CARL ORFF

Biography

Composer and music teacher; assistant Kapellmeister, or orchestra

conductor
Born in 1895 to an old Bavarian family, Orf studied piano and cello
while still a young boy. He later studied at the Munich Academy of
Music, graduating in 1914.
The music that he composed during this period shows the influence of
several composers, including Debussy and Richard Strauss.
In 1914, Orf was appointed Kapellmeister at the Munich
Kammerspiele, where he remained until joining the military in 1917.
Discharged from service the following year, Orf continued to work as a
conductor, accepting further positions in Mannheim and Darmstadt
during the 1918-1919 seasons.
Returning to Munich in 1919, Orf studied composition privately with
Heinrich Kaminski while supporting himself as a teacher. In 1924, he
founded the Gntherschule for music and dance with Dorothee
Gnther, dedicating himself to making musical performance accessible
to children. Under his guidance, an entire orchestra of special "Orf
instruments" was designed, enabling children to play music without
formal training.
The following year, Orf made three stage adaptations of works by
Monteverdi. Continuing his work in the area of Baroque music, Orf
became conductor of the Munich Bach society in 1930, a position he
held until 1933.
The experience of performing Baroque music, particularly sacred works
for the stage, convinced Orf that an efective musical performance

must fuse music, words and movement, a goal no doubt partly inspired
by his work with the Gntherschule.
Orf embodied his conception of music in the fabulously successful
Carmina Burana (1937), which in many ways defined him as a
composer. Based on an important collection of Latin and German
Goliard poems found in the monastery of Benediktbeuren, this work
exemplifies Orf's search for an idiom that would reveal the elemental
power of music, allowing the listener to experience music as an
overwhelming, primitive force.
In 1982, Carl Orf died in Munich, where he had spent his entire life.

Process

Processes useful in music lesson planning with the Orf Schulwerk

Approach:

Imitation

Exploration

Improvisation

Composition

His aim was to teach music to children by a set of aesthetic-awareness

principles Orf and Guenther had formulated, based on the idea that
nearly all human beings are musical by nature.
Orf wrote the treatise Schulwerk, which explained these theories and
gave teachers a curriculum of songs and activities employing German
folk songs and poetry.
Even in the late twentieth century, thousands of teachers around the
world are certified in the program, and translated versions of
Schulwerk incorporate the folklore and literature of each culture.
Orf also developed easy-to-learn percussion instruments to use in the
program.

Basic principles

Music, speech and dance are seen as integrated domains

Music, dance and speech complement each other and at the same
time provide starting points for creative activities.
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Rhythm is the common origin to all of them.

Singing, playing and dancing provide stimuli for the group.

Communal music and dance making is an essential ingredient of this

approach. It involves leadership and educates our abilities to listen and
follow others.

Music and dance models provide starting points for improvisations,

creations and compositions.

The Orf Schulwerk Approach includes singing and instrumental playing

with percussion instruments, Recorder and Body Percussion.
Instrumental playing is also integrated with movement, singing and
speech.

Theoretical aspects of music and dance are revealed through creative

work, practice, and performance and then, based on the learning
experience, discussed, recorded and written.

Educational activities are always undertaken with the intention to

create and present music and dance artistically. Therefore the degree
of aesthetic responsibility is high and must be applied both to the
chosen content and the proposed learning outcomes.

Instruments

Although Orf teachers use many books as frameworks, there is no

standardized Orf curriculum.
Orf teachers design their own lesson plans and adapt it to suit the size
of the class and the age of the students. For example, a teacher may
choose a poem or a story to read in class. Students are then asked to
participate by choosing instruments to represent a character or a word
in the story or poem.
As the teacher reads the story or poem again, students add sound
efects by playing the instruments they selected. The teacher then
adds accompaniment by playing Orf instruments. As the lesson
progresses, students are asked to play Orf instruments or add other
instruments.
To keep the whole class involved, others are asked to act-out the story.
3

Folk music and music composed by the children themselves are mostly
used in the Orf classroom. Xylophones (soprano, alto, bass),
metallophones (soprano, alto, bass), glockenspiels (soprano and alto),
castanets, bells, maracas, triangles, cymbals (finger, crash or
suspended), tambourines, timpani, gongs, bongos, steel drums and
conga drums are but some of the percussion instruments used in the
Orf classroom. Other instruments (both pitched and unpitched) that
may be used include cowbell, shakers, wood blocks, rhythm sticks and
etc.
In the Orf classroom, the teacher acts like a conductor who gives cues
to her eager orchestra. If the teacher selected a song, some students
will be chosen as instrumentalists while the rest of the class sings
along. Parts may or may not be notated. If notated, it should be simple
enough for the students to understand. The teacher then provides
students a copy of the notes and/or creates a poster.

"Tell me, I forgetshow me, I rememberInvolve me, I understand." Carl Orf

Rhythm was the most important aspect of music and believed that
music, movement, and speech were inseparable.
Teaching and learning should be active, participatory, and group
oriented rather than receptive, soloistic, and static.
Body percussion (stomp, patschen, clap, snap) is used extensively in
music education, because of its accessibilitythe human body is the
original musical instrument and the only instrument that every student
possesses.
Used for improvisation in pentatonic scale provide simple bourdon
(drone) and ostinato (repetitive) accompaniments for rhythmic speech
and singing, and for ensemble performance of childrens song only
after students have acquired a working vocabulary of musical
experiences are notational symbols introduced.
Orf Notation

 Word Chant (animals/fruits) Bird/Pear (crotchet), Bee-tle/Ap-ple (2

quavers) and etc.
Elements of the Orff Approach
The Orf philosophy is a music education for the whole person. It is
essentially an active music experiential approach. Orf encourages creativity
through the student's natural responses to music.
1. Rhythm
Orf begins with rhythm because it is the most basic of all the elements. He
teaches this through natural speech patterns. For the child, speaking,
singing, music and movement are all naturally connected. The teacher then
leads the students through their own creative process. By connecting speech
patterns to the rhythms, the child can master whatever meter or rhythm is
needed. This naturally also leads to body rhythm patterns and movement to
the music.
2. Melody
Melody is taught in the same way. Simple intervals grow out of the natural
pitches from the words. These intervals combine to make a melody. This
melody can later be put onto instruments. Orf said, "Experience first, then
intellectualize." Only after the playing has been taught does the teaching of
notation occur.
3. Improvisation
Part of the playing and experiencing which is essential to the Orf approach is
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the element of improvisation. As frightening as improvisation seems to be to

adults, it is freeing to children. No rules! The teacher sets up boundaries in
which the child can create his or her own rhythm, melody, or dance.

REFERENCES
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Carl_Orf.aspx
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/carl-orf-mn0000937423/biography
http://www.classicsforkids.com/teachers/orf101.asp