Carl Orff

German composer (1895-1982) · Germany · Musicians · Died at 86

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He wrote one cantata that became the most recognizable twenty minutes in classical music - the thundering, Latin-shouting "O Fortuna" that soundtracks every movie trailer, every gladiator spectacle, every moment someone wants to signal fate bearing down.

Musicians Singer / Musician Classical 20th Century

A life in dates

1982Died29 March 19821981Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and ArtAward1979“Elemental Music is never just music.”In their wordsAs quoted in Through Music to the Self : How to Appreciate and Experience Music Anew (1979) by Peter Michael Hamel, p. 18Read the whole statement

1975Honorary Citizen of MunichAward1974Austrian Decoration for Science and ArtAwardRomano Guardini awardAward1965Bayerischer PoetentalerAwardGoethe Plaque of the City of FrankfurtAward1955“I am often asked why I nearly always select old material, fairy tales and legends for my stage works. I do not look upon them as old, but rather as valid material.”In their wordsJuly 1955As quoted in "Carl Orff" by Everett Helm in The Musical Quarterly Vol. 41, No. 3 (July 1955)Read the whole statement

1895Born10 July 1895

Also in Deutsch

Photos 4

Orff in 1940

Orff's grave at the Andechs Abbey church

Bust of Carl Orff in the Munich Hall of Fame (2009)

In their own words 4

Carl Orff

4 statements, newest first

Elemental Music is never just music.
1979, As quoted in Through Music to the Self : How to Appreciate and Experience Music Anew (1979) by Peter Michael Hamel, p. 18, Own words
I am often asked why I nearly always select old material, fairy tales and legends for my stage works. I do not look upon them as old, but rather as valid material.
Jul 1955, As quoted in "Carl Orff" by Everett Helm in The Musical Quarterly Vol. 41, No. 3 (July 1955), Own words
Experience first, then intellectualize.
As quoted in "The Orff Process" (4 July 1997) by Deborah Jeter, Own words

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Listen

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Albums 23

ONOrff: Catulli Carmina / Stravinsky: Les Noces2011

CBClassic FM: Carmina Burana2008

CMCarmina Burana Suite / Serenade for Wind Instruments / La Fiesta Mexicana2006

CGCarmina Burana: For Solo Guitar2005

GVGünter-Wand-Edition, Volume 52005

PRPrometheus2005

OROrpheus2004

OPOrff: Carmina Burana / Stravinsky: Fireworks / Circus Polka2001

OSOrff: Carmina Burana / Górecki: Symphony of Sorrowful Songs2000

OBOrff: Carmina Burana1999

OPOrff: Carmina Burana / Bernstein: Chichester Psalms1999

CPCarmina Burana (Monash University Production)1999

WEWeihnachtsgeschichte1998

CSCatulli Carmina - Ludi Seaenici1996

CACatulli Carmina / Trionfo di Afrodite1996

CBCarmina Burana1995Editions: The Singers's Edition, chamber version

OAOrff: Catulli Carmina / Egk: La Tentation de Saint Antoine1995

LGLieder und Gesänge1995

EAEin Weihnachtsspiel / Ein Osterspiel / Astutuli1995

OPOrff-Schulwerk, Volume 1: Musica Poetica1995

OMOrff: Die Kluge / Der Mond1993

ANAntigonae1993

DMDie Kluge / Der Mond1990

Awards

Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art1981

Honorary Citizen of Munich1975

Austrian Decoration for Science and Art1974

Romano Guardini award1974

Goethe Plaque of the City of Frankfurt1965

Bayerischer Poetentaler1965

Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts order

Bavarian Order of Merit

National Prize of East Germany

Great Cross with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Honorary Doctor of the University of Munich

Honorary Doctor of the University of Tübingen

Pour le Mérite

Honorary Golden Medal of the State Capital Munich

Family

Parents

Carl Orff

Partners

Child Godela Büchtemann-Orff

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About this person

Carl Heinrich Maria Orff was born in Munich on 10 July 1895, trained as a composer in a Germany still steeped in Romanticism, but spent decades finding his own voice. In 1937 he premiered Carmina Burana, a cantata setting medieval poems to rhythm-driven, percussive music that stripped away orchestral fat and hit like a hammer. The work made his name and never let go. Alongside composing, he developed the Schulwerk, a teaching method built on rhythm, movement, and simple instruments that reshaped how children learn music worldwide. He continued working in Munich until his death on 29 March 1982, but the fortune wheel he set spinning in 1937 still turns.

Country

Germany

Musicians from Germany 6

Markus Stockhausen61.6

Leopold Mozart61.3

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