Carl Orff’s Dirty Secret (And How Much It Matters)

The composer of Carmina Burana is often written off as a crypto-Nazi who turned out cheesy crowd-pleasers. He did, in fact, have a dirty wartime secret, and he was generally a selfish piece of work. But, points out Martin Kettle, his preoccupation with “music for use” and his pioneering music education methods have touched many millions of lives.