The Resume

(July 10, 1895-March 29, 1982)
Best known for his oratorio 'Carmina Burana (1937)'
Also wrote 'Der Mond (1939),' 'Die Kluge (1943),' 'Catulli Carmina (1943),' 'Trionfi di Afrodite (1953),' 'Antigonae (1968)' and 'De Temporum Fine Comoedia (1973)'

Why he might be annoying:

He didn't leave Germany when Hitler took power.
He became a favorite composer of Joseph Goebbels and the Nazi regime.
When the Nazis banned ballet scores by Jewish composers, he happily wrote new ones for them.
Some claim 'Carmina Burana' is a piece of Aryan propaganda.
When he wrote the piece, he destroyed all his previous works, saying: 'Today my collected works begin.'
Perhaps appropriately, it is the only work of his that is still performed today.
The main chorus from the oratorio is over-used in many movie trailers and commercials.

Why he might not be annoying:

He did not join the Nazi Party.
He influenced the great film composer Bernard Herrmann.
He didn't think classical music should be stuffy or intimidating.
He combined music, theater, dance and showmanship in his entertainments.
He opened a school to teach music and dance to children.
'Carmina Burana' is still very popular.

Credit: Wieland Kalligaro

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• About.com's Top 10 Classical Works You Know, But You Don't (Ranked: 1)
• Carnegie Hall Concerts
• Classical Top 100 (Ranked: 8)
• I Died in 1982 (Ranked: 86)
• Look at Me, Oy Vey
• Opera Singers and Composers
• Profiles 12501-12750 (Ranked: 12520)
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 19820329)
• Wieland Kalligaro's Profiles [Series 3]

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 25 Votes: 64.00% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 7 Votes: 85.71% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 34 Votes: 85.29% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 74 Votes: 59.46% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 13 Votes: 61.54% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 53 Votes: 69.81% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 207 Votes: 82.13% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 66 Votes: 65.15% Annoying
In 2009, Out of 43 Votes: 60.47% Annoying
In 2008, Out of 31 Votes: 54.84% Annoying
In 2007, Out of 84 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2006, Out of 93 Votes: 64.52% Annoying
In 2005, Out of 154 Votes: 64.29% Annoying
In 2004, Out of 61 Votes: 60.66% Annoying