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.
Reie
Carl Orff Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Swaz hie gat umbe,
Daz sint alles megede,
Die wellent an man
Allen disen sumer gan!
- Chume, chum, geselle min -
Chume, chum, geselle min,
Ih enbite harte din,
Chume, chum, geselle min.
Suzer rosenvarwer munt,
Chum un mache mich gesunt
Chum un mache mich gesunt,
Suzer rosenvarwer munt
- Swaz hie gat umbe -
Swaz hie gat umbe,
Daz sint alles megede,
Die wellent an man
Allen disen sumer gan!
The lyrics of Carl Orff's song Reie consist of two distinct sections. The first section is represented by the repetition of "Swaz hie gat umbe," which roughly translates to "Everyone goes around here." This particular verse sets the scene for the second section of the song, which involves a plea for companionship and intimacy in a loving relationship.
The second section of the song is sung by a woman who implores her lover to join her, saying "Chume, chum, geselle min" ("Come, come, my companion"). The verses that follow are a continuation of this plea, with the woman describing her desire to be made whole by her lover's touch. She compares his lips to a sweet rose and begs him to come and heal her.
Overall, the song Reie represents a passionate, romantic plea for connection and love that speaks to the human need for intimacy and companionship.
Line by Line Meaning
Swaz hie gat umbe -
Everything that's going on here -
Swaz hie gat umbe, Daz sint alles megede, Die wellent an man Allen disen sumer gan!
All these girls wandering around, who want to have fun with men this summer!
Chume, chum, geselle min -
Come, come, my companion -
Ih enbite harte din, Ih enbite harte din, Chume, chum, geselle min. Suzer rosenvarwer munt, Chum un mache mich gesunt Chum un mache mich gesunt, Suzer rosenvarwer munt
I'm inviting you earnestly, my dear, come and make me healthy again, sweet red-lipped one.
Swaz hie gat umbe -
Everything that's going on here -
Swaz hie gat umbe, Daz sint alles megede, Die wellent an man Allen disen sumer gan!
All these girls wandering around, who want to have fun with men this summer!
Contributed by Cameron T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Leo Mtz
Ellas van de aquí para allá todas son doncellas. Ellas no han tenido un hombre en todo este largo verano. Ven, ven mi señora te imploro lastimoso, te imploro lastimoso, ven, ven mi señora. Dulce boca de color rosado, ven y haz que me sienta bien, ven y haz que me sienta bien, dulce boca de color rosado. Ellas van de aquí para allá todas son doncellas, ellas no han tenido un hombre en todo este verano.
Carlomaria Bezzi
❤Riccardo Muti, che è il grandissimo direttore d'orchestra che è, ha una venerazione e affetto grandissimi per Carl Orff, e stima tantissimo la sua opera. 😮
Isaac Huanaco
The final isn't complete, anyway, the audio is very good :)
African Soap Supplies
The nicest music to paint by....
Augusto Goncar
the climax is so aesome. why the rest of is so dull?
John the Recoil Junkie
To keep the Tenors alive.
Jonathan Rupprecht
The strings are playing con sordini (with mutes attached to the bridges) in the first part from 0:00 to 2:26, if that‘s what you mean. :)
thefrankonion
This was taken a bit too slow
JasonJason210
No. It's all the others that are too fast.