Orff, Carl: b. July 10, 1895 Munich; d. March 29, 1982 Munich
It would be unfortunate if Orff were remembered in
Everything2 only for his
Carmina Burana, the first of a
trilogy that also included
Cartulli Carmina and
Triunfo de Aphrodite. There is already an excellent
node for the Burana that reveals the
genius of this composer and the breadth of his interest in
medieval German poetry. While "modern" in some of his compositional
techniques, Orff in the trilogy is able to capture the spirit of that
age with
infectious rhythms and easy tonalities. The medieval poems written in an early form of
German and in
Latin were often "
naughty," but without
descending into
smut for smut's sake.
In
pedagogical circles he is probably most
remembered for his
Schulwerk (1930-35), translated into English as his "Music for Children." Its simple musical
instrumentation allowed even untutored child musicians to perform the piece with relative ease. Much of his life Orff worked with children, using music as an educational tool. Both
melody and
rhythm are often determined by the words, in either the
German or
English production. There is a
feeling of
enthusiasm in the
performances I've heard that echo the joy the performers obviously feel in creating such beautiful music.
Orff was reluctant to call any of his works just
operas. For example, he called
Der Mond ( = the moon) (1939) a
Märchenoper ( = fairytale opera).
Die Kluge ( = the wise woman) (1943) would fall into the same category. In both there is that same medieval or timeless sound without actually copying the musical
idioms of the period. Although I haven't heard either of them in years, I can still remember the melodies, rhythms and. with them, the text. Proof of a rare and flawless union of words and music.
Of his
Antigone(1949) Orff said specifically, that it was not an opera, but a musical setting (
Vertonung) of an ancient
tragedy. The text is an excellent German
translation of Sophocles' play of that name (by Friedrich Hölderlin, I believe). The
orchestration, particularly for the
percussion section, is greater than
tremendous. Some have called the style "minimalist" which it may be in terms of melodic line, but it
emotional content it is certainly overwhelming.
His final work,
De Temporum Fine Comoedia ( = a play of the end of time), Orff called a
Mysterienspiel, a mystery play. I heard the
recording only once and then with a small group of people in a private
home. I'm not certain what we expected of a piece with the word
Comoedia in the title, but we got much more than we bargained for. In some respects it may not be as "accessible" as
Carmina, but it obviously moved all of us. The
silence in the room for moments afterwards was very much like the silence after a performance of
Parsifal.