O Fortuna

[Sentinel]

This forum is called Music. So, let's discuss some Music with capital M. What do you people think of this piece of art? A classical piece composed in the thirties by the german Carl Orff, with a set of latin poems from the thirteenth century as lyrics. Here it is translated from Latin to English:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0I8_bOAuso

It's often used as soundtrack in movies these days, even those produced in Hollywood. I personally find it a musical masterpiece. Here it is performed by the Red Army Choir for the Leninists: :lol:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcmlUZf619U

[Sean]

NUm6XUFV8_U
Warning: This may ruin the piece for you for life.

[Sentinel]

:lol: You are twisted.

[Sentinel]

Does anyone know more about Carl Orrf? I'm trying to find out what his political affiliances were. He did live in Nazi Germany after all, but maybe (hopefully) that doesn't necessarily mean that he was sympathetic with the regime.

On the other hand, if he was a regime supporter I'd have to feel ashamed of liking his music, so I hope he wasn't one. The wiki article on him is a bit short and vague on this subject:


Orff's association with the Nazi Party (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Party) has been alleged, but never conclusively established. His Carmina Burana was hugely popular in Nazi Germany after its premiere in Frankfurt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt) in 1937, receiving numerous performances. But the composition with its unfamiliar rhythms was also denounced with racist taunts. He was one of the few German composers under the Nazi regime who responded to the official call to write new incidental music (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incidental_music) for A Midsummer Night's Dream (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Midsummer_Night%27s_Dream) after the music of Felix Mendelssohn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Mendelssohn) had been banned — others refused to cooperate in this. But Orff had already composed music for this play as early as 1917 and 1927, long before this was a favour for the Nazi government.
Orff was a personal friend of Kurt Huber (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Huber), one of the founders of the resistance movement Die Weiße Rose (the White Rose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose)), who was condemned to death by the Volksgerichtshof (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volksgerichtshof) and executed by the Nazis in 1943. Orff by happenstance called at Huber's house on the day after his arrest. Huber's distraught wife begged Orff to use his influence to help her husband, but Orff denied her request. If his friendship with Huber came out, he told her, he would be "ruined". Huber's wife never saw Orff again. Racked by guilt, Orff would later write a letter to his late friend Huber, imploring him for forgiveness. [1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Orff#cite_note-0)[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Orff#cite_note-1)
After World War II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II), Orff, faced with the possible loss of royalties from Carmina Burana, claimed to a denazification (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denazification) officer that he was a member of the White Rose, and was himself involved in the resistance.[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Orff#cite_note-2) There was no evidence for this other than his own word, and other sources dispute his claim. Canadian historian Michael H. Kater (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_H._Kater&action=edit&redlink=1) made in earlier writings a particularly strong case that Orff collaborated with Nazi authorities [4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Orff#cite_note-3), but in his most recent publication "Composers of the Nazi Era: Eight Portraits" (2000) Kater has taken back his earlier accusations to some extent. Orff's assertion that he had been anti-Nazi during the war was accepted by the American denazification authorities, who changed his previous category of "gray unacceptable" to "gray acceptable", enabling him to continue to compose for public presentation.
Orff died at the age of 86 and is buried in the Baroque (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque) church of the beer-brewing Benedictine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedictine) priory of Andechs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andechs_Abbey), south of Munich. His tombstone bears his name, his dates of birth and death, and the Latin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_language) inscription "Summus Finis"(the ultimate goal).


Does any comrade know more about this?

[Invincible Summer]

Modern takes on the piece:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8zNTL2ZS8A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc8jrx3hr1Q

[LOLseph Stalin]

I like this song. I have several different versions on my MP3 player. :lol:

[Brother No. 1]

This song is good. I have heard it before but never knew where it was from.

[Wanted Man]

I'm getting tired of hearing it everywhere.

[Dean]

Yes, awesome. I found out about it because One-Winged Angel from Final Fantasy VII referenced it. Very good album. A set of sexual poems from an ancient german monastery - written by monks. Awesome!

[Dean]

Does anyone know more about Carl Orrf? I'm trying to find out what his political affiliances were. He did live in Nazi Germany after all, but maybe (hopefully) that doesn't necessarily mean that he was sympathetic with the regime.

On the other hand, if he was a regime supporter I'd have to feel ashamed of liking his music, so I hope he wasn't one. The wiki article on him is a bit short and vague on this subject:



Does any comrade know more about this?

Well, personalyl I love Karajan's and Furtwangler's takes on Beethoven. And I like Stravinsky; none of these people (sans beethoven and one of those conducters) were leftist or anti-fascist. You gotta just take what you can from classical, and be glad that Beethoven was a leftist while the other artists didn't add fascist lyrics to those pieces.