Karl Orff (Karl Heinrich Maria Orff, 1895-1982) - an outstanding composer and teacher of Germany, he is the author of the famous cantata "Carmina Burana", which was written by him in 1937.
Biography
Karl Orff was born in the German city of Munich into a Bavarian family who was very musical. His father was an officer, but he knew how to play the piano and stringed instruments. Orff's mother also played the piano well. It was the mother who noticed musical talent in her son and began to teach him music.
The biography of Karl Orff indicates that at the age of 5 he played the piano. At the age of nine, he was the author of long and short musical passages that he wrote for his puppet theater.
In the period from 1912 to 1914, Karl Orff studied at the Munich Academy of Music. After that, in 1914, he continued to study with Herman Zilcher. Orff began working in 1916 at the Munich Chamber Theater as a bandmaster. In 1917, during the First World War, Karl Orff volunteered to serve in the army, where he served in the First Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment. In 1918, he was invited to work at the National Theater of Mannheim as a bandmaster. The next place of his work was the Palace Theater of the Grand Duchy of Darmstadt.
Personal life
The biography of Karl Orff tells that in 1920 he got married. His wife was Alice Zolsher, who gave birth to his only daughter. Subsequently, his daughter Godela (1921-2013) became an actress. But soon the marriage broke up, and in 1925 he divorced his first wife Alice. Later, Orff was married three more times. His next wives were Gertrude Willert (1939); the famous German writer Louise Riesner (1954) and Liselotta Schmitz (1960).
From 1982 to 2012, Lizoletta headed the Karl Orff Foundation after his death.
Social activity
In 1924, the famous German writer, gymnast and dance teacher Dorothea Gunther offered the composer cooperation. In the biography of Karl Orff, it is mentioned that as a result they opened the famous Gunterschule School of Gymnastics, Music and Dance in Munich. In it, the children studied music according to the Orff system, which later became internationally recognized, which was the head of the creative department until the school was closed (1944).
Orff system
The music education system of Karl Orff deserves attention. It was in Guntershul that the composer and teacher Karl Orff realized his own idea of synthesizing music, movement and word. In this synthesis, music played a dominant role, combining singing, playing, movement and improvisation. This system, which is now called "Orff-Schulwerk" (translated as "school work"), has become famous. In the early 30s, the composer published a methodological work under this title and gained international prestige in musical and pedagogical circles. Most of the book is occupied by notes with simple musical instrumentation, which enables all children, even untrained music, to easily perform works in all parts.
The essence of the technique
The “Music for Children” methodology is to reveal musical data in children through musical and motor improvisation.
Orff’s idea is for children to educate themselves on learning to play the simplest musical instruments: cymbals, maracas, bells, triangles, xylophone, metallophone and some others. The term "elementary music playing" was coined by Orff as a designation of a process consisting of singing, movement, improvisation and playing percussion instruments. Orff developed material that can be modified, and based on it, to improvise with children. This encourages children to fantasize, compose and improvise. The main goal of this system of musical education is the creative development of the child.
Political Views
The parents of Karl Orff's father were Catholic Jews. During the Nazi rule, Orff managed to keep this fact a secret. He was friends with Gauleiter of Vienna, Baldur von Schirach, who was one of the leaders of the Hitler Youth. But at the same time he was friends with Kurt Huber, the founder of the White Rose Resistance, whom the Nazis executed in 1943. Orff did not dare to save his friend, as he was afraid for his life. The biography of Karl Orff says that he did not support the Nazi regime publicly.
When World War II ended, Karl Orff announced that he had participated in the resistance, although many sources deny it. A summary of Karl Orff's biography describes that Orff's statement was accepted by US authorities, allowing him to continue to compose music.
Karl Orff was buried near Munich in one of the churches of Andean Abbey.
"Carmina Burana"
Karl Orff, whose biography and work is interesting to study, is known to everyone primarily as the author of the cantata Carmina Burana, which means “Boyer’s Songs”. In 1803, a 13th-century manuscript was found in the Benedictine monastery of Boyern in Bovaria, in which poems were written by the Goliards. Orff wrote music to these verses. The libretto includes poems in Latin and in Middle High German. The topics raised in these poems, relevant in the 13th century, are close and understandable to our contemporaries to this day: the inconstancy of wealth and good fortune, the transience of human life, the joy of springtime, the pleasure of wine, delicious food, carnal love and gambling.
The compositional structure obeys the main idea of the work - the rotation of the Wheel of Fortune, the drawing of which was in the manuscript. On the rim of the wheel are inscriptions in Latin, which translate: "I will reign, reign, reigned, I am without a kingdom."
Within an action, or scene, the Wheel of Fortune turns. That is why there is a change in mood and state of mind: happiness is replaced by sadness, hope - hopelessness.
But this is only the first part of Trionfi - a trilogy that includes parts such as Catulli Carmina and Trionfo di Afrodite. Karl Orff called this work a holiday of harmony of the human spirit, which finds a balance between the carnal and the spiritual. The elements of Art Nouveau in the trilogy are combined with a spirit close to the Middle Ages.
After the premiere in 1937, the Carmina Burana cantata became very popular during the Nazi rule in Germany. After the premiere, it was performed a large number of times. Goebbels described this work as "an example of German music." But critics of Nazi Germany called it degenerative, referring to its connection with the then-famous exhibition "Degenerative Art", which took place in the same year. It was presented 650 works after their confiscation from 32 museums in Germany. The exhibition was very popular: until April 1941, it visited 12 more cities, the number of visitors exceeded 3 million people.
The huge success of the cantata Carmina Burana overshadowed Orff's previous work. This work is a famous example of music composed and performed during the reign of the Nazi regime in Germany. Her popularity was huge. In the biography of Karl Orff, the work of “Carmine Buran” plays an important role. The authority of the composer Orff was so high that he was commissioned to write music for William Shakespeare's play “A Midsummer Night's Dream” to replace the music of Felix Mendelssohn, which was banned in Germany. After the war ended, Karl Orff announced that he was dissatisfied with his work, and subjected it to thorough processing. Therefore, its premiere took place only in 1964.
Operas
In a brief biography of Karl Orff for the 6th grade of a secondary school, it is said that Orff did not want his operas to be ranked as other traditional operas. Such compositions as “The Moon” (1939) and “Clever” (1943), the composer attributed to fabulous operas. A feature of these works is that they repeat the same sounds outside the rhythm. In addition, there is no characteristic musical technique.
The composer called his opera Antigone (1949) transposed to music by the ancient tragedy of Sophocles. Karl Orff's favorite instruments have always been drums. Therefore, the orchestration of Antigone is based on percussion and is minimalistic. It is believed that Sophie Scholl, the heroine of the White Rose, became the prototype of Antigone.
Orff's latest work is a mystical play in Greek, Latin, and German called Comedy at the End of Times (1973). In this essay, Orff summarized his views on life and time.
Musica Poetica Orff wrote with Gunild Ketman. This music became the main theme for the film "Devastated Lands" (1973). In 1993, Hans Zimmer remade this music to use it in the film True Love.
Orff in Russia
The Chelyabinsk Regional Music Society in 1988 created the Karl Orff Society. Also, in various regions of Russia, Orff courses and seminars are held on his work and methodology.