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 plango vulnera
Carl Orff Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
stillantibus ocellis
quod sua mihi munera
subtrahit rebellis.
Verum est, quod legitur,
fronte capillata,
sed plerumque sequitur
Occasio calvata.
In Fortune solio
sederam elatus,
prosperitatis vario
flore coronatus;
quisquid 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.
The lyrics of Carl Orff's song "Fortune plango vulnera" tell the story of a man who laments his fall from fortune and power. The opening lines, "Fortune plango vulnera/stillantibus ocellis/quod sua mihi munera/subtrahit rebellis," describe the wounds that Fortune inflicts on the singer, causing him to weep. He then acknowledges that it is true that Fortune often bestows her gifts on those with long hair (as indicated by "fronte capillata"), but her favors are fickle, and often follow close on the heels of misfortune (as indicated by "plerumque sequitur/Occasio calvata").
The next section, "In Fortune solio/sederam elatus/prosperitatis vario/flore coronatus," describes the singer's former glory, when he sat on Fortune's throne, crowned with the flowers of prosperity. However, his fall has been swift and severe: "quisquid enim florui/felix et beatus/nunc a summo corrui/gloria privatus." The final lines, "Fortune rota volvitur:/descendo minoratus;/alter in altum tollitur;/nimis exaltatus/rex sedet in vertice/caveat ruinam!/nam sub axe legimus/Hecubam reginam," describe the turning of Fortune's wheel, as the singer falls from grace and another is lifted up. The refrain "Fortune rota volvitur" (Fortune's wheel turns) emphasizes the cyclical nature of fortune and the inevitability of both rise and fall.
Line by Line Meaning
Fortune plango vulnera
I lament the wounds of Fortune
stillantibus ocellis
with weeping eyes
quod sua mihi munera
since she takes away her gifts from me
subtrahit rebellis.
as a rebel.
Verum est, quod legitur,
It is true, as it is written,
fronte capillata,
with long hair on her forehead
sed plerumque sequitur
but usually follows
Occasio calvata.
bald Opportunity.
In Fortune solio
On the throne of Fortune
sederam elatus,
I sat proudly,
prosperitatis vario
adorned with the varied beauty
flore coronatus;
of prosperity;
quisquid enim florui
whatever I flourished
felix et beatus,
happy and blessed,
nunc a summo corrui
now fallen from the top
gloria privatus.
robbed of glory.
Fortune rota volvitur:
The wheel of Fortune turns:
descendo minoratus;
I descend, diminished;
alter in altum tollitur;
another is raised up;
nimis exaltatus
raised too high
rex sedet in vertice,
a king sits at the summit,
caveat ruinam!
let him beware of ruin!
nam sub axe legimus
for under the axis we read
Hecubam reginam.
of Queen Hecuba.
Contributed by Nathaniel T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@elciojr..
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
Flora 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
@Feldispato_pato
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
flora 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.
@Joe-qg6yv
Fortune plango vulnera
stillantibus ocellis
quod sua michi munera
subtrahit rebellis.
Verum est, quod legitur,
fronte capillata,
sed plerumque sequitur
occasio calvata.
Verum est, quod legitur,
fronte capillata,
sed plerumque sequitur
occasio calvata.
In Fortune solio
sederam elatus,
prosperitatis vario
flora coronatus;
quicquid enim florui
felix et beatus,
nunc a summo corrui
gloria privatus.
quicquid enim florui
felix et beatus,
nunc a summo corrui
gloria privatus.
@AndresTargaryen
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
Flora 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.
@Ryusuta
Definitely my favorite song of Carmina Burana.
@taliertagreen7264
My favorite too
@resulsahinn
So is mine, along with Circa Mea Pectora of course.
@celicniopanak
Eeeee alszooo
@usyan
same here
@sanjeeva311076
Best version Ive found so far. The most important part is the dramatic instrumental between the verses. Other versions seem to mess it up, usually by playing it too fast. This gets it just right.
@kanaldeckeldieb22
missing the brass though
@danielgally6389
yea the brass is huge for me @@kanaldeckeldieb22
@sherben7471
Me preparando pro último episódio da primeira parte da desconjuração
Kian sabe
@heilagvagga3667
Kian sabe