A dramatic ballad for music 1952 • "Jakobs Söhne ziehen aus, im Ägyptenland Lebensmittel zu holen" for children's choir, soloists and instruments 1953 • "Der anachronistische Zug" ballad for song, piano and percussion 1956 • "Kleines Lied" for song and piano 1965 • "Historie vom verliebten Schwein Malchus" for solo voice 1973 • "Spruch für Gesang und Klavier" 1973 • "Bei den Hochgestellten" 1975
Other compositions •
In memoriam Bertolt Brecht for large orchestra 1956–1957 •
Bach-Variationen for large orchestra 1963 •
Symphonic Mozart-Adaptation (after the Quintet, K.614) 1965 •
Lenin, music for orchestra no. 3 with concluding chorus "Grabschrift für Lenin" 1969 •
Für Helli, small piece for piano 1971 •
Bagatelles for viola and piano (1975) •
Sonatine for viola and piano (1929) • 2 symphonies • 7 string quartets and others == Awards ==