De temporum fine comoedia

De temporum fine comoedia is a choral opera-oratorio by 20th-century German composer Carl Orff. His last large work, and a personal one, it took ten years to compile the text and another two years to compose ; he revised it in 1979 and again in 1981. Orff presents a mystery play summarizing his view of the end of time sung in Ancient Greek, Latin, and a German translation by Wolfgang Schadewaldt. De temporum fine comoedia was recorded before it was premiered. Herbert von Karajan conducted sessions from 16 to 21 July 1973 in a studio in Leverkusen-Wiesdorf, employing three choruses and the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra. The public and stage premiere took place at the Salzburg Festival a month later, on 20 August, with the same forces and stage direction by August Everding.

Music

Summary/dramatis personae

The opera is in 3 parts, with each part having its own characters.
Part 1 involves 9 Sibyls, represented by female singers.

3 dramatic sopranos
4 mezzo-sopranos
1 alto
1 deep contralto

Part 2 involves 9 anchorites, represented by male singers

There is also a children's choir, along with a tenor section that is heard on a magnetic tape.
Part 3 involves the following roles:

The last beings; represented by three large mixed choirs
The choral leader, a speaking part
Lucifer, who appears near the end, a speaking role

There is also a double chorus of sopranos and altos used near the end, as well as two soloists, tenor and contralto, to represent the "Vox Mundana". A children's choir is also used to represent the "Voces caelestes".

1. Die Sibyllen (The Sibyls)

"Heis theós estin anarchos, hypermegéthaes, agénaetos"
"Opse theü g’aléüsi myloi"
"Pasin homü nyx estin isae tois plüton echusin kai ptochois"
"Choneusó gar hapanta kai eis katharón dialexó"
"Vae! Ibunt impii in gehennam ignis eterni"

Orchestration

The music requires a very unusual, and possibly symmetrical orchestra:

6 flutes
6 E clarinets *
contrabassoon
6 horns in F
8 trumpets in C
6 trombones
tuba
a consort of 4 viols
8 contrabasses
electronic tape
an enormous amount of percussion
3 harps
3 pianos, each with two players
electronic organ
In an intermediary revision of the work, Orff had all six clarinets in B.

The percussion section, requiring about 25 to 30 players, consists of:

2 snare drums
6 tambourines
3 tenor drums
2 bass drums
3 darabukka
3 tom-toms
6 congas
bass conga
4 "timpanetti" with unpitched wooden drum heads
5 timpani
5 crotales
5 suspended cymbals
1 pair of crash cymbals
3 copper tam-tams
2 tam-tams
gong pitched to low C
dobaci pitched to C
5 high bronze bells "at the interval of a semitone"
two sets of tubular bells
triangle
guiro
whip
maracas
6 castanets
hyoshigi*
angklung
3 wood bells, actually referring to temple blocks
5 wood blocks
"simple" and "double" ratchets
3 "large church ratchets"
4 water glasses
celesta
2 glockenspiels
lithophone
metallophone
xylophone
tenor xylophone
bass xylophone
2 marimbas
The hyoshigi are used only on the inside of the piano at the climax of part 3, where they are struck hard on the piano strings by a percussionist. In the original score, they were used in one other passage as well.

The total forces used for the taped sections are

piccolo
8 flutes
10 trumpets in C
4 trombones
2 pianos
grand church organ
glockenspiel
marimba
crotales
timpano, as well as large vocal forces:
tenor and contralto solos
a large chorus ; a tenor section, and double-chorus of sopranos and altos
a children's chorus.

There is also one spoken part, an echo of one of the sibyls' spoken dialogue, accompanied by wind machine.

Tape sections

The music on the magnetic tape is used in four different places, most notably at the end when Lucifer appears.
The first section is used in part 1, and requires the following instruments:

The second section, also used in part 1 utilizes the following:

wind machine, accompanying an echo of one of the Sibyl's dialogue.

The third section is used in part 2:

A children's choir and tenor section
2 trumpets in C
crotales
glockenspiel
marimba
timpano
2 pianos

The fourth and final section is used towards the end of part 3. In Orff's final revision in 1981, this taped section was omitted and instead given to players in the orchestra:

8 flutes
10 trumpets in C, intoning a fanfare to heaven
4 trombones
A female chorus
tenor and contralto soloists
children's choir

1979 revision

Orff later made extensive revisions to De temporum fine comoedia with many changes in orchestration. In his 1981 revision the following instruments were added:

1 snare drum, bringing the total number to 3
7 water glasses, bringing the total to 11
grand church organ, in return omitting it on tape

The following instruments were eliminated:

triangle
3 timpanetti, leaving only 1
All 3 copper tam-tams
2 church ratchets, leaving only 1
2 suspended cymbals, bringing the number down to 3

The modifications to the pre-recorded music consist of the addition of the following:

1 piano, bringing the total up to 3
3 contrabasses

The omissions consisted of:

All 8 flutes
8 trumpets, leaving only 2
All 4 trombones
grand church organ, instead brought into the orchestra
double-chorus of sopranos and altos, replaced by a small chorus in the orchestra pit
tenor and alto soloists, whose parts are reduced and sung live

In addition to loud percussive passages, there are also as periods of calm piano and straight dialogue. In this culmination of his stage works, Orff almost abandons his diatonicism to chromaticism, which enriches and thickens the musical texture, and octatonicism.
As the play is about to finish, after the destruction of all worldly material, Satan asks for forgiveness and is restored to Angel Lucifer, thus forgiven. The unsettling chromaticism here ends and Bach's Before Thy Throne strikes up in a canon from the four viols. This canon is pandiatonic and upon its completion, its mirror image is stated.