Carl Orff

Biography

Carl Heinrich Maria Orff (German: [kaʁl ˈʔɔʁf] ; 10 July 1895 – 29 March 1982) was a German composer and music educator who is best known for composing the cantata Carmina Burana and formulating concepts of his Schulwerk (lit. 'schoolwork'), which became influential for children's music education.

Born in Munich, Orff was raised in a military family that was scholarly and musical, and later attended the Munich Academy of Music. After composing a number of Lieder and other orchestral works, he completed his Carmina Burana for voices and large orchestra in 1936, setting poems from the medieval poetry collection of the same name. Its première was an immediate great success and Orff considered it the first time he had done exactly what he wanted, although he did not have his previous works destroyed as sometimes claimed. While the cantata was initially hampered by a small group of critics and officials, its popularity dramatically rose throughout and after World War II, Orff never received nearly as much recognition or attention for his later works, like the latter two parts of his triptych Trionfi, of which Carmina Burana is the first installment.

Orff was also an influential pedagogue who, along with colleagues like Gunild Keetman, developed an approach (the "Orff Schulwerk") to teaching children, which is a collection of fundamental principles to ensure every child learns music, much like a new language, in a comfortable environment. It involves tools like elementary forms of instruments and specifically composed music (the original form of the Schulwerk).

A member of the Reichsmusikkammer but not the Nazi Party, Orff's relationship with the Third Reich has been analysed by many as he was considerably successful (musically and financially) under its rule, and his work was well-liked by contemporary critics. Having concealed his part-Jewish ancestry throughout his life, Orff underwent denazification and was rated "'Grey C', acceptable" by psychiatrist Bertram Schaffner, who characterized him as a passive anti-Nazi. He was granted an unrestricted license with no further prohibitions from public musical activities, and continued to compose stage works and rework previous compositions until his death in 1982.

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