De temporum fine comoedia

Summary/Dramatis Personae

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

• 3 Dramatic Sopranos
• 4 Mezzo-sopranos
• 1 Alto
• 1 deep Contralto

Part II involves 9 Anchorites, represented by male singers

• 1 Tenor
• 5 Baritones
• 2 Basses
• 1 Basso profondo

There is also a children's choir, along with a tenor section that is heard on a magnetic tape.

Part III involves the following people.

• 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".

I. Die Sibyllen (The Sibyls)

1. "Heis theós estin anarchos, hypermegéthaes, agénaetos" (A god is, without beginning, immense, unformed)
2. "Opse theü g’aléüsi myloi" (The mills of God are late to grind)
3. "Pasin homü nyx estin isae tois plüton echusin kai ptochois" (The same night awaits all, rich and poor)
4. "Choneusó gar hapanta kai eis katharón dialexó" (I will melt everything down and purify it)
5. "Vae! Ibunt impii in gehennam ignis eterni" (Woe! The impious shall enter the hell of the eternal fire)

II. Die Anachoreten (The Anchorites)

III. Dies illa (That Day)

Orchestration

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

• 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:

• The hyoshigi are used only on the inside of the piano at the climax of Part III, 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

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 I, and requires the following instruments:

• Piccolo
• Glockenspiel
• Marimba
• Piano

The second section, also used in Part I utilizes the following:

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

The third section is used in Part II:

• 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 III. 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 (SSAA)
• Tenor and contralto soloists
• A 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 (alto)
• 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
• The double-chorus of sopranos and altos, replaced by a small chorus in the orchestra pit
• The 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 (Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit, BWV 668) strikes up in a canon from the four viols. This canon is pandiatonic and upon its completion, its mirror image is stated (that is the identical material played backward).