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.
Fortune Empress of the World: O Fortuna
Carl Orff Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Velut luna
Statu variabilis
Semper crescis
Aut decrescis
Vita detestabilis
Nunc obdurat
Et tunc curat
Egestatem
Potestatem
Dissolvit ut glaciem
Sors immanis
Et inanis
Rota tu volubilis
Status malus
Vana salus
Semper dissolubilis
Obumbrata
Et velata
Michi quoque niteris
Nunc per ludum
Dorsum nudum
Fero tui sceleris
Sors salutis
Et virtutis
Michi nunc contraria
Est affectus
Et defectus
Semper in angaria
Hac in hora
Sine mora
Corde pulsum tangite
Quod per sortem
Sternit fortem
Mecum omnes plangite
Fortune plango vulnera
Stillantibus ocellis
Quod sua michi munera
Subtrahit rebellis
Verum est, quod legitur
Fronte capillata
Sed plerumque sequitur
Occasio calvata
In Fortune solio
Sederam elatus
Prosperitatis vario
Flore coronatus
Quicquid enim florui
Felix et beatus
Nunc a summo corrui
Gloria privatus
Fortune rota volvitur
Descendo minoratus
Alter in altum tollitur
Nimis exaltatus
Rex sedet in vertice
Caveat ruinam!
Nam sub axe legimus
Hecubam reginam
"O Fortuna" is the opening and closing movements of Carl Orff's most famous work, Carmina Burana, a scenic cantata composed in 1935-1936 that sets to music 24 poems selected from the medieval collection Carmina Burana. It is one of the most recognizable choral pieces ever composed and has been featured in numerous films, television shows, and commercials.
The lyrics of "O Fortuna" express the power and unpredictability of fate or fortune, which governs human life and affects everyone regardless of their station in life. The first stanza describes the volatility of life and how it can alternately build up or tear down individuals, the second stanza describes the wheel of fortune as it turns and grinds individuals down or raises them up, while the third stanza expresses the personal struggle of the singer against their own adverse fate and calls upon all to weep with them.
What makes "O Fortuna" so powerful and emotionally resonant is not just the sweep and grandeur of its melody and orchestrations but the way Orff imbues the lyrics with a visceral urgency and intensity through dynamic and rhythmic contrasts, repetitive motifs, and changes in dynamics and tempo. The piece begins with a soft and ominous choral chanting that gradually builds to a powerful crescendo, then ebbs and flows until it reaches its climax in the final stanza, which returns to the opening motif.
Line by Line Meaning
O Fortuna
Oh, fortune, goddess of fate and destiny
Velut luna
Like the moon
Statu variabilis
You have a fickle nature
Semper crescis
You constantly grow stronger
Aut decrescis
Then weaken accordingly
Vita detestabilis
Despicable, twisted life
Nunc obdurat
Now cruel and hardens the heart
Et tunc curat
But soon soothes and comforts
Ludo mentis aciem
Ever a game of sharpening the mind
Egestatem
Poverty
Potestatem
Power
Dissolvit ut glaciem
Melts away like ice
Sors immanis
Monstrous fate
Et inanis
And empty
Rota tu volubilis
You are a revolving wheel
Status malus
Bad state of affairs
Vana salus
Illusory health
Semper dissolubilis
Always precarious and easily dissolved
Obumbrata
It overshadows
Et velata
And veils
Michi quoque niteris
You strive also against me
Nunc per ludum
Now through the game
Dorsum nudum
You uncover my naked back
Fero tui sceleris
I bear the weight of your crimes
Sors salutis
Fate of salvation
Et virtutis
And of virtue
Michi nunc contraria
But now against me
Est affectus
I am afflicted
Et defectus
And lacking
Semper in angaria
Always in torment
Hac in hora
In this hour
Sine mora
Without delay
Corde pulsum tangite
Strikes the heart with force
Quod per sortem
And through fate
Sternit fortem
Strikes down the strong
Mecum omnes plangite
Mourn with me all
Fortune plango vulnera
I bewail the wounds that fortune deals
Stillantibus ocellis
With weeping eyes
Quod sua michi munera
Because fortune has taken away her gifts from me
Subtrahit rebellis
Rebellious fate withdraws its support
Verum est, quod legitur
It is true what is written
Fronte capillata
There is beauty on the outside
Sed plerumque sequitur
But often follows
Occasio calvata
Opportunity with a bald head
In Fortune solio
On fortune's throne
Sederam elatus
I sat exalted
Prosperitatis vario
With varied prosperity
Flore coronatus
Crowned with flowers
Quicquid enim florui
Whatever I have flowered
Felix et beatus
I was happy and blessed
Nunc a summo corrui
Now fallen from the top
Gloria privatus
Deprived of glory
Fortune rota volvitur
The wheel of fortune turns
Descendo minoratus
I go down diminished
Alter in altum tollitur
Another is raised up high
Nimis exaltatus
Being raised too high
Rex sedet in vertice
The king sits on the summit
Caveat ruinam!
Caution against ruin!
Nam sub axe legimus
For under the axle we read
Hecubam reginam
Queen Hecuba
Contributed by Avery J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.