Orff-Schulwerk and World Musics. Some considerations

Abstract

One of the basic principles of Orff-Schulwerk is that the musical material to be used with children at the initiation level to awaken their musical responses should be drawn from the true folk heritage of the child's native culture. When the melodic, rhythmic and formal characteristics have become familiar and comfortable and when these elements have been internalized enough for the child to express them in new combinations - the process called improvisation - the most complex material coming from the native folklore heritage Should be added, a more sophisticated material in both the textual structure as in the musical and the content, but still identifiable with the culture. In the same way, musical material from other traditions can be added to the repertoire. In most cases, this has involved examples of other primarily European traditions.