Orff was born in Munich and came from a Bavarian family that was very active in the German military. His father's regimental band supposedly often played the compositions of the young Orff. He studied at the Munich Academy of Music until 1914, then served in the military during World War I. Afterwards he held various positions at opera houses in Mannheim and Darmstadt, later to return to Munich to further pursue his musical studies.
From 1925 Orff was the head of a department and co-founder of the Guenther School for gymnastics, music, and dance in Munich, where he worked with musical beginners. Having constant contact with children, this is where he developed his theories in music education.
While Orff's association, or lack thereof, with the Nazi party has never been conclusively established, his Carmina Burana was hugely popular in Nazi Germany after its premiere in Frankfurt in 1937, receiving numerous performances (although one Nazi critic reviewed it savagely as "degenerate", implying a connection with the contemporaneous, and infamous, exhibit of Entartete Kunst). He was one of the few German composers under the Nazi regime who responded to the official call to write new music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, after the music of Felix Mendelssohn had been banned, which in itself suggests where his sympathies lay; others refused to cooperate in this.
Orff was a personal friend of Kurt Huber, one of the founders of the resistance movement Die Weiße Rose (the White Rose), and who was condemned to death by the Volksgerichtshof and executed by the Nazis in 1943. After World War II, Orff claimed that he was a member of the group, and was himself involved in the resistance, but there was no evidence for this other than his own word, and other sources dispute his claim).
Orff is buried in the Baroque church of the beer-brewing Benedictine priory of Andechs, south of Munich.
Orff is best known for Carmina Burana (1937), a "scenic cantata". It is the first of a trilogy, Trionfi, which also includes Catulli Carmina and Trionfo di Afrodite. These compositions reflected his interest in medieval German poetry. Together the trilogy is called Trionfi, meaning "triumphs". The work was based on a thirteenth-century erotic verse written by the Goliards, found in a manuscript dubbed the Codex latinus monacensis, which had been discovered in a Bavarian monastery in 1803. The term "Goliards" was often used to describe students who wrote secular verse in the Middle Ages. While "modern" in some of his compositional techniques, Orff was able to capture the spirit of the medieval period in this trilogy, with infectious rhythms and easy tonalities. The mediaeval poems were written in an early form of German and Latin.
With the success of Carmina Burana, Orff orphaned all of his previous works except for Catulli Carmina and the En trata, which were rewritten until acceptable by Orff. He was reluctant to call any of his works simply operas. For example, he called Der Mond ("The Moon") (1939) a "Märchenoper" or Fairytale Opera, and placed Die Kluge ("The Wise Woman") (1943) in the same category. About his Antigone (1949), Orff said specifically that it was not an opera, rather a Vertonung, a "musical setting" of the ancient tragedy. The text is a German translation, by Friedrich Hölderlin, of the Sophocles play of the same name. The orchestration relies heavily on the percussion section, and is otherwise fairly simple.
Orff's last work, De Temporum Fine Comoedia ("A Play of the End of Time"), had its premiere at the Salzburg music festival on 20th August 1973, performed by Herbert von Karajan and the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. In this highly personal work, Orff presented a mystery play, in which he summarised his view on the end of time, sung in Greek, German, and Latin.
Carmina Burana: Omnia Sol temperat
Carl Orff Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Purus et subtilis,
Novo mundo reserat
Faciem Aprilis,
Ad amorem properat
Animus herilis
Et iocundis imperat
Deus puerilis.
Rerum tanta novitas
In solemni vere
Et veris auctoritas
Jubet nos gaudere;
Vias prebet solitas,
Et in tuo vere
Fides est et probitas
Tuum retinere.
Ama me fideliter,
Fidem meam nota:
De corde totaliter
Et ex mente tota
Sum presentialitar
Absens in remota,
Quisquis amat taliter,
Volvitur in rota.
The lyrics of Omnia Sol Temperat, a song by composer Carl Orff, describe the arrival of spring and the renewal of warmth and sunlight after winter. The first stanza speaks of the sun's purification and delicacy, and the reemergence of April's face, as well as the effect it has on those who are in love. The second stanza celebrates the newness and authority of spring, urging people to rejoice in its familiar paths and to maintain their faith and honesty. The third stanza concludes with a plea to be loved with fidelity and to have one's fidelity affirmed, with the declaration that whoever loves in such a manner will experience the cyclical nature of life.
The lyrical interpretation of Omnia Sol Temperat is one of renewal and rebirth. Orff captures the essence of the season of spring by evoking images of warmth, purity, and the joy of love. The first stanza describes the sun's arrival after a long, cold winter that purges and cleanses the world. The imagery of April's face suggests the dawn of a new era, one whose arrival is celebrated by all creatures great and small. The second stanza invokes the authority of spring, encouraging people to embrace its newness and the familiar paths it brings. The third stanza speaks of love, encouraging people to give and receive love with fidelity and truthfulness, recognizing that life is a cyclical journey.
Line by Line Meaning
Omnia sol temperat
All the sunshine brightens up
Purus et subtilis
Pure and subtle
Novo mundo reserat
Unleashing a new world
Faciem Aprilis
The face of April
Ad amorem properat
To love, one hastens
Animus herilis
The mind of a lord
Et iocundis imperat
And commands with joy
Deus puerilis
A god of youth
Rerum tanta novitas
So much novelty
In solemni vere
In solemn spring
Et veris auctoritas
And the authority of truth
Jubet nos gaudere
Commands us to rejoice
Vias prebet solitas
Provides the customary paths
Et in tuo vere
And in your spring
Fides est et probitas
There is faithfulness and honesty
Tuum retinere
To keep what's yours
Ama me fideliter
Love me faithfully
Fidem meam nota
Take note of my trust
De corde totaliter
From the heart completely
Et ex mente tota
And from the mind entirely
Sum presentialitar
I am present
Absens in remota
Though absent in a far-off place
Quisquis amat taliter
Whoever loves in such a way
Volvitur in rota
Is swept along with the wheel of fortune
Writer(s): Carl Orff
Contributed by Julian J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@DrWurzeli
wunderschön
@Wilkins_Micawber
Perfection.
@ayamahamed9305
هى دى اوبرا؟
ايه الحلاوة دى؟
@RUSSOCOPIA
Omnia sol temperat
Purus et subtilis,
Novo mundo reserat
Facies Aprilis,
Ad amorem properat
Animus herilis
Et iocundis imperat
Deus puerilis.
Rerum tanta novitas
In solemni vere
Et veris auctoritas
Jubet nos gaudere;
Vias prebet solitas,
Et in tuo vere
Fides est et probitas
Tuum retinere.
Ama me fideliter,
Fidem meam noto:
De corde totaliter
Et ex mente tota
Sum presentialiter
Absens in remota,
Quisquis amat taliter,
Volvitur in rota.