MUNICH, West Germany -- Carl Orff, internationally known composer and teacher of music, has died in a Munich clinic, a clinic spokesman said today. He was 86.
Orff, who won world fame for such works as 'Carmina Burana' and who revolutionized music-teaching in the 1930s with his 'School Book for Children,' died Monday, the spokesman confirmed.
Orff was one of Germany's more famous 20th century composers.
His music reflected his love of literature and a belief in the unity of verse, image, dance and music. In furthering this belief, he invented the musical combinations and rhythms that gave his work what his admirers considered a unique sound.
Born July 10, 1895, the son of a Munich army officer, Orff began to learn the piano, organ and cello at the age of 5 and his very first compositions -- 50 songs written in 1911 at the age of 16 -- were based on poetry by Heine, Hoelderlin and other German classics.
Although his fame spread around the world, he never strayed far from Munich for long, and lived his last years near Lake Ammersee, a few miles outside the city.
It was in Munich that the young Orff studied music and there he founded a school in 1924 with Dorothee Guenther aiming at a new relationship between movement and music. His 'Schulwerk fuer Kinder' (children's school composition), published in various revised editions between 1930 and 1935, revolutionized musical education with its simplicity and emphasis on rhythm.
Orff's most widely acclaimed work, 'Carmina Burana,' a milestone in modern music, was first performed in 1937 in Frankfurt. A composition for choir and solo singers, written mostly in low Latin, it is based on texts from 13th century writings. After the premiere performance Orff disowned his earlier work saying this was to be regarded as his 'Opus 1.'
He was awarded the New York music critics' prize for Carmina Burana in 1954.
The influence of Shakespeare and Greek and Latin tragedies continued throughout Orff's life -- his musical idols were Claude Debussy, Arnold Schoenberg, Richard Strauss and Claudio Monteverdi.
In 1943 Orff completed 'Catulli Carmina' based on the poems of Catullus. This was followed by 'The Clever One' (Die Kluge), completed in 1943 and translated into nine launguages, and 'The Lady from Bernau' (Die Bernauerin), first performed in 1947.
The title role of the Lady was frequently played by the composer's daughter Godela Orff, an actress.
There followed such works as 'A Summer Night's Dream' (1953), 'Trionfo Di Afrodite' (1953), a work based on Latin and Greek texts; the highly acclaimed 'Oedipus the Tyrant' (1959) and 'Prometheus' (1968) performed in old Greek. In 1972 Orff wrote 'Rota' for the opening ceremony of the Munich Olympics.
'The most important thing I have done is this -- I have reconciled music with language again,' Orff once said. 'Music for me is the music of the Greeks -- the unity of sound, language and movement.'
His also wrote an opera, 'Der Mond,' about the kidnapping of the moon.
The composer taught at Munich's University of Music from 1950-60 and in 1961 became head of the newly founded Orff Insitute at the Mozarteum Music Academy in Salzburg, Austria.
He held honorary doctorates at the universities of Tuebingen and Munich and was made a member of the Order of Merit in 1956.
