Carl Orff (1895-1982). German composer and musician
Carl Orff was a German composer who is most famous for his cantata Carmina Burana (1937), which tells the story of the wheel of fortune. His works included Lieder and choral music, as well as operas. Orff studied at the Munich Academy of Music, where he was greatly inspired by the works of Arnold Schoenberg, Claudio Monteverdi and Claude Debussy. In his later years, he developed the ‘Orff Method’ of teaching music, led by rhythm and the use of accessible instruments such as percussion – Orff’s work as an educator was as significant as his compositional legacy. Carmina Burana, which Orff viewed as the beginning of his body of work, despite his many earlier compositions, has been used by many choreographers to create narrative ballets. In 1973, John Butler made a production for American Dance Theatre, and in 1993 Kent Stowell devised a production for Pacific Northwest Ballet. David Bintley’s account for Birmingham Royal Ballet in 1995 was nominated for an Olivier Award in 1997.