De temporum fine comoedia
opera-oratorio by Carl Orff
De temporum fine comoedia (Latin for A Play on the End of Time) 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 (1960 to 1970) and another two years to compose (1969 to 1971); 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 (the Tölzer Knabenchor, the RIAS Kammerchor and the Kölner Rundfunkchor) 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.
Roles
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
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 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".
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q507217. VIAF identifies the subject as 185120768. The Library of Congress control number is n85212482. 1 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1960, 1970, 1969 and 1971.
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This entry incorporates text from “De temporum fine comoedia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.