View source for Carl Orff

{{Short description|German composer (1895–1982)}}
{{redirect|Orff}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Carl Orff
| image              = Carl Orff um 1970.jpg
| image_upright      = 
| caption            = Carl Orff, {{circa}} 1970
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1895|7|10|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Munich]], [[Kingdom of Bavaria]], [[German&nbsp;Empire]]
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1982|3|29|1895|7|10|df=y}}
| death_place        = Munich, [[West Germany]]
| works              = [[#List of compositions|List of compositions]]
| spouse             = Alice Solscher (m.1920; div. 1927)
[[Gertrud Willert|Gertrud Orff]] (m. 1939; div. 1953)
[[Luise Rinser]] (m. 1954; div. 1959)
Liselotte Schmitz (m. 1960)
| children             = Godela Orff-Büchtemann
}}

'''Carl Heinrich Maria Orff''' ({{IPA|de|kaʁl ˈɔʁf|lang|De-Carl Orff.ogg}}; 10 July 1895 – 29 March 1982{{sfn|Dangel-Hofmann|1999}}) was a German [[composer]] and music educator,<ref name="Randel">{{cite dictionary|editor1-last=Randel |editor1-first=Don Michael |editor-link=Don Michael Randel |title=The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music |date=1996 |publisher=Belknap |location=Cambridge, MA |isbn=978-0-674-37299-3 |page=653 |entry-url=https://archive.org/details/harvardbiographi00rand/page/653/mode/1up |entry-url-access=registration |entry=Orff, Carl}}</ref> who composed the [[cantata]] ''[[Carmina Burana (Orff)|Carmina Burana]]'' (1937).<ref name=Rothstein>{{cite news|last=Rothstein|first=Edward|author-link=Edward Rothstein|date=31 March 1982|title=Carl Orff, Teacher and Composer of ''Carmina Burana'', Dead at 86|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/31/obituaries/carl-orff-teacher-and-composer-of-carmina-burana-dead-at-86.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=13 August 2022}}</ref> The concepts of his [[Orff Schulwerk|Schulwerk]] were influential for children's [[music education]].

==Life==

===Early life===
Carl Heinrich Maria Orff was born in [[Munich]] on 10 July 1895, the son of Paula Orff (née Köstler, 1872–1960) and Heinrich Orff (1869–1949). His family was [[Kingdom of Bavaria|Bavarian]] and was active in the [[Imperial German Army]]; his father was an army officer with strong musical interests, and his mother was a trained pianist. His grandfathers, Carl von Orff (1828–1905) and Karl Köstler (1837–1924), were both major generals and also scholars.{{sfn|Rösch|2004|p=1397}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.musicandhistory.com/composers/8183|title=Music and History: Carl Orff|website=www.musicandhistory.com|access-date=5 March 2019|archive-date=5 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905061311/http://www.musicandhistory.com/composers/8183|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://badw.de/data/footer-navigation/personentreffer.html?tx_badwdb_badwperson%5Bper_id%5D=2261&tx_badwdb_badwperson%5BpartialType%5D=BADWPersonDetailsPartial&tx_badwdb_badwperson%5BmemberType%5D=&tx_badwdb_badwperson%5Baction%5D=show&tx_badwdb_badwpers|title=Personentreffer: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften|website=badw.de|access-date=14 January 2019}}</ref>  His paternal grandmother, Fanny Orff (née Kraft, 1833–1919), was Catholic of [[Jewish]] descent.{{sfn|Kater|1995|p=30}}{{sfn|Kohler|2015|p=82|postscript=. Fanny Orff's parents, Heinrich Kraft (1784–1866) and Barbara Kraft (née Neustädl, 1797–1872), were baptized Catholic, respectively on 3 December 1816 and 15 July 1817.}} His maternal grandmother was Maria Köstler (née Aschenbrenner, 1845–1906).{{sfn|Dangel-Hofmann|1999}} Orff had one sibling, his younger sister Maria ("Mia", 1898–1975),{{sfn|Rösch|2021a|p=11}} who married the architect [[Alwin Seifert]] (1890–1972) in 1924.{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|p=103 n. 384}}

Despite his family's military background, Orff recalled in 1970: "In my father's house there was certainly more music making than drilling."<ref>{{harvnb|Seifert|1970|p=373}} (English translation from {{harvnb|Kohler|2015|p=37}}) Original language: "In meinem Vaterhaus ist sicher mehr musiziert als exerziert worden." For reprint, see {{harvnb|Henkel|Messmer|2021|p=45}}.</ref> At age five, he began to play piano, and later studied cello and organ.{{sfn|Rösch|2004|p=1397}} He composed a few songs and music for puppet plays.<ref name="Randel" /> He had two vignettes published in July 1905 in ''Das gute Kind'', the children's supplement to ''Die katholische Familie''.<ref>{{harvnb|Orff|1975–1983|pp=21–30, 35, 38, Vol. I}} For the vignettes, see ''Das gute Kind'', vol. 8, no. 10, 9 July 1905 (Augsburg: Schmid, 1905), pp. 76–77 and 79–80. They are reprinted with English translation in {{harvnb|Kohler|2015|pp=413–414}}.</ref> He began attending concerts in 1903 and heard his first opera ([[Richard Wagner]]'s ''[[Der fliegende Holländer|The Flying Dutchman]]'') in 1909. The formative concerts he attended included the world premiere of [[Gustav Mahler]]'s ''[[Das Lied von der Erde]]'' in 1911 and [[Richard Strauss]] conducting his opera ''[[Elektra (opera)|Elektra]]'' on 4 June 1914.{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|pp=26, 38–39, Vol. I; p. 9, Vol. VII}}

In 1910–12, Orff wrote several dozen [[Lied]]er on texts by German poets, including the song set ''Frühlingslieder'' (Opus 1, text by [[Ludwig Uhland]]) and the song cycle ''Eliland: Ein Sang von Chiemsee'' (Opus 12, text by [[Karl Stieler]]). The poet whose work he most frequently used was [[Heinrich Heine]]; he also chose texts of [[Walther von der Vogelweide]], [[Princess Mathilde of Bavaria (1877–1906)]], [[Friedrich Hölderlin]], [[Ludwig August Frankl]], [[Hermann Lingg]], [[Rudolf Baumbach]], [[Richard Beer-Hofmann]], and [[Börries von Münchhausen]], among others. Orff's songs fell into the style of [[Richard Strauss]] and other German composers of the day, but with hints of what would become Orff's distinctive musical language. Some of his songs were published in 1912. These include ''Eliland'', with a dedication to Karl Köstler, who funded the publication.<ref>{{harvc|last=Edelmann|first=Bernd|year=2021|chapter=Carl Orff: Vokale Musik oder: Musica poetica|in1=Henkel|in2=Messmer|pages=191 (190–217)}}</ref>{{efn|1=All of these songs were published by Ernst Germann & Co. (Munich/Leipzig). In addition to [https://www.ozm.bayern.de/project/eliland/ ''Eliland''],  they include [https://www.ozm.bayern.de/project/maerchen/ "Märchen"] (as Opus 13, but in fact Opus 13, No. 3; text by {{ill|Max Haushofer Jr.|de}}), [https://www.ozm.bayern.de/project/herzen-sluezzelin/ "Des Herzen Slüzzelin"] (Opus 15; text by anonymous), [https://www.ozm.bayern.de/project/liebessorgen/ "Liebessorgen"] and [https://www.ozm.bayern.de/project/toskanische-volkslieder/ "Drei toskanische Volkslieder"] (in one publication, Opus 17 Nos. 1 and 2, respectively; text by [[Martin Greif (poet)|Martin Greif]] and [[Paul Heyse]], respectively), and [https://www.ozm.bayern.de/project/der-tod-und-die-liebe-1912/ "Der Tod und die Liebe"] (Opus 18, No. 1; text by [[Börries von Münchhausen|Münchhausen]]). Excepting "Der Tod und die Liebe", these songs may be heard on [https://www.schott-music.com/de/lieder-und-gesaenge-no93580.html ''Lieder und Gesänge''] recorded by [[WERGO]].}} In 1911–12, Orff wrote ''Zarathustra'' (Opus 14), a large work for [[baritone]] voice, three tenor-bass choruses, winds, percussion, harps, pianos, and organ, based on a passage from [[Friedrich Nietzsche]]'s philosophical novel ''[[Thus Spoke Zarathustra|Also sprach Zarathustra]]''.<ref name="Chronology">{{cite web |date=2018 |title=Chronology |url=http://www.orff-zentrum.de/carl-orff/chronologie/ |work=Carl Orff Center |location=Munich |access-date=13 February 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Grove|title=Orff, Carl |last=Fassone |first=Alberto |date=2001|id=42969|year=2001}}</ref>

Orff studied at the [[Hochschule für Musik und Theater München|Munich Academy of Music]] from 1912 until 1914.<ref name="Chronology" /><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Moser |author-link=Hans Joachim Moser |encyclopedia=Musiklexikon |edition=2nd |date=1943 |url=https://archive.org/details/MoserMusiklexikon2tea1943/page/n639 |first=Hans Joachim |publisher=Max Hesses Verlag |location=Berlin |title=Orff, Carl |pages=650–651}}</ref> Orff later wrote that his decision to pursue music studies instead of completing Gymnasium was the source of family strife, as the Orff patriarch (his father's older brother, also named Karl Orff, 1863–1942{{sfn|Drobnitsch|1989|page=81}}) was against the idea. Orff had the support of his mother, who persuaded his father, and of his grandfather Köstler.{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|page=40, Vol. I}} Orff's teacher at the Akademie was the composer [[Anton Beer-Walbrunn]], of whom he later wrote with respect but said that he found the academy overall to be "conservative and old-fashioned" (''konservativ und altväterlich'').{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|page=44, Vol. I}} At this time, he studied the works of [[Arnold Schoenberg]], and one of his most important influences at this time was the French composer [[Claude Debussy]].{{sfn|Rösch|2004|page=1398}} These influences can be heard in his first stage work, the music drama ''Gisei: Das Opfer'' (''Gisei: The Sacrifice'', Opus 20), written in 1913 but not performed until 2010. Orff's source material is a German translation of part of ''[[Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami]]'', specifically "Terakoya" ("The Village School") in Act IV. In 1914 Orff wrote ''Tanzende Faune: Ein Orchesterspiel'' (Opus 21). The work was to be performed at the Akademie&nbsp;– his first performance by an orchestra&nbsp;– but conductor {{ill|Eberhard Schwickerath|de}} removed it from the program following an unsuccessful rehearsal;{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|pp=48–49, Vol. I}} it was first performed in 1995. In 1915, he began studying piano with [[Hermann Zilcher]]. Writing to his father, he called the studies with Zilcher his most productive teacher relationship to date.{{sfn|Rösch|2009|pp=16-17}} Around this time he also came to know theater director [[Otto Falckenberg]], and saw plays by [[August Strindberg]] and [[Frank Wedekind]].{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|pp=60–61, Vol. 1}}

===World War I===
Orff was forced into the German Army in August 1917, which was a great crisis for him.{{sfn|Liess|1966|p=15|postscript=. "This was a period of emotional crisis which involved a complete change in his work."}} In a letter to his father dated 3 August 1917, he wrote:
{{Blockquote|My future lies now more than ever completely in the dark. That I [shall] go into the battlefield is absolutely certain. Here the decision should, and will, fall (you know that I am free from sentimentality): either I find an end of everything that has pushed and almost crushed me, or I become a wholly new person and begin in a certain sense entirely new. What must come, should come entirely better as the time that was.<ref>{{harvnb|Rösch|2009|p=26}} (English translation from {{harvnb|Kohler|2015|p=53}}) Original language: "Meine Zukunft liegt mehr denn je ganz im Dunkeln. Daß ich ins Feld geh ist unbedingt sicher. Hier soll und wird die Entscheidung fallen, (Du weißt daß ich frei von jeder Sentimentalität bin) entweder ich finde ein Ende von Allem was mich gedrückt und fast zerdrückt hat, oder ich werde ein ganz neuer Mensch und fange in gewissem Sinne ganz neu an. Was kommen muß, soll kommen alles besser, als die Zeit die war."</ref>}}

The coming fall, he was severely injured and nearly killed when a trench caved in, suffering [[amnesia]], [[aphasia]], and [[paralysis]] of his left-side.{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983 |pages=61–62, Vol. 1}} During his difficult recovery, he wrote to his father: {{Blockquote |I certainly never think of something that looks like the future. ... Since I am in the battlefield, all threads and connections from earlier are torn to shreds. ... For him who has been out here once, it is better (especially in my profession) that he remains out here. When I hear music I get palpitations & fever and it makes me sick; I can't think at all about when I might be able to hear a concert again, let alone make music myself.{{sfn|Rösch|2009|pp=26–27 (letter dated 20 December 1917; English translation from Kohler 2015, p. 54)|postscript=. Original language: "An so was, das wie Zukunft ausschaut, denke ich ja nimmer. ... Seit ich im Felde bin, sind alle Fäden und Verbindungen von früher zerrissen. ... Wer einmal heraußen ist für den ists (besonders in meinem Beruf) besser, er bleibt draußen. Wenn ich musizieren höre kriege ich Herzklopfen & Fieber und Kotzen, gar nicht zu denken wann ich wieder ein Konzert hören könnte, geschweige selber musizieren."}}}} After Orff's death in 1982, his daughter wrote that she believed this experience "made him think and rebel yet more revolutionarily."{{sfn|Orff|1995|p=128 (English translation from Kohler 2015, p. 55)|postscript=. Original language: "ließ ihn noch revolutionärer denken und aufbegehren."}}

===Weimar Republic===
After recovering from his battle injuries, Orff held various positions at opera houses in [[Mannheim]] and [[Darmstadt]], later returning to Munich to pursue his music studies. Around 1920, Orff was drawn to the poetry of [[Franz Werfel]], which became the basis for numerous Lieder and choral compositions. In the mid-1920s, he began to formulate a concept he called {{Lang|de|elementare Musik}}, or elemental music, which was based on the unity of the arts symbolized by the ancient Greek [[Muses]], and involved tone, dance, poetry, image, design, and theatrical gesture. Like many other composers of the time, he was influenced by the Russian-French émigré [[Igor Stravinsky]]. But while others followed the cool, balanced neoclassic works of Stravinsky, it was works such as ''[[Les noces]]'' (''The Wedding''), an earthy, quasi-folkloric depiction of Russian peasant wedding rites, that appealed to Orff.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morgan |first=Robert |title=Twentieth-Century Music |date=1991 |publisher=W. W. Norton|location=New York |isbn=978-0-393-95272-8|page=258}} (note in this source that the description of ''[[Die Bernauerin]]'' on p. 259 in fact matches ''Astutuli''.)</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Salzman |first=Eric |title=Twentieth-Century Music: An Introduction |edition=2nd |publisher=Prentice-Hall, Inc. |location=Englewood Cliffs, NJ |date= 1974|page=66 |isbn=978-0-13-935007-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Collaer |first=Paul |translator-last=Abeles |translator-first=Sally |title=A History of Modern Music |edition=English translation of 2nd |date=1961 |publisher=Grosset & Dunlap's Universal Library |location=New York |page=336}}</ref>

Orff came to know the work of [[Bertolt Brecht]] in 1924, which had a profound influence on him.{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|pages=68–69, Vol. 1}}{{sfn|Liess|1966|page=65 |postscript=. "Orff embraces wholly the cause of the contemporary Epic Theater, of which Bert Brecht is the greatest exponent."}}{{sfn|Hennenberg|2011|pages=11–71}}{{sfn|Kowalke|2000}} The same year, he and {{ill|Dorothee Günther|de}} founded the Günther-Schule for gymnastics, music, and dance in Munich. He developed his theories of music education, having constant contact with children and working with musical beginners. In 1930, Orff published a manual titled ''Schulwerk'', in which he shares his method of conducting. He  was involved with the Schulwerk and its associated institutions throughout his life, although he retired from the Günther-Schule in 1938.{{sfn|Rösch|2021a|p=22}}

Orff also began adapting musical works of earlier eras for contemporary theatrical presentation, including [[Claudio Monteverdi]] and [[Alessandro Striggio]]'s opera ''[[L'Orfeo]]'' (1607). Orff's shortened German version (with Günther's translation), ''Orpheus'', was staged under his direction in 1925 in Mannheim, using some of the instruments that had been used in the original 1607 performance, although several of these were unavailable and had to be replaced.{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|pp=25–26, Vol. II}} Orff revised the score a few years later; this version was first performed in Munich in 1929. Orff's adaptations of early music brought him very little money. The passionately declaimed opera of Monteverdi's era was almost unknown in the 1920s, and Orff's production met with reactions ranging from incomprehension to ridicule. He told his mentor [[Curt Sachs]], who had led him to study Monteverdi and supported his ''Orpheus'',{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|pp=14, 18, 27, Vol. II; pp. 14, 27, 96–97, 102–103, Vol. III}}{{sfn|Liess|1966|pp=17, 77–78}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Weinbuch |first=Isabel |date=2010 |title=Das musikalische Denken und Schaffen Carl Orffs: Ethnologische und interkulturelle Perspektiven |publisher=Schott |location=Mainz |pages=58–60}}</ref> that the Munich press was against him: "I am made out to be not only a violator of corpses (see Monteverdi), but also a youth-seducer, who systematically corrupts our good youth with exotic perversities."{{sfn|Rösch|2009|p=45 (English translation from Kohler 2015, p. 65)|postscript=. Original language: "Ich werde nicht nur als Leichenschänder (siehe Monteverdi), sondern auch als Jugendverführer hingestellt, der unsere gute Jugend mit exotischen Perversitäten systematisch verdirbt."}}

===Nazi era===
====Beginning of the Third Reich====
[[File:Carl Orff by Hans Holdt, 1940.jpg|thumb|Orff in 1940]]
Orff's relationship with German [[Nazism|National Socialism]] and the [[Nazi Party]] has been a matter of considerable debate and analysis,{{sfn|Willnauer|1995|pp=9–10}}{{sfn|Rockwell|2003}} sometimes colored by misinformation.<ref>{{cite news |last=Büning |first=Eleonore |date=7 July 1995 |title=Die Musik ist schuld |url=https://www.zeit.de/1995/28/Die_Musik_ist_schuld |work=[[Die Zeit]] |location=Hamburg |language=de |access-date=13 February 2019}} Büning inaccurately wrote that Orff joined the Nazi Party in 1940.</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Heffer |first=Simon |date=9 April 2009 |title=TV review: O Fortuna! Carl Orff and Carmina Burana (Sky Arts 2) |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|location=London|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/5131428/TV-review-O-Fortuna-Carl-Orff-and-Carmina-Burana-Sky-Arts-2.html |access-date=21 November 2014}} Although this article makes no claim Orff was in the Party, it refers to him as a "Nazi composer" and "Nazi monster", despite reviewing a film in which [[Michael Hans Kater|Michael H. Kater]] emphatically stated that "Orff was never a Nazi" {{harv|Palmer|2008|loc=at 19:03}}.</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Scearce |first=J. Mark |date=19–25 March 2004 |title=The Wheel of Fortune: Orff and His ''Gesamtkunsterwerk'' |work=The Portland Phoenix |url=http://www.portlandphoenix.com/music/other_stories/documents/03684458.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040824041021/http://www.portlandphoenix.com/music/other_stories/documents/03684458.asp |archive-date=24 August 2004}} (Link from [[the Wayback Machine]].) The author wrote that ''Carmina Burana'' "became the backbeat to Hitler's rise to power", despite the fact that [[Adolf Hitler]] became chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933 and the premiere of ''Carmina Burana'' did not take place until 8 June 1937.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Sharma |first=Bhesham R. |date=2000 |title=Music and Culture in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction |publisher=Peter Lang |location=New York |series=New Studies in Aesthetics, Vol. 31 |page=157}} The author wrote that "leaders of the Third Reich commissioned neoclassical composers to create a music that reflected healthy conservative values", including ''Carmina Burana'', and that Richard Strauss's ''[[Also sprach Zarathustra]]'' was "among the compositions written for the Nazis." These claims lack citation. ''Carmina Burana'' was not written on a commission of any kind, and ''Also sprach Zarathustra'' was composed in 1896 rather than in 1936, the year given by the author.</ref> Historian [[Michael Hans Kater|Michael H. Kater]], whose work is critical of Orff, nevertheless wrote that "Carl Orff's name to many has become synonymous with fascist art and culture, frequently by way of a rather cavalier prejudgment."{{sfn|Kater|2000|p=114}}

Orff never joined the Party, nor did he have any leadership position with the Third Reich.{{sfn|Prieberg|2009|pp=5377, 5394, 5396}} He was a member of the [[Reichsmusikkammer]], which was required of active musicians in the Third Reich.<ref>{{harvnb|Rathkolb|2021|page=146 n. 578}}. Regarding Orff's memberships or lack thereof in Nazi organizations, see also documents from a Nazi Party inquiry into Carl Orff in 1942 and Dr. Bertram Schaffner's official report of Orff's denazification (1 April 1946), printed in {{harvnb|Rathkolb|2021|pp=202, 205, 236}} and {{harvnb|Kohler|2015|pp=391–393, 422}}.</ref>

Several of Orff's friends and associates went into exile between 1933 and 1939, including Sachs and [[Leo Kestenberg]], the latter of whom was an advocate for his Schulwerk.{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|pp=23–25}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rösch |first=Thomas |editor-last=Brusniak |editor-first=Friedhelm, Anna Christine Rhode-Jüchtern, and Theda Weber-Lucks |date=2019 |title=Leo Kestenberg und Carl Orff |journal=Würzburger Beiträge zur Kestenberg-Forschung. Festgabe für Andreas Eschen zum 65. Geburtstag |publisher=Margraf Publishers|location=Weikersheim |pages=41–70}}</ref> Orff reconnected with several of these exiled colleagues after the war and in some cases maintained lifelong friendships, as with singer and composer {{ill|Karel Salmon|de}}, who emigrated within the first few months of the Nazi takeover.{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|pp=18–30}}{{sfn|Kohler|2015|pp=75–81}} Another such figure is the art historian Albin von Prybram-Gladona (1890–1974),{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|pp=145 and 191, Vol. II}}{{sfn|Kohler|2015|p=90}} whose parents had converted from Judaism before his birth and who survived multiple incarcerations in concentration camps after he fled to France.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ebert |first=Anja |date=2017 |title=Erwerbungen aus der Sammlung Prybram. Ein schmaler Grat zwischen Kauf und Raub |work=Gekauft – Getauscht – Geraubt? Erwerbungen zwischen 1933 und 1945 |publisher=Verlag des Germanischen Nationalmuseums |pages=106–123, here 107–111 |url=https://books.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/arthistoricum/catalog/book/392}}</ref> Prybram-Gladona testified to Orff's character during the denazification process.{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|p=136}} Another important friend to Orff was the German-Jewish musicologist and composer [[Erich Katz]] (1900–1973), who fled in 1939 after temporary incarceration in [[Dachau]]. Orff reestablished contact with Katz in 1952, and Katz considered Orff a valued friend.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100531190232/http://regis.edu/content/lib/pdf/EKContainerList.pdf List of items in Erich Katz Collection] Archive (PDF) [[Regis University]]. p.&nbsp;6. Retrieved 1 November 2011.</ref>{{sfn|Davenport|1995}} Orff wrote a tribute upon Katz's death in the form of a letter addressed to the deceased.{{sfn|Kohler|2015|pp=447–48|postscript=. This source reprints the letter with English translation; for the original publication (without translation), see Atwater, Betty Ransom. (November 1973). "Erich Katz: Teacher—Composer, 1900–1973". ''American Recorder'' '''XIV''' (4): 115–134, here 119.}}

====''Carmina Burana''====
Orff's ''Carmina Burana'' had its premiere in [[Frankfurt]] on 8 June 1937. It became very popular in Nazi Germany over the next few years. Historian Michael H. Kater wrote that "by 1945" it "[stood] out as the single universally important work produced during the entire span of the Third Reich".{{sfn|Kater|2019|p=211}} [[Oliver Rathkolb]], however, has noted that subsequent popular perception has exaggerated the degree of its importance to the culture of the Third Reich, as numerous other works received more stagings.{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|page=158}}{{sfn|Busch-Frank|2020}} Given Orff's previous lack of commercial success, the monetary gains from ''Carmina Burana''{{'}}s acclaim, including a 500 RM award from the city of [[Frankfurt]],{{sfn|Kater|2000|p=124}}{{sfn|Kohler|2015|pp=377–79 and 382|postscript=; here are printed relevant documents with English translation.}} were significant to him but the composition, with its unfamiliar rhythms, was also denounced with racist taunts.<ref>[http://www.emmaus.de/ingos_texte/carmina.html "Carl Orff: Carmina Burana"] Ev. Emmaus-Ölberg-Kirchengemeinde Berlin Kreuzberg. Retrieved 26 June 2011 {{in lang|de}}</ref>

====''Ein Sommernachtstraum''====
Orff  was one of numerous German composers{{sfn|Prieberg|2009|pp=4870–4892|postscript=. Notably, [[Julius Weismann]] and [[Rudolf Wagner-Régeny]] both accepted 2,000 RM in 1934 from the {{ill|Nationalsozialistische Kulturgemeinde|de}} to compose music for Shakespeare's play; [[Hans Pfitzner]], [[Werner Egk]], and [[Gottfried Müller (composer)|Gottfried Müller]] also were asked but declined.}} under the Nazi regime who wrote new [[incidental music]] for [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'' – in German ''Ein Sommernachtstraum'' – after [[A Midsummer Night's Dream (Mendelssohn)|the music]] of [[Felix Mendelssohn]] for that play had been banned. Orff's version was first performed on 14 October 1939 in Frankfurt as the result of a commission through that city.{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|pp=96–100}}{{sfn|Kohler|2015|pp=176–188}} By his report, he had already composed music for the play as early as 1917 and 1927, long before the Frankfurt commission; no materials from these earlier (presumably incomplete) versions are extant.{{sfn|Orff|1964|pp=121–123}}{{sfn|Rösch|2009|pp=14–26}} Orff's publisher had serious reservations about the project, and Orff's commission was unable to make the original deadline of the commission, resulting in the reduction of his payment from 5,000 RM to 3,000 RM.{{sfn|Rösch|2009|pp=46–75}} He later called the 1939 iteration "a compromised (unfortunately printed) version. In place of the small onstage ensemble there was again a normal small opera orchestra, no more magical percussion, all inexcusable concessions."{{sfn|Orff|1964|p=123 (English translation from Kohler 2015, p. 187)| |postscript=. Original language: "eine kompromißhafte (leider gedruckte) Fassung ... A die Stelle des kleinen Ensembles auf der Bühne trat wieder ein normales kleines Opernorchester, kein magisches Schlagwerk mehr, alles unverzeihliche Zugeständnisse." The 1939 version is also referred to as a compromise ("kompromisshaft") in Orff 1975–1983, p. 271, Vol. V.}} The composer's discontent, together with his initial difficulties in composition, sometimes has been interpreted at least in part as due to pangs of conscience.{{sfn|DCamp|1995|page=202}}{{sfn|Kater|2000|pp=126–127}}{{sfn|Kohler|2015|pp=185–187}} Thomas Rösch has written of this project: "The autonomy of art, which Orff always held highly, was only more illusion within the dictatorship – and the insistence of the composer on a purely artistic, aesthetic viewpoint inevitably changed under this condition to a momentous error."{{sfn|Rösch|2009|p=71 (English translation from {{harvnb|Kohler|2015|loc=p. 19, n. 65}})|postscript=. Original language: "Die von Orff stets hochgehaltene Autonomie der Kunst war innerhalb der Diktatur nur mehr Illusion – und das Beharren des Komponisten auf einem rein künstlerischen, ästhetischen Standpunkt wandelte sich unter diesen Gegebenheiten zwangsläufig zu einem folgenschweren Irrtum."}}

Orff went on to rework his ''Ein Sommernachtstraum'' score three times. The next version was to have its premiere on 10 September 1944, but the closure of all theaters in dire wartime conditions prevented it from occurring.{{sfn|Rösch|2009|p=89}} In December 1945, Orff expressed hope for a performance in Stuttgart, but when [[Gottfried von Einem]] asked him in 1946 about a premiere of this version at the [[Salzburg Festival]], he demurred and responded defensively when Einem asked if the work had been a commission from the Third Reich.{{sfn|Rösch|2009|pp=91–93}}{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|p=133}} Orff made further revisions still, and this version was first performed on 30 October 1952 in Darmstadt. It also had an American performance by [[Leopold Stokowski]] at the Empire State Music Festival on 19 July 1956. Orff revised the score yet again in 1962; this final version had its first performance on in Stuttgart on 12 March 1964.{{sfn|Rösch|2009|pp=91–116}}

====Relationship with Kurt Huber====
Orff was a friend of [[Kurt Huber]] (1893–1943), a professor at [[Ludwig Maximilian University]], with whom he worked since 1934 on Bavarian folk music.{{sfn|Rösch|2021a|p=17}} Together with Orff's ''Schulwerk'' associate Hans Bergese (1910–2000),<ref>{{harvnb|Kohler|2015|p=310}}. Bergese is credited for the piano arrangements in the publications of ''Musik der Landschaft'', on which he felt that he had not received due credit; see also {{harvnb|Kater|2000|pp=140–141}}.</ref> they published two volumes of folk music as ''Musik der Landschaft: Volksmusik in neuen Sätzen'' in 1942.{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|pp=151, 153}}

In December 1942, Huber became a member of the student resistance movement {{Lang|de|Weiße Rose}} (the [[White Rose]]).{{sfn|Kohler|2015|p=238 n. 152}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Huber |first=Wolfgang |date=2009 |title=Kurt Huber vor dem Volksgerichtshof: Zum zweiten Prozess gegen die Weiße Rose |location=Essen |publisher=Die Blaue Eule |series=Historie in der Blauen Eule, Band 13 |pages=105–117}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Knoop-Graf |editor-first=Anneliese, and Inge Jens |title=Willi Graft: Briefe und Aufzeichnungen |location=Frankfurt am Main |publisher=S. Fischer |date=1988 |pages=88 and 300}}</ref> He was arrested on 27 February 1943, condemned to death by the {{Lang|de|[[People's Court (Germany)|Volksgerichtshof]]}}, and executed by the Nazis on 13 July 1943. By happenstance, Orff called at Huber's house on the day after his arrest. Huber's distraught wife, Clara (née Schlickenrieder, 1908–1998{{sfn|Kohler|2015|p=241}}), hoped Orff would use his influence to help her husband, but Orff panicked upon learning of Kurt Huber's arrest, fearing that he was "ruined" (''ruiniert'').{{sfn|DCamp|1995|pp=86–88 and 91–92}}{{sfn|Palmer|2008|loc=1:31:35}} Clara Huber later said she never saw Orff again,{{sfn|Palmer|2008|loc=1:33:46}} but there is documentary evidence that they had further contact.{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|pp=136, 151–154}}{{sfn|Kohler|2015|pp=241–244}} On at least one occasion, she recalled that Orff had attempted to help her husband through [[Baldur von Schirach]]{{sfn|Kater|1995|p=28 |postscript=. Kater's source was a letter from Clara Huber dated 28 June 1994 (p. 28 n. 166), which is not cited in Kater 2000.}} (the highest-ranking Nazi official with whom he came into contact, and whom he met at least twice{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|pp=81–84 and 87–89}}{{sfn|Kater|2000|pp=129–130}}), for which no further evidence has been found. In June 1949, Orff transferred his rights to ''Musik der Landschaft'' to Huber's family.{{sfn|Kohler|2015|p=243}}{{sfn|Karner|2002|p=256}} Shortly after the war, Clara Huber asked Orff to contribute to a memorial volume for her husband; he contributed an emotional letter written directly to Kurt Huber,{{sfn|Kater|1995|pp=28–29}}{{sfn|Kohler|2015|pp=436–438 |postscript=; here the letter is reprinted with English translation. For the original publication, see Clara Huber, ed., ''Kurt Huber zum Gedächtnis. Bildnis eines Menschen, Denkers und Forschers, dargestellt von seinen Freunden'' (Regensburg: Josef Habbel, 1947), pp. 166–168. The memorial book was reissued a few years after Orff's death with no change to his tribute; see Clara Huber, ed., ''»...der Tod... war nicht vergebens«'', (München: Nymphenburger, 1986), pp. 164–167.}} similar to what he did for Katz years later. Orff's ''[[Die Bernauerin]]'', a project which he completed in 1946 and which he had discussed with Huber before the latter's execution, is dedicated to Huber's memory. The final scene of this work, which is about the wrongful execution of [[Agnes Bernauer]], depicts a guilt-ridden chorus begging not to be implicated in the title character's death.<ref>{{cite book |last=Orff |first=Carl |title=Die Bernauerin |date=1974 |edition=Study score, final version (ED 6856) |publisher=B. Schott's Söhne |place=Mainz |pages=175–176}} See also {{harvnb|Kohler|2015|p=299}}.</ref>

====Denazification====
In late March 1946, Orff underwent a [[denazification]] process in [[Bad Homburg]] at a psychological screening center of the [[Information Control Division]] (ICD), a department of the [[Office of Military Government, United States]] (OMGUS). Orff was rated "Grey C, acceptable", which his evaluator Bertram Schaffner (1912–2010) defined as for those "compromised by their actions during the Nazi period but not subscribers to Nazi doctrine".{{sfn|Schaffner|1948|p=69}}{{efn|Documents pertaining to Orff's denazification, including the official report by Schaffner, are printed in {{harvnb|Rathkolb|2021|pp=236–254}} and {{harvnb|Kohler|2015|pp=415–435}}. The materials from Orff's evaluation are held in the Oskar Diethelm Library, DeWitt Wallace Institute for the History of Psychiatry, [[Weill Cornell Medical College]], New York City, David M. Levy Papers, Box 35, Folder 2 (Schaffner's report) and Folder 40 (Orff's [[Rorschach test]]).}}

Some sources report that Orff had been blacklisted before the evaluation,{{sfn|Prieberg|2009|p=5376}}{{sfn|Kater|2019|p=324}} which would have prevented him from collecting royalties on his compositions.{{sfn|Monod|2005|p=44}} According to more recent research by Oliver Rathkolb, there is no evidence to support this.{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|pp=132–139}} In January 1946, American officer Newell Jenkins (1915–1996)&nbsp;– Orff's former student (with whom he used the informal ''[[duzen|du]]''), who went on to have a career as a conductor<ref>{{cite news|last=Kozinn|first=Allan|author-link=Allan Kozinn|date=24 December 1996|title=Newell Jenkins, 81, Conductor Who Found Gems in Archives|work=[[The New York Times]]|page=D 18|department=Obituaries|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/24/arts/newell-jenkins-81-conductor-who-found-gems-in-archives.html|access-date=17 August 2021}}</ref>&nbsp;– informed him that he did not need a license as a composer if he was not seeking to conduct, teach, or otherwise appear in public.{{sfn|Kohler|2015|pages=416–418|postscript=; here one may find a reprint of the letter from Newell Jenkins, dated 7 January 1946, with English translation. For the original, see National Archives, Records of United States Occupation Headquarters, World War II (Record Group 260), Entry A1 1681: Correspondence and Related Records, 1945–1949, Box 928.}}{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|p=134}} Jenkins, however, hoped that Orff would take an Intendant position in Stuttgart, which Orff was considering after initially saying no. This would require evaluation, and thus Jenkins encouraged Orff to think of how he could prove that he had actively resisted Nazism, as such persons were most highly valued.{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|pp=132–138}}{{sfn|Monod|2005|pp=67–68, 110, 113 |postscript=. On pp. 67–68, Monod wrote that Orff was prevented from taking the position by his "'Grey C', acceptable" rating, although Orff's official report states that he was not at that time interested in such a position.}} Orff turned down the Stuttgart position by early March 1946, but Jenkins still insisted Orff undergo an evaluation at the end of that month.{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|pp=137–138}} Schaffner's report notes: "Orff does not wish a license as 'Intendant' of an opera-house, and states that he has already refused such an offer, because the work would be primarily administrative and not musical. He wishes to have permission to appear as guest-conductor."{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|p=238}} Orff was granted a license without any restrictions despite his rating of "'Grey C', acceptable", but there is no evidence that he conducted in public after the war.{{sfn|Kohler|2015|pp=207–209}}

Schaffner believed that the root causes of Nazism included an underlying societal rigidity and authoritarianism in Germany, especially as they pertained to fathers in family life and institutions such as the school and the military. His theories informed his and his colleagues' denazification evaluations.{{sfn|Schaffner|1948|pp=41–71}}{{sfn|Kohler|2015|pp=209–217, 228–232}}{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|pp=139–141}} In his report on Orff, Schaffner wrote:

{{Blockquote |text=O[rff]'s attitudes are not Nazi. One of his best friends, Prof. Carl [sic] Huber, with whom he published "Musik der Landschaft", a collection of folk songs, was killed by the Nazis in Munich in 1943. Nevertheless he was a "Nutzniesser" [i.e., beneficiary] of the Nazis and can at present be classified only as "Grey C", acceptable. In view of his antinazi point of view, his deliberate av[o]idance of positions and honors which he could have had by cooperating with the Nazis, he may at a future date be reclassified higher.{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|p=237}}}}

There is no evidence that Orff was ever reclassified, but since his license had no restrictions, this was not necessary.{{sfn|Kohler|2015|p=227}} For Orff's psychological evaluation, Schaffner wrote:

{{Blockquote |text=<p>1. A highly gifted, creative individual who scored high on intelligence tests ... Orff is diplomatic, ingratiating and ingenious. Retiring and unob[tr]usive, accustomed to independence and solitude since childhood, he has steadfastly pursued his career as an unattached composer. He has little personal need of "belonging" to a group, public honor or recognition, and prefers to work alone rather than in organizations. He is emotionally well-adjusted, purposeful and egocentric.</p>
<p>2. Orff scored highest in his group on the political attitudes test. Psychiatric studies of his environment and development are consistent with an antinazi att[i]tude. On psychological grounds, [N]azism was distasteful to him; likewise on psychological grounds, he remained a passive antinazi, and tried to avoid official and personal contact bot[h] with the Nazi movement and with the war.{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|p=238}}</p>}}

Some scholars have maintained that Orff deceived his evaluators to some degree.{{sfn|Monod|2003|p=302 |postscript=. "[Orff] was sharp enough to have taken advantage of the Americans' lack of knowledge and to have utterly bamboozled the psychiatrist."}}{{sfn|Kater|2000|pp=136–137}} The counterpoint is that Orff misrepresented himself in some instances, but the Americans had enough information to assess him fundamentally correctly and rate him accordingly.{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|pp=142–147}}{{sfn|Kohler|2015|pp=217–237, especially 235–237}} The report notes some of Orff's financial support from the cities of Frankfurt and Vienna, his participation in the [[1936 Summer Olympics]],{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|pp=51–61}} and the music for ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (although the number of its performances was undercounted{{sfn|Prieberg|2009|p=5390}}), which Orff said he wrote "from his own private musical point of view" but "admit[ted] that he chose an unfortunate moment in history to write it."{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|p=237}}

Orff said "that he never got a favorable review by a Nazi music critic";{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|p=237}} however, his work had been enthusiastically received by audiences and many critics.{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|pp=69 and 74–80}}{{sfn|Kohler|2015|pp=147–159, 167–176}}{{sfn|Painter |2007 |pages=262–265}} He also said that "[h]is great success" was in 1942 with a performance of ''Carmina Burana'' in [[La Scala]] in [[Milan]], "not under the auspices of the Propaganda Ministry."{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|p=237}}{{sfn|Kater|2000|p=136. Kater characterized Orff's statement as an attempt at "moving himself, his oeuvre, and his civic and artistic responsibilities out of the jurisdiction of the Third Reich." It was, however, still under [[Axis powers]] (Kohler 2015, p. 222)}} In fact, Orff later publicly characterized the second staging of ''Carmina Burana'', which took place in Dresden on 4 October 1940, as the beginning of his great success.{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|p=71, Vol. IV}} The American evaluators disbelieved Orff's account of his reception in the Third Reich: "The fact that he was deferred ... during the war is contradictory to his claim that he was not well thought of at the Propaganda Ministry. ... He does not give a very good [e]xplanation."{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|p=237}} The report likewise notes Orff's very sharp rise in income in the latter part of the Third Reich.{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|p=236}}{{sfn|Kohler|2015|p=220}}

Surprisingly absent from the report are several factors that Orff could have used in his favor, notably his associations with Jewish colleagues{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|p=162}} as well as his own partly Jewish ancestry,{{sfn|Brembeck|1999a}}{{sfn|Busch-Frank|2020}} the latter of which was never publicly known while he was alive.{{sfn|Kater|1995|pp=30–31}} Nor is there any mention of the potentially subversive and anti-authoritarian texts in his works,{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|pp=110 and 113}}{{sfn|Kohler|2015|p=250}} notably the passages in ''Die Kluge'' (premiere 1943) that have been identified as such, sometimes even during Orff's lifetime (including by [[Carl Dahlhaus]]).<ref>{{cite news|last=Dahlhaus|first=Carl|author-link=Carl Dahlhaus|date=13 February 1982|title=Den Notlügen auf der Spur: Fred K. Priebergs Chronik der Musik im NS-Staat|work=[[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung]]|page=BuZ5|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Hartung |first=Hugo |date=10 July 1970 |title=Begegnungen mit Carl Orff: Zu seinem 75. Geburtstag |work=[[Saarbrücker Zeitung]]|language=de}}</ref>{{sfn|Orff|1995|p=52}}{{sfn|Rösch|2009|p=125}}{{sfn|DCamp|1995|pp=218–221, 235}}{{sfn|Rockwell|2003}}

====White Rose controversy====

According to [[Michael Hans Kater|Michael Kater]], Orff cleared his name during the denazification period by claiming that he had helped establish the White Rose resistance movement in Germany.{{sfn|Kater|1995|pp=26–29}}{{sfn|Kater|2000|pp=133–138}} Kater also made a particularly strong case that Orff collaborated with [[Nazi German]] authorities.<!-- Page not available at The Times nor at Wayback.<ref name="entertainment.timesonline.co.uk" /> --> The source for the White Rose claim was a 1993 interview with Jenkins.<ref name=dennis>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040223085918/http://www.h-net.org/~german/articles/dennis1.html Review of "Carl Orff im Dritten Reich"] Archive, by David B. Dennis, [[Loyola University Chicago]] (25 January 1996)</ref> Kater described his finding as "nothing less than sensational" (''nichts weniger als sensationell'').{{sfn|Kater|1995|page=26}}  The episode was the source of considerable strife.<ref>{{cite news |last=Signed "mau" |date=19 June 1995 |title=Märchen-Journalismus |work=[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]]}} Feuilleton, p. 11.</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Jans |first=Hans Jörg |date=1 July 1995 |title=Peinliche Unterschiebung eines Machwerks über Orff |work=Süddeutsche Zeitung}} Leserbriefe, S. 11.</ref>  The controversy elicited objections from two people who had known Orff in their youth during the Third Reich, one of whom recalled that Jenkins had been trying to portray Orff as a "resistance fighter" (''Widerstandskämpfer'') and thus believed that Jenkins had been the source of the alleged legend.{{sfn|Kohler|2015|pp=441–442 |postscript=, quotation from p. 442; here one may find a reprint of these letters with English translation. For the original publications, see Wilm, Renatus (15 July 1995). "Orff und die "Weiße Rose'". ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'', Nr. 162, p. 6; Spangenberg, Christa. (1 July 1995). "Enttäuschung über Sympathie mit den Nazis". ''[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]]'', p. 11.}}

A few years later, Viennese historian Oliver Rathkolb discovered Orff's denazification file, which was distributed to reporters in a press conference at the Orff-Zentrum München on 10 February 1999. In this document, there is no claim about being in the White Rose.{{sfn|Karner|2002|pp=211–212 |postscript=. Karner, who was Rathkolb's student, expressed surprise that the press downplayed the discovery of such an important document and instead focused more on the conflict of the players involved.}}{{sfn|Brembeck |1999a}} There is, however, a reference to Orff's relationship with Huber (see quoted passage under "Denazification"). Orff told [[Fred K. Prieberg]] in 1963 that he was afraid of being arrested as an associate of Huber, but made no claim that he had been involved in the White Rose himself.{{sfn|Prieberg|2009|p=5391|postscript=; the brief letter is reprinted with English translation in Kohler 2015, p. 440. Orff on this occasion mentioned his association with Jews, namely Sachs and Kestenberg. See also Prieberg, Fred (1982). ''Musik im NS-Statt''. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag. p. 324.}} In 1960, Orff had described similar fears to an interviewer but explicitly said that he was not a part of the resistance himself.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wassener |first=Bert |date=8 October 1960 |title=Keine Parolen gegen Dämonen! Carl Orff: 'Jeder muß seinen eigenen Weg gehen' |work=[[Ruhr Nachrichten]]|location=Dortmund}} See also Kater 2000, 138: Kater cited this article without acknowledging the explicit statement that Orff was not in the resistance. He noted that it was very unlikely Orff had discussed [[Hans Scholl]] and [[Sophie Scholl]]'s resistance activities with them, as the composer had claimed; regardless, Orff said that he had counseled the siblings against taking any risks to their safety. See also Kohler 2015, p. 249.</ref>

Kater's accusation, as he termed it,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kater|first=Michael H.|author-link=Michael Hans Kater|title=In Answer to Hans Jörg Jans |journal=[[The Musical Quarterly]]|date=Winter 2000a|volume=84|issue=4 |pages=711 (711–712)|doi=10.1093/mq/84.4.711 }}</ref> regarding the White Rose colored much of the discourse on Carl Orff in the coming years.{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|pages=148 and 156–157}}<!-- Page not available at The Times nor at Wayback.<ref name="entertainment.timesonline.co.uk">{{cite news|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article5366154.ece |work=The Times |location=UK |title=Carl Orff the composer who lived a monstrous lie |date=19 December 2008 |access-date=27 March 2010 |first=Richard |last=Morrison|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091005110355/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article5366154.ece |archive-date=5 October 2009 }}</ref> --><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/dark-heart-of-a-masterpiece-carmina-buranas-famous-chorus-hides-a-murky-nazi-past-1050503.html |work=The Independent |location=UK |title=Dark heart of a masterpiece: ''Carmina Burana''{{'}}s famous chorus hides a murky Nazi past |first=Jessica |last=Duchen |author-link=Jessica Duchen |date=4 December 2008 |access-date=27 March 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090118121551/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/dark-heart-of-a-masterpiece-carmina-buranas-famous-chorus-hides-a-murky-nazi-past-1050503.html |archive-date=18 January 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Taruskin|first=Richard|author-link=Richard Taruskin|date=6 May 2001 |title=Orff's Musical and Moral Failings |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/06/arts/music-orff-s-musical-and-moral-failings.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=14 August 2022}}</ref> In some instances the debate focused more on acrimony between those involved.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Jans |first=Hans Jörg |date=Winter 2000 |title=Behind the Scenes: Composer Institutes and the Semblance of Censorship |journal=[[The Musical Quarterly]]|translator-last=Robinson |translator-first=Bradford J. |volume=84 |issue=4 |pages=696–704 |doi=10.1093/mq/84.4.696}} Jans wrote that "the scholarly debate on Orff and the Third Reich has taken on all the implacability of a criminal lawsuit" (p. 701). See also Kater, "In Answer to Hans Jörg Jans", cited above.</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Schleusener |first=Jan |date=11 February 1999 |title=Komponist sein in einer bösen Zeit |url=https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article566168/Komponist_sein_in_einer_boesen_Zeit.html |work=[[Die Welt]] |location=Berlin |language=de |access-date=13 February 2019 }} The author reports "sharp attacks" (''Scharfe Angriffe'') from Hans Jörg Jans against Michael H. Kater.</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Brembeck |first=Reinhard J. |date=1999b |title=Von zu großer Liebe und Verletztem Stolz: Wie der Chef des Orff-Zentrums die Ehre des Komponisten Verteidigt |work=[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]]|language=de}} 11 February 1999, Münchner Kultur, p. 17.</ref> In ''Composers of the Nazi Era: Eight Portraits'' (2000) Kater qualified his earlier accusations to some extent after reviewing the documents that Rathkolb discovered.{{sfn|Kater|2000|pp=133–143|postscript=. Note the inaccuracy regarding Orff's relationship with Erich Katz in this source (pp. 142–143): Kater wrote that Orff "made no attempt to resume" the friendship after the war, but see Davenport 1995; Kohler 2015, 81.}} Subsequently, however, Kater reiterated his initial claim regarding Orff and the White Rose without any reference to the denazification file.{{sfn|Kater|2019|pp=324 and 390 n. 106 |postscript=. See also Kater, Michael. (2004). ''Hitler Youth''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, p. 307 n. 40: "[Orff] told this [i.e., the alleged White Rose lie] to the U.S. authorities in an effort to get easy denazification clearance, since he knew he was guilty of collaboration with the Nazi regime, although he himself had never been a Nazi. Although his scam worked at the time, it has recently been exposed through research."}}

While Kater's account has been accepted by some scholars who have investigated the matter further,{{sfn|Monod|2005|p=54 |postscript=. Here the author concedes that Orff did not make the claim on the record, but accepts that he made it to Jenkins, whom Monod himself interviewed in 1996 (Monod 2003, pp. 301–302 and 312 n. 19).}} Rathkolb and others have examined the theory that Orff lied about being a member of the resistance and found insufficient evidence to believe it, noting there is no solid corroboration outside of Kater's interview with Jenkins.{{sfn|Rathkolb|2021|pp=148–154|postscript=. See also ibid., p. 161: "That it [i.e., Kater's finding] is based on the interpretation of an oral-history source without seeking or receiving further sources makes it a construction that is based on a scholarly untenable working method." Original language: "Dass sie auf der Interpretation einer Oral-History-Quelle beruht, ohne weitere Quellen zu suchen oder zu rezipieren, macht sie zu einer Konstruktion, der eine wissenschaftlich nicht haltbare Arbeitsweise zugrunde liegt."}}{{sfn|Kohler|2015|pp=245–256|postscript=. "An inordinate amount of attention has been placed on one alleged statement decades after the event by the then-elderly Jenkins, and the discourse has become sensationalistic" (p. 246).}} Writing in 2021, Siegfried Göllner was not convinced that the allegation about the White Rose lie had been refuted as unambiguously as he felt Rathkolb and Thomas Rösch had claimed, but "since the episode about the White Rose was never on the record or issued openly by Orff, it is ultimately irrelevant whether the episode reported by Jenkins to Kater actually took place or was a matter of misunderstanding. ...  Kater in any case attached too much significance to the statement of Jenkins."<ref>{{cite web|last=Göllner|first=Siegfried|date=25 March 2021|title=Dr. h. c. Carl Orff|language=de|url=https://www.stadt-salzburg.at/fileadmin/landingpages/stadtgeschichte/nsprojekt/strassennamen/biografien/orff_carl-v1.pdf|access-date=18 November 2022|page=9|quote=Da die Episode über die 'Weiße Rose' nie aktenkundig und von Orff nicht öffentlich aufgestellt wurde, ist letztlich irrelevant, ob sich die von Jenkins gegenüber Kater berichtete Episode so zugetragen hat oder ob es sich um ein Missverständnis handelte. ... Kater hat jedenfalls der Aussage von Jenkins eine zu hohe Relevanz beigemessen.}} In: {{cite web|title=Die Stadt Salzburg im Nationalsozialismus. Biografische Recherchen zu NS-belasteten Straßennamen der Stadt Salzburg|language=de|url=https://www.stadt-salzburg.at/ns-projekt/ns-strassennamen/dr-h-c-carl-orff./|access-date=18 November 2022}}</ref> In 1999, at the height of the controversy, musicologist [[Reinhard Schulz]] described the affair as a "scholarly cockfight" (''wissenschaftlichen Hahnenkampfes''), adding: "Far more important than a single fact would be an understanding of [the] connection" to Orff's life and creativity.<ref>{{cite news |last=Schulz |first=Reinhard |date=March 1999 |title='Alter Schnee?' |language=de |work=[[Neue Musikzeitung]]|volume=48 |page=48}} (English translation from {{harvnb|Kohler|2015|loc=p. 246 n. 192}}) Original language of second quotation: "Viel wichtiger als das einzeln Faktische wäre eine Verstehen solcher Zusammenhänge."</ref>

===Personal life===
Carl Orff was very guarded as to his personal life. When asked by the theater scholar {{ill|Carl Niessen|de}} to provide a handwritten entry for a collection of autobiographies of German composers of the day, for which some of his colleagues wrote as many as three pages, he sent only: "Carl Orff[,] born 1895 in Munich[,] living there" ''(Carl Orff[,] geboren 1895 in München[,] lebt daselbst).''<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Niessen |editor-first=Carl |date=1944 |title=Deutsche Oper der Gegenwart |publisher=Gustav Bosse |location=Regensburg |page=183}}</ref>

Orff was married four times and had three divorces. His first marriage was in 1920 to the singer Alice Solscher (1891–1970). Orff's only child, Godela Orff (later Orff-Büchtemann, 1921–2013) was born on 21 February 1921. The couple separated about six months after Godela's birth and were divorced officially in 1927.<ref>{{harvnb|Rösch|2021a|p=13}}. Other sources (e.g., {{harvnb|Dangel-Hofmann|1999}}; {{harvnb|Kater|1995|p=4}}) give 1925 as the date of the divorce, but Orff's {{lang|de|[[Ahnenpass]]}} (a document from the Third Reich proving ancestry, which he filled out early in 1938) gives the dates of marriage as 25 August 1920 and divorce as 9 December 1927 {{harv|Kohler|2015|pp=55, 84}}. No date is given in {{harvnb|Drobnitsch|1989|p=82}}.</ref> Godela remained with her father when her mother moved to [[Melbourne]] to pursue her career around 1930.{{sfn|Orff|1995|pp=10–15}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Marx |first=Karl |editor-last=Leuchtmann |editor-first=Horst |date=1985 |title=Erinnerungen an Carl Orff |journal=Carl Orff: Ein Gedenkbuch |publisher=Hans Schneider |location=Tutzing|pages=93–110, here 99–100}} Note the author incorrectly gives Alice Solscher's family name as Heuser.</ref> In 1939, Orff married [[Gertrud Orff|Gertrud Willert]] (1914–2000), who had been his student{{sfn|Palmer|2008|loc=38:27}} and who founded a method of music therapy using the Orff-Schulwerk; they divorced in 1953.{{sfn|Rösch|2004|p=1401}} By 1952, he began a relationship with author [[Luise Rinser]] (1911–2002), whom he married in 1954. In 1955, they moved from Munich to [[Dießen am Ammersee]].{{sfn|Rösch|2021a|p=42}} Their marriage was troubled and ended in divorce in 1959, by which time Orff was living with the person who would become his next wife.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sánchez de Murillo |first=José |date=2011 |title=Luise Rinser: Ein Leben in Widersprüchen |publisher=S. Fischer Verlag|location=Frankfurt am Main |pages=264–285}} The precise dates for marriage and divorce according to this source are, respectively, 6 March 1954 (p. 267) and 22 December 1959 (p. 284).</ref> Orff's final marriage, which lasted to the end of his life, was with Liselotte Schmitz (1930–2012), who had been his secretary, and who after his death carried on his legacy in her capacity with the Carl-Orff Stiftung.{{sfn|Rösch|2021a|p=43}} They married in [[Andechs]] on 10 May 1960.{{sfn|Drobnitsch|1989|p=82}}

Born to devout [[Roman Catholic]] parents, Orff broke from religious dogma at a young age. His daughter tied his break from the church to the suicide of a classmate, and she reported that he did not have her baptized.{{sfn|Orff |1995 |pp=29 and 126–129}}{{sfn|Gläß|2008|pp=136–137}}{{sfn|Kohler |2015 |pp=38–39, 68, 218–219}} Gertrud Orff said that "he never went to church; to the contrary. It was probably the time of inner rebellion against things like that. ... He was a religious person, yes. But not a person of the church." Nevertheless, he wanted to be buried in the [[Baroque]] church of the beer-brewing [[Benedictine]] priory of [[Andechs Abbey|Andechs]], southwest of Munich; he could see this monastery from his home in [[Dießen]].<ref>{{harvnb|Palmer|2008|loc=42:31}} (English translation from {{harvnb|Kohler|2015|p=38}}). Original language of quotation: "Er ging nie in die Kirche, im Gegenteil. Es war wohl auch die Zeit, der inneren Rebellion gegen so etwas ... Er war ein religiöser Mensch, ja, aber kein kirchlicher Mensch."</ref>

Orff had no desire to follow in his family's military tradition, even as a child. He later wrote: "My father [Heinrich Orff] knew that everything soldierly lay far from me and that I could not warm up to it."{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|p=15, Vol. 1 (English translation from Kohler 2015, p. 36) |postscript=. Original language: "Mein Vater wußte, daß mir alles Soldatische fern lag und ich mich dafür nicht erwärmen konnte."}} According to Godela Orff, the composer's parents "nevertheless always remained lovingly inclined toward him, even when his way of life did not meet their expectations", and Orff and his sister "were watched over and supported with loving tolerance."{{sfn|Orff|1995|pp=29 and 23, respectively (English translations from Kohler 2015, p. 232) |postscript=. Original language: "blieben ihm trotzdem immer liebevoll zugeneigt, auch wenn seine Lebensweise ihren Vorstellungen nicht entsprach. / ... wurden behütet und mit liebevoller Toleranz gefördert."}} She also wrote that her father's mother, Paula Orff, always fostered her son's creativity and gave him "the gift of inspiration".{{sfn|Orff|1995|p=23 (English translation from Kohler 2015, p. 36); see also ibid., p. 29|postscript=. Original language: "Die Gabe des Inspirierens".}} Orff himself wrote of his mother: "From time immemorial I was a real mother's boy. In life's serious and most difficult situations she understood me deeply with her heart, even if her ideas, strongly set in tradition, stood in the way of it."{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|p=15, Vol. 1 (English translation from Kohler 2015, p. 37). Original language: "Von eh und je war ich ein rechtes Mutterkind. In schweren und schwierigsten Lebenslagen verstand sie mich zutiefst mit dem Herzen, auch wenn ihre stark in der Tradition befangenen Vorstellungen dem entgegenstanden."}} Paula Orff died on 22 July 1960,{{sfn|Drobnitsch|1989|p=82}} after which Orff's colleague [[Karl Amadeus Hartmann]] wrote to him: "I know how intimately bonded you were with your mother, similar to me with mine, and can therefore especially sympathize with the entire gravity of the loss."{{sfn|Haas|2004|p=247|postscript=, quoting letter from 1960, without exact date (English translation from {{harvnb|Kohler|2015|pp=37, 308}}). Original language: "Ich weiss, wie innig Sie mit Ihrer Mutter verbunden waren, ähnlich wie ich mit meiner und kann daher die ganze Schwere des Verlustes besonders mitempfinden."}}

Godela Orff described her relationship with her father as having been difficult at times.{{sfn|Orff|1995|pp=57 and 65–68}} "He had his life and that was that", she tells [[Tony Palmer (director)|Tony Palmer]] in the documentary ''O&nbsp;Fortuna''.<ref>{{harvnb|Palmer|2008|loc=1:01:05}} (see also statements from Godela Orff beginning at 34:36, 1:06:17, and 1:10:24)</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kettle |first=Martin |date=2 January 2009 |title=Secret of the White Rose |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/jan/02/classical-music-film-carmina-burana |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |access-date=13 February 2019}}</ref> Their relationship became especially strained in the late 1940s; they reconciled around the early 1970s.{{sfn|Orff|1995|pp=85–88, 126, and 142–145}}{{sfn|Rösch|2015|p=298}}

===Death===
[[File:Orff Andechs.jpg|thumb|upright|Orff's grave at the Andechs Abbey church]]
Orff died of cancer in Munich on 29 March 1982, at the age of 86.<ref name=Rothstein /> He is buried in the [[Andechs Abbey]]. His tombstone bears the Latin inscription {{Lang|la|Summus Finis}} (the Ultimate End), taken from the end of his last work, {{Lang|la|De temporum fine comoedia}}.

==Works==

===''Carmina Burana''===
Orff is best known for ''[[Carmina Burana (Orff)|Carmina Burana]]'' (1936), a "scenic [[cantata]]". It is the first part of a trilogy that also includes ''[[Catulli Carmina]]'' and ''[[Trionfo di Afrodite]]''. ''Carmina Burana'' reflects his interest in [[Middle High German literature|medieval German poetry]]. The trilogy as a whole is called ''[[Trionfi (Orff)|Trionfi]]'', or "Triumphs". The work is based on thirteenth-century poetry found in a manuscript dubbed the ''Codex latinus monacensis'' found in the [[Benedictine]] [[Benediktbeuern Abbey|monastery]] of [[Benediktbeuern]] in 1803 and written by the [[Goliard]]s; this collection is also known as ''[[Carmina Burana]]''. While "modern" in some of his compositional techniques, Orff was able to capture the spirit of the [[Middle Ages|medieval period]] in this trilogy. The medieval poems, written in [[Latin]] and an early form of German, are a lament about the [[O Fortuna|cruel indifference of fate]] (the brief opening and closing sections of Orff's work are titled "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi", i.e., "Fortune, Ruler of the World"). The chorus that opens and concludes ''Carmina Burana'', "[[O Fortuna (Orff)|O Fortuna]]", is often used to denote primal forces, for example in the [[Oliver Stone]] film ''[[The Doors (film)|The Doors]]''.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101761/soundtrack IMDb entry for soundtrack] of Oliver Stone's film ''[[The Doors (film)|The Doors]]'' (scroll to bottom)</ref> The work's association with fascism also led [[Pier Paolo Pasolini]] to use the movement "Veris leta facies" to accompany the concluding scenes of torture and murder in his final film ''[[Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom]]''.<ref>[http://jclarkmedia.com/pasolini/pasolini25.html "Pasolini's Salo"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218052513/http://jclarkmedia.com/pasolini/pasolini25.html |date=18 December 2010 }}, review</ref> Pasolini was concerned with the question of art being appropriated by power when he made the film, which has relevance to Orff's situation.{{sfn|Kohler|2015|pp=30–31 |postscript=. ''Salò'' explores the artist under totalitarianism through the figure of a pianist (played by {{ill|Sonia Saviange|fr}}); see Testa, Carlo. (2002). ''Masters of Two Arts: Re-Creation of European Literatures in Italian Cinema''. Toronto Italian Studies. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 109.}}

===Relationship to pre-''Carmina Burana'' works===
Orff often said that, following a dress rehearsal for ''Carmina Burana'', he told his publisher the following: "Everything that I have written up until now and that you, unfortunately, have printed you now can pulp. With ''Carmina Burana'' begins my collected works."<ref>{{harvnb|Orff|1975–1983|loc=p. 66, Vol. IV}} (English translation from {{harvnb|Kohler|2015|p=114}}). Original language: "Alles was ich bisher geschrieben und was Sie leider gedruckt haben, können Sie nun einstampfen. Mit ''Carmina Burana'' beginnen meine gesammelten Werke." Vol. 4 of ''Carl Orff und sein Werk: Dokumenation'' was published in 1979, 42 years after the premiere; Orff added here that the statement had been "much cited since that time" ("inzwischen viel zitierten").</ref>{{efn|For two of the earliest known instances of this account appearing in print, see {{cite book|last=Liess|first=Andreas|year=1955|title=Carl Orff: Idee und Werk|language=de|location=Zürich|publisher=Atlantis Verlag|page=27}}. The same year as this publication (which Orff himself authorized), [[Everett Helm]] wrote: "In 1937 ''Carmina Burana'' was performed for the first time and with great success in Frankfurt am Main, and at that moment Orff 'disowned' all his previous work, with which he was now dissatisfied. Two pieces, ''Catulli Carmina'' and the ''Entrata'', were later revised and restored to grace, as were the Monteverdi arrangements. For all practical purposes, then, ''Carmina Burana'' must be regarded as his earliest work, and it has remained one of his most successful." {{cite journal|last=Helm|first=Everett|date=July 1955|title=Carl Orff|journal=[[The Musical Quarterly]]|volume=XLI|number=3|pages=286 (285–304)|doi=10.1093/mq/XLI.3.285 }}. Note that the 1943 stage work ''Catulli Carmina'' uses six of the seven earlier ''Catulli Carmina I'' a cappella choruses, but the majority of its material is newly composed.}} Michael H. Kater has called this statement into question, citing a lack of documentary evidence and the continuation of performances of Orff's previous works after the premiere of ''Carmina Burana'',{{sfn|Kater|2000|p=139}} although in fact most of these performances used revised versions.{{sfn|Kohler|2015|pp=115–116 and 130–32| |postscript=. A performance of ''Orpheus'' in 1938, however, used the pre-''Carmina Burana'' version. More strikingly, there was a concert in 1947 at the University of Mainz featuring one of the cantatas on texts of Franz Werfel and some of the a cappella ''Catulli Carmina'' choruses (presumably from one or both of the publications from the early 1930s rather than excerpts from the 1943 ''Catulli Carmina''); there is no evidence Orff was aware of this performance. See article signed Kr. (October 1947). "Der junge Melos-leser schreibt". ''Melos'', vol. 14, no. 12, pp. 349–350.}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Austin |first=William |title=Music in the Twentieth Century: From Debussy through Stravinsky |date=1966 |isbn=978-0-393-09704-7 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |location=New York|page=388}}</ref> Orff eventually qualified his oft-repeated statement: "So I had said this thoughtlessly, con leggerezza [i.e. "lightly"]: a remark that, as I well knew, was true and also not true. I only wanted to accentuate with it the meaning that the ''Carmina Burana'' held in my creations up to that point, as was clear to me myself."{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983 |page=66, Vol. IV (English translation from Kohler 2015, p. 115)|postscript=. Original language: "Ich hatte das con leggerezza so hingesagt: ein Ausspruch, der, wie ich wohl wußte, stimmte und auch nicht stimmte. Ich wollte damit nur betonen, daß ich mir selbst klar war, welche Bedeutung die Carmina Burana in meinem bisherigen Schaffen einnahmen."}} When asked about the quotation in 1975, Orff replied: "For the first time I had done exactly what I wanted, and I also knew that I had treated it right. Really there is nothing more to say."<ref>{{cite news |last=Konz |first=Martin |title=Auf den Mond zu fliegen ist elementar. Rückbesinnung auf die Ursprünge: Interview mit dem Komponisten Carl Orff |date=April–May 1975 |work=[[Neue Musikzeitung]]|language=de}} 24. Jahrgang, Heft 2, p. 3 (English translation from Kohler 2015, p. 114). Original language: "Ich hatte erstmals genau das getan, was ich wollte, und ich wußte auch, daß ich richtig behandelt hatte. Mehr gibt es da eigentlich nicht zu sagen." See also Seifert 1970, p. 376 (for reprint, see {{harvnb|Henkel|Messmer|2021|pp=52–53}}).</ref> Orff went on to revise many of his earlier works, and later in his career he reissued some of his pre-''Carmina Burana'' compositions with minimal revisions. One of his final publications was a volume of songs he had composed between 1911 and 1920.<ref>[https://www.schott-music.com/de/fruehe-lieder-noc37379.html ''Frühe Lieder'' (Early Songs)] published by [[Schott Music]] (ED 7024); see List of Compositions for details.</ref>

===After World War II===
Most of Orff's later works – ''[[Antigonae]]'' (1949), ''{{ill|Oedipus der Tyrann|de}}'' (''Oedipus the Tyrant'', 1959), ''[[Prometheus (Orff)|Prometheus desmotes]]'' (''Prometheus Bound'', 1968), and {{Lang|la|[[De temporum fine comoedia]]}} (''Play on the End of Times'', 1973) – were based on texts or topics from antiquity. They extend the language of ''Carmina Burana'' in interesting ways, but they are expensive to stage and (on Orff's own characterization) are not operas in the conventional sense.<ref>{{harvnb|Seifert|1970|p=377}} For reprint, see {{harvnb|Henkel|Messmer|2021|p=54}}.</ref> Live performances of them have been few, even in Germany.{{sfn|Willnauer|1995|p=11}}

In a letter dated 8 January 1947 to his student [[Heinrich Sutermeister]], Orff called ''Die Bernauerin'' "the last piece in the series of my earlier work; ''Antigonae'' starts a new phase."{{sfn|Kohler|2015|p=318 |postscript=. Original language: "das letzte Stück in der Reihe meiner früheren Werke, ist der Antigone geht ein neuer Abschnitt an".}} ''Antigonae'' is a setting of Friedrich Hölderlin's translation of the [[Antigone (Sophocles play)|play]] by [[Sophocles]]. Orff first  became interested in this source material shortly after his trauma in World War I and began planning his work late in 1940.{{sfn|Rösch|2021a|p=26}} The premiere took place on 9 August 1949 at the [[Salzburg Festival]]. Orff followed ''Antigonae'' with ''Oedipus der Tyrann'', also using Hölderlin's translation of [[Oedipus Rex|Sophocles's play]], and ''Prometheus,'' using the original language of the [[Prometheus Bound|Greek play]] attributed to [[Aeschylus]]. Their premieres took place in Stuttgart, respectively in 1959 and 1968, conducted by [[Ferdinand Leitner]]. All three of the Greek tragedies make no cuts or alterations to the texts.{{sfn|Rösch|2003|p=17}}

The Greek tragedies are scored for highly unusual ensembles centered on large percussion ensembles, which include non-Western instruments and numerous mallet instruments (including [[lithophone]]), and several pianos (four in ''Prometheus'' and six in the other two); the traditional string section is dispensed with excepting nine contrabasses. They also have six flutes and six oboes (with various auxiliary doublings of piccolo, alto flute, and English horn), as well as trumpets (six in ''Antigonae'' and ''Prometheus''; eight in ''Oedipus der Tyrann'', behind the scene). ''Oedipus der Tyrann'' and ''Prometheus'' also have six trombones and organ. All three works also have four harps; there is additionally mandolin in ''Oedipus der Tyrann'' and four tenor banjos in ''Prometheus''.

Following the premiere of ''Prometheus'', [[Everett Helm]] wrote: {{Blockquote | <p>Orff does not make things easy for either singers or audience. But the retention of the original text undoubtedly evoked a mood such as could not have been created by a modern language.</p><p>"Prometheus" is not an opera in the usual sense. Like other works by Orff, it is music theater in which the music is part of, and subordinated to, the dramatic whole. The voices declaim almost constantly – either in spoken rhythm or in a kind of psalmodic recitative. Only occasionally (and most effectively) does the stark psalmody give way to melismas that recall the more florid passages of Gregorian chant. There is no semblance of arias or concerted numbers.</p><p>... Brief interludes in the orchestra have the character of interjections. There is no development, either musical or psychological. The huge blocks of sound produce a static, immobile form and atmosphere ... The makeup of the orchestra ... produces, hard, metallic sounds, mercilessly driven by primitive ostinato rhythms. The whole effect is elemental to a degree, but in no sense naive. Orff's stylized primitivism masks a high degree of sophistication.<ref>{{cite news |last=Helm |first=Everett |date=7 April 1968 |work=New York Times |title='Prometheus' Bound to Music |page=D17}}</ref></p>}}

Orff's final work for the stage, ''[[De temporum fine comoedia]]'' (''Play on the End of Times''), had its premiere at the [[Salzburg Festival]] on 20 August 1973, performed by [[Herbert von Karajan]] and the [[WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne]] and Chorus. It has a large cast and similar scoring to the Greek tragedies with some exceptions, notably clarinetists (all with E-flat clarinets) instead of oboists and the addition of contrabassoon, horns, and tuba. Thomas Rösch has called this work "in many respects the summation of [Orff's] entire work."{{sfn|Rösch|2004|p=1401; original language: "in vielerlei Hinsicht die Summe des gesamten Schaffens"}} There is no evidence Orff considered writing another stage work after ''De temporum fine comoedia'', and in 1979 he told an interviewer he was certain it was the end (''Schluß'') of his composition.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lewinski |first=W.-E. v. |date=14 July 1979 |title='Ich wollte nie modern sein': Gespräch mit dem Komponisten Carl Orff |work=Allgemeine Zeitung}}</ref> In this highly personal work, Orff presented a [[mystery play]], sung in Greek, German, and Latin, in which he summarized his view of the end of time. His philosophy draws from many religious traditions, primarily [[Origen]]'s idea of [[apocatastasis]]. ''De temporum fine comoedia'' also makes numerous references to Orff's previous compositions, notably ''Die Bernauerin''.{{sfn|Rösch|2021b|pages=178–189}}{{sfn|Rösch|2015|pp=247–299}}{{sfn|Kohler|2015|pp=336–360}} Around the time of the premiere, he said that his works are "as with an onion: one layer follows the others." On the same occasion, he said of ''De temporum fine comoedia'': "It is all a dream, only a fantasy. Pessimistic, optimistic, as anyone wants."<ref>{{cite news |last=Esser |first=Doris |date=21 August 1973 |title=Das Lebenswerk ist wie eine Zwiebel |work=Salzburger Nachrichten}} 29. Jahrgang, Nummer 192, p. 5 (English translation from Kohler 2015, pp. 357–358). Original language: "wie bei einer Zwiebel, eine Schale folgt auf die andere." / "Es ist alles ein Traum, nur eine Phantasie. Pessimistisch, optimistisch, wie jeder will."</ref>

===Pedagogic works===
[[File:Ruhmeshalle Muenchen Carl Orff Komponist-1.jpg|thumb|upright|Bust of Carl Orff in the Munich [[Bavaria statue#The Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame]] (2009)]]
In [[pedagogy|pedagogical]] circles he is probably best remembered for his ''[[Orff Schulwerk|Schulwerk]]'' ("School Work"). Originally a set of pieces composed and published for the ''Güntherschule'' (which had students ranging from 12 to 22),<ref>Carl Orff Documentation trans. Margaret Murray, published by [[Schott Music]], 1978</ref> this title was also used for his books based on radio broadcasts in Bavaria in 1949. These pieces are collectively called ''Musik für Kinder'' (''Music for Children''), and also use the term ''Schulwerk'', and were written in collaboration with his former pupil, composer and educator [[Gunild Keetman]] (1904–1990), who actually wrote most of the settings and arrangements in the "Musik für Kinder" ("Music for Children") volumes.

Orff's ideas were developed, together with Gunild Keetman, into a very innovative approach to music education for children, known as the Orff Schulwerk. The music is elemental and combines movement, singing, playing, and improvisation.

''[[Gassenhauer]]'', ''Hexeneinmaleins'', and ''Passion'', which Orff composed with Keetman, were used as theme music for [[Terrence Malick]]'s film ''[[Badlands (film)|Badlands]]'' (1973).

===List of compositions===

Carl Orff's publisher is [[Schott Music]].<ref name="z676">{{cite web | title=Carl Orff | website=[[Schott Music]] | date=29 March 1982 | url=https://www.schott-music.com/en/person/carl-orff | access-date=14 August 2024}}</ref>

I. Concert and Stage Works{{efn| Excepting where otherwise noted, information for dates according to Orff-Zentrum München webpage, https://www.ozm.bayern.de/kuenstlerisches_werk/ (accessed 13 August 2022).}}

Stage works
* ''Gisei: Das Opfer'', Opus 20, libretto adapted by Orff from ''Terakoya'', a portion of ''[[Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami]]'' in translation by {{ill|Karl Florenz|de}} (1913, premiere 30 January 2010)
* Incidental music for [[Georg Büchner]]'s play ''[[Leonce und Lena]]'' (1918–19), unpublished and only partially extant{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|pp=62, 141–145, 264–269, Vol. I}}  (manuscript in Orff-Zentrum München)
* Lamenti (first performed as cycle on 15 May 1958)
** ''Klage der Ariadne'', reshaping of the lament from [[Claudio Monteverdi]] and [[Ottavio Rinuccini]]'s ''[[L'Arianna]]'', German text by Orff (1925, premiere 16 April 1925; reworked 1940)
** ''Orpheus'', reshaping of Claudio Monteverdi and [[Alessandro Striggio]]'s ''[[L'Orfeo]]'', German text by Dorothee Günther (1922–1925, premiere 17 April 1925; reworked 1929 and 1940)
** ''Tanz der Spröden'', reshaping of Monteverdi and Rinuccini's ''[[Il ballo delle ingrate]]'', German text by Günther (1925, premiere 28 December 1925; reworked 1940)
* [[Trionfi (Orff)|Trionfi]]. Trittico teatrale (premiere 14 February 1953)
** ''[[Carmina Burana (Orff)|Carmina Burana]]. Cantiones profanae cantoribus et choris cantandae comitantibus instrumetis atque imaginibus magicis'', texts from ''[[Carmina Burana]]'' codex (1934–1936, premiere 8 June 1937)
** ''[[Catulli Carmina]]. Ludi scaenici'', texts by Orff (Praelusio and Exodium) and Catullus (Actus I–III), incorporating material from ''Catulli Carmina I'' choruses (1941–1943, premiere 6 November 1943)
** ''[[Trionfo di Afrodite]]. Concerto scenico'', texts by [[Sappho]], Catullus, and [[Euripides]] (1947–1951, premiere 14 February 1953)
* Märchenstücke (Fairy tales)
** ''[[Der Mond]]'', libretto by Orff after the [[Brothers Grimm]] (1936–1938, premiere 5 February 1939; reworked 1940, 1942, 1946, 1957, 1970)
** ''[[Die Kluge]]'', libretto by Orff after the Brothers Grimm (1941–1942, premiere 20 February 1943)
** ''Ein Sommernachtstraum'', incidental music to play by [[William Shakespeare]] in translation by [[August Wilhelm Schlegel]] (drafts 1917 and 1927–1928; completed version 1938–1939, premiere 14 October 1939; reworked 1943–44 (unperformed); reworked 1952, premiere 30 October 1952; reworked 1962, premiere of final version 12 March 1964)
* Bairisches Welttheater (Bavarian world theatre)
** ''[[Die Bernauerin]]'' (1944–1946, premiere 15 June 1947)
** ''{{ill|Astutuli|de}}'' (1946–1948, premiere 20 October 1953)
** ''Comoedia de Christi Resurrectione'' (1955, premiere 31 March 1956 on television; stage premiere 21 April 1957) – [[Easter Drama|Easter Play]]
** ''{{ill|Ludus de nato Infante mirificus|de}}'' (1960, premiere 11 December 1960) – [[Nativity play]]
* Theatrum Mundi
** ''[[Antigonae]]'', setting of Sophocles's play in translation by Friedrich Hölderlin (1940–1949, premiere 9 August 1949)
** ''{{ill|Oedipus der Tyrann|de}}'', setting of Sophocles's play in translation by Hölderlin (1951–58, premiere 11 December 1959)
** ''[[Prometheus (Orff)|Prometheus]]'', setting of play attributed to [[Aeschylus]] in original Greek (1960–67, premiere 24 March 1968)
** ''[[De temporum fine comoedia]]'' (1970–71, premiere 20 August 1973; reworked 1979 and 1981)

Vocal works
*Choral with instruments
** ''Zarathustra'', Opus 14 for baritone soloist, three tenor-bass choruses, ensemble, and organ on texts of Nietzsche (1911–1912), unpublished (manuscript at [[Bayerische Staatsbibliothek]] (Munich), Musiklesesaal, Orff.ms. 43 and Orff.ms. 44)
** ''Treibhauslieder,'' Traumspiel on texts of [[Maurice Maeterlinck]] (1913–14), drafted but score largely destroyed by composer{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|pp=53–58, 127–139, 245, Vol. I}} (surviving sketches in Orff-Zentrum München)
** ''Des Turmes Auferstehung'' for tenor-bass chorus, orchestra, and organ on texts by [[Franz Werfel]] (1920–21, premiere 6 December 1995)
** Werkbuch I – cantatas on texts of Franz Werfel{{efn| In ''Veni Creator Spiritus'' and ''Der gute Mensch,'' all three movements are recompositions of earlier Lieder on the same texts from 1920. The second movement of ''Fremde sind wir'' uses the same poetry of one of the earlier Lieder; the music has similarity to the earlier work.}} 
*** I. ''Veni creator spiritus'' for chorus, pianos, and percussion (premiere 7 October 1930; revised 1968)
*** II. ''Der gute Mensch'' for chorus, pianos, and percussion (premiere 11 October 1930; revised 1968)
*** III. ''Fremde sind wir'' for chorus, violins, and contrabasses; reworked version for chorus and pianos (premiere 10 July 1935; reworked 1968)
** Werkbuch II – cantatas on texts of [[Bertolt Brecht]] for chorus, pianos, and percussion (1930–1931, reworked 1968–1973)
*** I. ''Von der Freundlichkeit der Welt'' (first published 1973, premiere 19 March 1979)
*** II. ''Vom Frühjahr, Öltank, und vom Fliegen'' (first published 1932, premiere 11 July 1965; revised 1968)
** ''Dithyrambi'' for mixed chorus and instruments on texts of [[Friedrich Schiller]] 
*** I. ''Die Sänger der Vorwelt'' (1955, premiere 3 August 1956; reworked 1981)
*** II. ''Nänie und Dithyrambe'' (1956, premiere 4 December 1956; reworked 1981)
** ''Rota'' for children's chorus, mixed chorus, and instruments on traditional old English text "[[Sumer is icumen in]]" (1972, premiere 26 August 1972 at opening ceremonies of the [[1972 Summer Olympics]])
** ''Sprechstücke'' for speaker, spoken chorus, and percussion on anonymous texts and texts by Bertolt Brecht (1976)
*Vocal a cappella
** "Der sinnende Storch", Op. 7 for SATB vocal quartet on text of Franz Josef Stritt (1911),{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|p=241, Vol. I}} unpublished (manuscript at Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Munich), Musiklesesaal, Orff.ms. 30)
** ''Ave Maria'' for mixed chorus (ca. 1912–1914, premiere 23 July 1982)
** ''Cantus-Firmus-Sätze I: Zwölf alte Melodien für Singstimmen oder Instrumente'' (1925–1932, first published in 1932; republished in 1954 without Nos. 6 and 7)
** ''Catulli Carmina I'', seven movements for mixed chorus on texts by Catullus (1930, published 1931;{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|pp=9–26, Vol. 4 has a reprint of this publication, which is otherwise out of print}} six movements incorporated into ''Catulli Carmina: Ludi scaeni''; the other republished in 1979 as "Lugete o veneres")
** ''Catulli Carmina II'', three movements for mixed chorus on texts by Catullus (1931, published 1932),{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|pp=28–37, Vol. 4 has a reprint of the original publication}} revised and republished as ''Concento di voci I: Sirmio, Tria Catulli Carmina'' (1954)
** ''Concento di voci II: Laudes creaturarum: Quas fecit Beatus Franciscus ad Laudem et Honorem Dei'' for eight-part mixed chorus on text of [[Francis of Assisi]] (1954, premiere 21 July 1957)
** ''Concento di voci III: Sunt lacrimae rerum. Cantiones seriae'' for tenor-bass chorus; texts of the three movements respectively by [[Orlando di Lasso]], from Ecclesiastes 3, and anonymous (1956, premiere 21 July 1957)
* Solo voice
** With Piano<ref>{{harvnb|Henkel|Messmer|2021|pp=234–235}} Unless otherwise noted, is the source of information for songs with piano. For further information on textual sources, see {{harvnb|Kohler|2015|pp=3683–372}}.</ref>
** Note: A publication of Orff's songs from 1910 to 1920 is in preparation. Only a few of the following were published around the time of their composition; the publishing house was Ernst Germann & Co. (see below for Opp. 12, 13 No. 3, 15, 17, and 18 No. 1). In 1975, Orff selected some to be printed in ''Carl Orff und sein Werk: Dokumentation'', Vol. 1;{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|pp=255–263, 275–327 |postscript=. The songs included are Opus 6 No. 2, Opus 8 No. 2, Opus 13 No. 1, and the songs composed from 1919 to 1920 (the 2 Lieder for High Voice in manuscript facsimile).}} in 1982, most of these were published in a score intended for performance.<ref>[https://www.schott-music.com/de/fruehe-lieder-noc37379.html ''Frühe Lieder''] (Schott ED 7024). The songs present in ''Dokumentation'' but omitted from this publication are Opus 13 No. 1 and three of the Werfel settings: "Lächeln, Atmen, Schreiten", "Fremde sind wir", and "Veni creator spiritus".</ref>
*** Early songs without opus number: "Altes Weihnachtslied (Es ist ein Ros entsprungen)"; "Winternacht", text by [[Joseph Eichendorff]]; "Der einsame Fichtenbaum", text by Heinrich Heine; "Die Lust vergeht, Die Lilie", text by Mathilde von Bayern; "Das weiß ich genau" (Volksweise); "Mein süßes Lieb"
*** ''Frühlingslieder'' for soprano or tenor, Opus 1 (1911), texts by Ludwig Uhland
*** 9 Lieder for soprano or tenor, Opus 2 (1910–11), texts by Mathilde von Bayern (Nos. 1 and 2), Gustav Renner (No. 3), [[Nikolaus Lenau]] (No. 4), {{ill|Adolf Friedrich Graf von Schack|de}} (No. 5), [[Julius Mosen]] (No. 6), Rudolf Baumbach (No. 7), [[Detlev von Liliencron]] (No. 8), Friedrich Hölderlin (No. 9)
*** 3 Lieder for Alto or Baritone, Opus 3 (1911), texts by August Kalkoff (No. 1), [[Theodor Storm]] (No. 2), Hermann Lingg (No. 3)
*** "Die Wallfahrt nach Kevlaar" for low voice, Opus 4 (1911), text by Heinrich Heine
*** "Zlatorog" for low voice, Opus 5 (1911), text by Rudolf Baumbach
*** 2 Lieder, Opus 6 (1911): No. 1 for baritone, text by Ludwig August Frankl; No. 2 for low voice, text by Richard Beer-Hofmann
*** 5 Lieder for soprano, Opus 8 (1910–11), texts by Theodor Storm (No. 1), Hermann Lingg (No. 2), Mathilde von Bayern (No. 3), [[Hermann Vogel (German illustrator)|Hermann Vogel]] (No. 4), Hans Mayr (No. 5)
*** 6 Lieder for tenor, Opus 9 (1911), texts by Börries von Münchhausen (No. 1), Heinrich Heine (Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 6), Semper (No. 5; text unidentified, possibly by Ernst Leberecht Semper{{sfn|Kohler|2015|page=370}})
*** 3 Lieder, Opus 10 (1911), texts by Heinrich Heine (No. 1), by [[Wilhelm Hertz]] (No. 2), and from [[Friedrich Fischbach]]'s edition of [[Edda]] (No. 3)
*** 3 Lieder, Opus 11 (1911), texts by [[Oskar von Redwitz]] (No. 1), from Friedrich Nietzsche's ''Also sprach Zarathustra'' (No. 2), and by [[Ernst Moritz Arndt]] (No. 3)
*** ''Eliland: Ein Sang von Chiemsee'', song cycle, Opus 12 (1911, published 1912), text by Karl Stieler 
*** 3 Lieder, Opus 13 (1911; No. 3 published in 1912 as Opus 13), texts by Heinrich Heine (Nos. 1 and 2) and {{ill|Max Haushofer Jr.|de}} (No. 3)
*** "Des Herzen Slüzzelin", Op. 15 (1912, published same year)
*** Lieder, Opus 17 (1912, published that same year), texts by [[Martin Greif (poet)|Martin Greif]] (No. 1) and from [[Paul Heyse]]'s translations of Tuscan folksongs (No. 2, comprising three individual songs)
*** 4 Lieder, Opus 18 (1912; No. 1 published that same year), texts by Börries von Münchhausen
*** 2 Lieder, Opus 19 (1912), texts by Walther von der Vogelweide
*** 2 Lieder for High Voice (1919): "Bitte", text by Nikolas Lenau; "Mein Herz ist wie ein See so weit", text by Friedrich Nietzsche
*** 3 Lieder for High Voice on texts by [[Klabund]] (1919): "Zwiegespräch", "Blond ist mein Haar", "Herr, ich liebte"
*** The First 5 Lieder und Gesänge on Texts by Franz Werfel (1920): "Als mich dein Wandeln", "Rache", "Ein Liebeslied", "Mondlied eines Mädchens", "Der gute Mensch" (of these, "Ein Liebeslied" and "Der gute Mensch" incorporated into Werkbuch I; see Choral Works)
*** The Second 5 Lieder und Gesänge on Texts by Franz Werfel (1920): "Lächeln, Atmen, Schreiten", "Litanei eines Kranken", "Nacht", "Fremde sind wir", "Veni creator spiritus" (all incorporated into Werkbuch I; see Choral Works)
** With Orchestra
*** Orchestral version of 4 Lieder, Opus 18 (1912),{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|p=243, Vol. I (note, however, this source incorrectly states that Nos. 2–4 are no longer extant)}} unpublished (manuscript at Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Orff.ms. 41 and 42); see under "Solo Voice – With Piano"
*** 3 Lieder for Tenor and Orchestra on texts of [[Richard Dehmel]] (1919),{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|pp=62–63, 145–153, 245, 270, Vol. 1}} unpublished (manuscript at Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Musiklesesaal, Orff.ms. 9 and Orff.ms.10)

Instrumental
*Orchestral
** ''Tanzende Faune: Ein Orchesterspiel'', Opus 21 (1914, premiere 6 December 1995)
** ''Entrata'' for large orchestra in five antiphonal groups, after "The Bells" by [[William Byrd]] (1539–1623) (1928, premiere 1930; reworked 1940, premiere 28 February 1941)
* Ensemble
** ''Kleines Konzert nach Lautensätzen aus dem 16. Jh.'', after lute works by [[Vincenzo Galilei]], [[Jean-Baptiste Besard]], and anonymous (1927, premiere 11 December 1928; reworked 1937 and 1975)
*Chamber
** Quartettsatz in B minor for string quartet, Opus 22 (ca. 1914, premiere 5 July 1989)
** Quartettsatz in C minor for string quartet (1921, premiere 18 October 2007)
** Präludium und Kanon for four viols and cembalo (ca. 1923), unpublished; Kanon later used at the end of ''De temporum fine comoedia''
*Solo Piano
** Tonbild nach Andersen, Opus 16 (1912),{{sfn|Orff|1975–1983|p=243, Vol. 1|postscript=. The literary source for this "Tonbild" is [[Hans Christian Andersen]]'s ''A Picture Book without Pictures,'' "Twenty-Seventh Evening."}} unpublished (manuscript at Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Musiklesesaal, Orff.ms. 39)

II. Pedagogical Works

*[[Orff Schulwerk]]
** ''Musik für Kinder'' (with [[Gunild Keetman]]) (1930–35, reworked 1950–54)
** ''Tanzstück'' (1933)
** ''[[Gassenhauer]]''

== Legacy ==
On 2 November 2025, the Carl Orff Museum opens at [[Ammersee]] on initiative of the Carl Orff foundation.<ref name="m084">{{cite web | title=Carl Orff-Museum öffnet am Ammersee | website=[[nmz]] - neue musikzeitung | date=October 29, 2025 | url=https://www.nmz.de/bildung-praxis/carl-orff-museum-oeffnet-am-ammersee | language=de | access-date=October 29, 2025}}</ref><ref name="w768">{{cite web | title=Das neue Carl Orff Museum | website=COMU | date=January 1, 1970 | url=https://co-mu.de/ | language=de | access-date=October 29, 2025}}</ref>

==Notes and references==
{{notelist|45em}}

===References===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
{{div col|colwidth=45em}}
* {{cite news |last=Brembeck |first=Reinhard J. |date=1999a |title=Mitläufer oder Widerstandskämpfer? Ein neues Dokument hat einen Historikerstreit über die Rolle des Komponisten Carl Orff im Nationalsozialismus ausgelöst |work=[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]]|language=de}}, 8 February 1999, Münchner Kultur, p.&nbsp;16.
*{{cite news |last=Busch-Frank |first=Sabine |date=24 June 2020 |title='Er war politisch erschreckend naiv.' Der Wiener Historiker Oliver Rathkolb hat das Leben Carl Orffs in der NS-Zeit untersucht |work={{ill|Donaukurier|de}}|url=https://www.donaukurier.de/archiv/er-war-politisch-erschreckend-naiv-1949540 |access-date=20 August 2022 |language=de}}
* {{Cite NDB|19|588|591|Orff, Carl|Dangel-Hofmann, Frohmut|118590219|ref={{harvid|Dangel-Hofmann|1999}}}}
* {{cite journal|last=Davenport|first=Mark|date=September 1995|title=Carl Orff: The Katz Connection|journal=The American Recorder|volume=XXXVI|issue=4|pages=7–15, 34–39}}
* {{Cite book |title=The Drama of Carl Orff: From 'Unerwünscht' to Postmodernity. |last=DCamp |first=Richard M. |date=1995 |publisher=PhD. dissertation |location=University of Iowa}}
* {{cite journal|last=Drobnitsch|first=Helmut|year=1989|title=Ahnen Prominenter Bayern VII. Die Familie des Komponisten Carl Orff (1895–1982)|journal=Blätter des bayerischen Landesvereins für Familienkunde|volume=52|pages=73–83}}
* {{cite book |last=Gläß |first=Susanne |date=2008 |title=Carl Orff: Carmina Burana |publisher=Bärenreiter |location=Kassel |isbn=978-3-7618-1732-2}}
* {{cite journal|last=Haas |first=Barbara |date=2004 |title=Die Münchner Komponisten-Trio: Das nicht immer unproblematische Verhältnis zwischen Orff, Egk und Hartmann |editor-last=Dibelius |editor-first=Ulrich |publisher=Bärenreiter |location=Kassel |journal=Karl Amadeus Hartmann: Komponist Im Widerstreit |pages=228–250}}
* {{cite book|editor1-last=Henkel|editor1-first=Theresa|editor2-last=Messmer|editor2-first=Franzpeter|date=2021|title=Carl Orff|series=Komponisten in Bayern|volume=65|language=de|publisher=Allitera|location=Munich|isbn=978-3-96233-296-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Hennenberg |first=Fritz |date=2011 |title=Orff-Studien |publisher=Engelsdorfer Verlag |location=Leipzig |isbn=978-3-86268-452-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Karner |first=Otto |title=Komponisten unterm Hakenkreuz: Sieben Komponistportraits während der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus |date=2002 |location=University of Vienna |publisher=PhD. dissertation (unpublished)}}
* {{cite journal|last=Kater|first=Michael H.|author-link=Michael Hans Kater|year=1995|title=Carl Orff im Dritten Reich|trans-title=Carl Orff in the Third Reich|journal=Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte|volume=43|issue=1|pages=1–35|issn=0042-5702|url=http://www.ifz-muenchen.de/heftarchiv/1995_1_1_kater.pdf|format=PDF, 1.6 MB|language=de}}
* {{cite book |last=Kater |first=Michael H. |date=2000 |title=Composers of the Nazi Era: Eight Portraits |url=https://archive.org/details/composersofnazie0000kate|url-access=registration |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-515286-9 }}
* {{cite book |last=Kater|first=Michael H. |date=2019|title=Culture in Nazi Germany |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven|doi=10.2307/j.ctvfc542q |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvfc542q}}
* {{cite thesis|last=Kohler|first=Andrew S.|date=2015|title='Grey C, Acceptable': Carl Orff's Professional and Artistic Responses to the Third Reich|type=PhD dissertation|publisher=University of Michigan|hdl=2027.42/111359 |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/111359}}
* {{cite journal |last=Kowalke |first=Kim H.|date=Spring 2000 |title=Burying the Past: Carl Orff and His Brecht Connection |journal=[[The Musical Quarterly]]|volume=84 |issue=1 |pages=58–83|doi=10.1093/mq/84.1.58|jstor=742576}}
* {{cite book |last=Liess |first=Andreas |translator-last=Parkin |translator-first=Adelheid and Herbert |date=1966 |title=Carl Orff: His Life and His Music |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7145-0151-2}}
* {{cite journal |last=Monod |first=David |editor-last=Kater |editor-first=Michael H. and Albrecht Riethmüller |date=2003 |title=''Verklärte Nacht'': Denazifiying Musicians Under American Control |journal=Music and Nazism: Art Under Tyranny, 1933–1945 |publisher=Laaber |location=Laaber |pages=292–314}}
* {{cite book |last=Monod |first=David |year=2005 |title=Settling Scores: German Music, Denazification, & the Americans, 1945–1953 |publisher=The University of North Carolina Press |location=Chapel Hill and London}}
* {{cite journal |last=Orff |first=Carl |date =1964 |title=Musik zum Sommernachtstraum: Ein Bericht|journal=Shakespeare-Jahrbuch|volume=100|pages=117–34}}
* {{cite book |last=Orff |first=Carl |title=Carl Orff und sein Werk. Dokumentation. 8 vols.|publisher=Hans Schneider |location=Tutzing |date=1975–1983}} {{ISBN|978-3-7952-0154-8|3-7952-0162-4|3-7952-0202-7|3-7952-0257-4|3-7952-0294-9|3-7952-0308-2|3-7952-0308-2|3-7952-0373-2}}.
* {{cite book |last=Orff |first=Godela |date=1995 |title=Mein Vater und ich |publisher=Piper |location=Munich |isbn=978-3-492-18332-1}}
* {{cite AV media|last=Palmer|first=Tony|author-link=Tony Palmer (director)|type=DVD |title=O, Fortuna! |date=2008 |publisher=Voiceprint (TP-DVD118)}}
*{{cite book |last=Painter |first=Karen |date=2007 |title=Symphonic Aspirations: German Music and Politics, 1900–1945 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=978-0-674-02661-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Prieberg |first=Fred K. |date =2009 |title=Handbuch Deutsche Musiker 1933–1945 |edition=2nd. |publisher=Self-published CD-Rom}}
* {{cite book |last=Rathkolb |first=Oliver |date=2021 |title=Carl Orff und der Nationalsozialismus. Publikationen des Orff-Zentrums München, Band II/2 |publisher=Schott Music|location=Mainz |isbn=978-3-79-572755-0}}
* {{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/05/movies/reverberations-going-beyond-carmina-burana-and-beyond-orff-s-stigma.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Reverberations; Going Beyond 'Carmina Burana,' and Beyond Orff's Stigma |first=John |last=Rockwell |author-link=John Rockwell |date=5 December 2003 |access-date=13 February 2019}}
* {{cite book |last=Rösch |first=Thomas |date=2003 |title=Die Musik in den griechischen Tragödien von Carl Orff |publisher=Hans Schneider |location=Tutzing |series=Münchner Veröffentlichungen zur Musikgeschichte, Bd. 59 |isbn=978-3-7952-0976-6}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Rösch |first=Thomas |encyclopedia=Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart |edition=2nd |date=2004 |publisher=Bärenreiter Verlag |location=Kassel |title=Orff, Carl |volume=12 |pages=1397–1409}}
* {{cite book |last=Rösch |first=Thomas |date=2009 |title=Carl Orff – Musik zu Shakespeares "Ein Sommernachtstraum". Entstehung und Deutung |publisher=Orff-Zentrum |location=Munich}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Rösch |editor-first=Thomas |date=2015 |title=Text, Musik, Szene – Das Musiktheater von Carl Orff. Symposium Orff-Zentrum München 2007 |publisher=Schott |location=Mainz |isbn=978-3-7957-0672-2}}
* {{harvc|last=Rösch|first=Thomas|anchor-year=2021a|chapter=Carl Orff 1895–1982. Der Lebensweg eines Musiktheater-Komponisten im 20. Jahrhundert|in1=Henkel|in2=Messmer|year=2021|chapter-url=https://www.ozm.bayern.de/carl-orff-leben/|pages=11–44}}
* {{harvc|last=Rösch|first=Thomas|anchor-year=2021b|chapter=Carl Orff. ''De temporum fine comoedia''|in1=Henkel|in2=Messmer|year=2021|pages=178–189}}
* {{cite book |last=Schaffner |first=Bertram |date=1948 |title=Fatherland: A Study of Authoritarianism in the Germany Family |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York}}
* {{cite journal |last=Seifert |first=Wolfgang |date=1970 |title='...auf den Geist kommt es an': Carl Orff zum 75. Geburtstag – Kommentar und Gespräch |journal=[[Neue Zeitschrift für Musik]]|volume=131 |issue=7/8 July/August |pages=370–377}} Interview with Orff and Wolfgang Seifert (1932–2013) on pp.&nbsp;373–377; interview reprinted in {{harvnb|Henkel|Messmer|2021|pp=45–55}}.
* {{cite book |editor-last=Willnauer |editor-first=Franz |date=1995 |title=Carmina Burana von Carl Orff: Entstehung, Wirkung, Text |publisher=Piper-Schott |location=Mainz}}
{{div col end}}

==Further reading==
{{div col|colwidth=45em}}
* {{cite book |last=Attfield |first=Nicholas |date=2010 |chapter=Re-staging the Welttheater: A Critical View of Carl Orff's ''Antigonae'' and ''Oedipus der Tyrann''|title=Ancient Drama in Music for the Modern Stage |editor1-last=Brown|editor1-first=Peter|editor2=Suzana Ograjenšek|doi=10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199558551.003.0018|isbn=978-0-19-955855-1|pages=340–368|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Dangel-Hofmann |first=Frohmut |date=1990 |title=Carl Orff – Michel Hofmann. Briefe zur Entstehung der Carmina burana |publisher=Hans Schneider |location=Tutzing |isbn=978-3-7952-0639-0|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Edelmann |first=Bernd |editor-last=Weigand |editor-first=Katharina |date=2011 |title=Große Gestalten der bayerischen Geschichte |chapter=Carl Orff |publisher=Herbert Utz Verlag |location=Munich |isbn=978-3-8316-0949-9|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Fassone |first=Alberto |date=2009 |title=Carl Orff |publisher=Libreria Musicale Italiana |location=Lucca |edition=2nd revised and enlarged |isbn=978-88-7096-580-3|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Gersdorf |first=Lilo |date=2002 |title=Carl Orff |publisher=Rowohlt |location=Reinbek |isbn=978-3-499-50293-4|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Kaufmann |first=Harald |editor1-last=Grünzweig |editor1-first=Werner |editor1-link=Werner Grünzweig |editor2-last=Krieger |editor2-first=Gottfried |date=1993 |title=Von innen und außen. Schriften über Musik, Musikleben und Ästhetik |chapter=Carl Orff als Schauspieler |publisher=Wolke |location=Hofheim |pages=35–40|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Kugler |editor-first=Michael |date=2002 |title=Elementarer Tanz – Elementare Musik: Die Günther-Schule München 1924 bis 1944 |publisher=Schott |location=Mainz |isbn=978-3-7957-0449-0|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Liess |first=Andreas |date=1980 |title=Carl Orff. Idee und Werk |edition=revised |publisher=Goldmann |location=Munich |isbn=978-3-442-33038-6|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Massa |first=Pietro |date=2006 |title=Carl Orffs Antikendramen und die Hölderlin-Rezeption im Deutschland der Nachkriegszeit |publisher=Peter Lang |location=Bern/Frankfurt/New York |isbn=978-3-631-55143-1|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Thomas |first=Werner |date=1990 |title=Das Rad der Fortuna – Ausgewählte Aufsätze zu Werk und Wirkung Carl Orffs |publisher=Schott |location=Mainz |isbn=978-3-7957-0209-0|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Thomas |first=Werner |date=1994 |title=Orffs Märchenstücke. Der Mond – Die Kluge |publisher=Schott |location=Mainz |isbn=978-3-7957-0266-3|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Thomas |first=Werner |date=1997 |title=Dem unbekannten Gott. Ein nicht ausgeführtes Chorwerk von Carl Orff |publisher=Schott |location=Mainz |isbn=978-3-7957-0323-3|ref=none}}
* {{cite journal |last=Yri |first=Kirsten |title=''Lebensreform'' and ''Wandervögel'' Ideals in Carl Orff's ''Carmina Burana'' |journal=[[The Musical Quarterly]]|doi=10.1093/musqtl/gdy007 |date=Fall–Winter 2017 |volume=100 |issue=3–4 |pages=399–428|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Yri |first=Kirsten |editor-last=Meyer |editor-first=Stephen C. |editor-last2=Yri |editor-first2=Kirsten |chapter=Medievalism and Antiromanticism in Carl Orff's ''Carmina Burana'' |title=The Oxford Handbook of Music |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190658441.013.19 |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-065847-2 |pages=269–300|ref=none}}
{{div col end}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Carl Orff}}
{{wikiquote}}
* [http://www.orff.de/index.php?id=2&L=1 Carl Orff Foundation]
* [http://www.orff-zentrum.de/ Orff Center, Munich]
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Carl+Orff Carl Orff Discography]
* [http://osdiscography.com/ Orff Schulwerk Discography]
* [https://archive.today/20130201184836/http://www.schott-music.com/shop/persons/az/carl-orff/index.html Profile, works, discography], Archive [[Schott Music]]
* [https://en.schott-music.com/shop/autoren/carl-orff Carl Orff] at Schott Music
* {{IMDb name|0649758}}
* [http://www.bruceduffie.com/leitner.html Interview] with conductor [[Ferdinand Leitner]] by Bruce Duffie. Leitner was a close friend of Orff and conducted many of his works, including several premieres.

{{Carl Orff|state=collapsed}}
{{Carmina Burana}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Classical music}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orff, Carl}}
[[Category:1895 births]]
[[Category:1982 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century German classical composers]]
[[Category:20th-century German male musicians]]
[[Category:Burials at Andechs Abbey]]
[[Category:Composers from Munich]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Germany]]
[[Category:German Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:German male opera composers]]
[[Category:German music educators]]
[[Category:German opera composers]]
[[Category:German Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]
[[Category:Musicians from the Kingdom of Bavaria]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)]]
[[Category:People educated at Eberhard-Ludwigs-Gymnasium]]