Orff, Carl (ôrf), 1895–1982, German composer and educator. After studying at the Academy of Music at Munich, he helped to found the Günter School there in 1924. As a composer Orff wished to simplify music, to return to its primitive components. He attempted to adapt old monodic forms to modern tastes, employing dissonant counterpoint and vigorous rhythms. His most famous work is the Carmina Burana (1937), a scenic oratorio derived from a group of medieval poems in German and Latin (see also Goliardic songs Goliardic songs (gōlēär`dĭk), Late Latin poetry of the "wandering scholars," or Goliards.
..... Click the link for more information. ). This oratorio forms part of a trilogy that includes Catulli Carmina (1943), a scenic cantata based on the works of Catullus; and Trionfo di Afrodite (1953). Orff's other works include the operas Der Mond [the moon] (1939) and Die Kluge [the wise woman] (1943). From 1960 he was head of the Orff School for Music in Munich. His work in music education has attracted a considerable following in the United States.

Orff, Carl

(born July 10, 1895, Munich, Ger.—died March 29, 1982, Munich) German composer and music educator. He trained at the Munich Academy and held several musical posts thereafter. In the 1920s he grew interested in early Baroque music and the association of music with movement. In 1924 he cofounded a school for which he devised a comprehensive music education program (Orff Schulwerk) involving improvisation on specially designed gamelan-like percussion instruments; the program has since come into wide international use. He typically used repetitive rhythms, bare harmonies, and powerfully direct vocal parts, as in his best-known work, the secular oratorio Carmina Burana (1937), which is based on a manuscript of medieval poems.