Carl OrffProject by Rebecca, Tolu, Brianna, and Navjot

Composition

• Title: Music from Carmina Burana (O Fortuna)

• Premiered:1937 at Frankfurt

• Period Composed: 20th Century

Composer

• Full Name: Carl Orff

• Born July 10, 1895 and died March 29, 1982, both in Munich, Germany

• Nationality: German (Bavarian)

• Cities of Residence: Munich

Personal Life

• Born in Munich, Germany, on July 10, 1895 • Both of his grandfathers were major generals• His father was a German soldier• His mother was a pianist who helped him put

his first compositions into musical notation• Both were actively involved in the German

military• Had a younger sister named Maria who was

three years younger than him.

• Fought in WWI, where he was severely injured and on the verge of dying until he recovered

Later Life

• Married four times• Alice Solscher (1920-1925), had one child together• Alice Willert (1939-1953)• Louise Rinser (1954- 1959)• Lislotte Schmitz (1960-death)

• After WWII, Orff claimed he was a part of the anti-Nazi movement, the White Rose, which was founded by one of his friends, Kurt Huber, who was killed by the Nazis during the war.

• Died on March 29, 1982 of cancer and is buried in Baroque Church in South Munich

Career in early life

• Well versed in piano and organ by a young age due to his parents’ teachings, and enjoyed composing his own music rather than playing the compositions of others.

• Wrote a short story at the age of 10 that was published in a children’s magazine and wrote other stories and books later on.

• One of his first works major works, Zarathustra, he wrote in 1912 and featured baritone vocals, three male choruses, orchestra, and passages from Nietzsche’s novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra

• Joined the Munich Academy of Music in 1912, but left in 1914 to study with Hermann Zilcher.

• Became the director of the Munich Chamber Theatre in 1916

• Joined the military in 1917 to participate in WWI, but retired in 1918, when he joined opera houses in Manheim and Darmstadt

• Returned to Munich in 1919 and began to study music and composers from the 16th and 17th centuries (musicology)

Later Career

• Began to develop concept of elementare Musik, based on the Greek Muses, in the 1920s

• Symbolized unity of the arts

• Included all aspects of art, including tone, dance, poetry, design, theatre, and image

• Led to the Orff-Schulwerk educational concept

• In 1924, Orff and Dorothy Günther founded the Günther School for gymnastics, dance, and music

• Orff was the head of the department at Günther School until his death

• Carmina Burana premiered in 1937 and was very popular throughout Nazi Germany

• Wrote music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but claimed that he had already written it 1917 before his connection to the Nazi Party, as this was a favor to the Nazis

• Last work before his death was De Temporum Fine Comoedia, which premiered in 1973

Historical Significance

• Most famous for Carmina Burana• Part of the trilogy “Triumph”• Also included “Catulli Carmina” and “Trionfo di Afrodite”

• Formulated a new concept called elementary music that was based on the Ancient Greek Muses

• Contributed to the development of elementary music education.

• Awarded the Music Prize of the city of Munich in 1947

• Also remembered for his Schulwerk, a set of pieces composed and published for school children

• Most work was centered around narratives such as operas, poems and plays, and his later works were inspired by Latin texts

Output

• 4 Cantatas

• 10 Operas

• 2 Concertos

• 1 string quartet

Compositional Techniques

• Form: Scenic Cantata (a secular work for choir, soloists and an orchestra)

• Meter(s): ¾

• Tempo(i): Pesante, Allegro, Piu Mosso

• Key(s): D-minor

• Orchestration/instrumentation: Scored for a large orchestra, band instruments (flutes, oboes, clarinet, etc.), and a chorus, but our arrangement is scored for a string orchestra

• Style/texture: Medieval, Gregorian chant-like

Meaning/Significance

 The meaning of O Fortuna is O Fortune and Carmina Burana means “Songs of Beuren”. Songs of Beuren refers to the collection of songs and poems of the

13th century that were found in Beuren (1803). O Fortuna is linked to the Nazi

regime because it was supposed to display the Nazi values. Nowadays the piece is used as background music for

intense scenes.

Translation of Lyrics

O Fortune,like the moonyou are changeable,ever waxingand waning;hateful lifefirst oppressesand then soothesas fancy takes it;povertyand powerit melts them like ice.

Fate – monstrous

and empty,you whirling wheel,you are malevolent,well-being is vainand always fades to nothing,shadowedand veiledyou plague me too;now through the gameI bring my bare backto your villainy.

Fate is against mein health

and virtue,driven onand weighted down,always enslaved.So at this hourwithout delaypluck the vibrating strings;since Fatestrikes down the strong man,everyone weep with me!

Connections

• Orff was influenced by pro-fascist ideologies and had a strong relationship with the Nazi party 

• Although his work “Carmina Burana” was popular in Nazi Germany, it was denounced and believed to have taunts towards the Nazis. 

• His works were greatly based on texts or poems on Antiquity 

• He seeks inspiration from earlier eras and used them in his contemporary theatrical presentations.

Interesting points

• Orff listened to compositions from earlier eras to add and antique style to his theatrical presence rather than listening to new styles.

Sources

• http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/carl-orff-331.php

• http://www.britannica.com/biography/Carl-Orff

• http://holocaustmusic.ort.org/politics-and-propaganda/third-reich/orff-carl/

• http://www.allmusic.com/artist/carl-orff-mn0000937423

• http://www.orff.de/

• http://www.classicfm.com/composers/orff/music/carmina-burana/