If I Could Choose Only One Work By…ORFF



It would have to be…Trionfi (Carmina Burana, Catulli Carmina, Trionfo di Afrodite) Because this trilogy best summarizes the arc of …

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10 thoughts on “If I Could Choose Only One Work By…ORFF”

  1. Great series. What is your choice for Glazunov? There is so much to consider, though I'd imagine The Seasons would be indicative; tuneful, full of colour & variety, & a sumptuous ballet

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  2. Here's my pitch for one work(s) by Palestrina. The Assumpta est Maria chant, motet and mass from the Tallis Scholars. Hearing these in succession provides a blueprint for understanding a large portion of his output and gloriously beautiful singing. Exclude the motet if patience is lacking.

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  3. If I could erase one composer from history so that nobody but his friends and loved ones would ever know that he existed, it would be Orff. I could give a laundry list of reasons, some musical, some political. But when it comes down to it, I just don't like Carmina Burana, and I like the little else I have heard even less. I think the Latin settings by Jan Novak are much better music, and nobody knows them. What a pity.

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  4. De temporum fine Comoedia is the single worst thing I have ever listened to. Like worse than "Gooba" by 6ix9ine.

    No matter how good Carmina Burana is, I will never forgive Orff for that lost hour.

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  5. I think I would have to have a box set of his complete
    schulwerk. If it exists. It's not all good but a lot is very enjoyable. Would a complete series be acceptable if not?
    Yes, I did watch Badlands and was instantly hooked on the music.

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  6. Schulwerk should impress the God with Orff's sincerity – then we can pretend Orff wrote nothing else. He should never have become a concert composer, though if he'd moved to California in the '30s instead of courting the Reich, he may have wound up sounding like Lou Harrison et. al.

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