About the work
"Astutuli" is a Bavarian comedy by Carl Orff to his own text, in which he largely abandons singing and melody in favour of the rhythmic recitation of a bawdy, archaising Bavarian text. The title derives from the Latin "astutus" (clever) and roughly means "the rather clever ones." Karl List conducted the roughly 50-minute premiere on 20 October 1953 at the Münchner Kammerspiele, directed by Hans Schweikart.
Plot
A travelling showman announces a play in a village and conjures up a Byzantine giant and a Bavarian goblin so vividly that the curious villagers who gather are convinced they see both in the flesh – although in truth there is nothing to see.
Cultural significance
The theme of self-deceiving cleverness draws on a literary pattern Orff traced through Plautus, Hans Sachs, Cervantes and Hans Christian Andersen. "Astutuli" belongs to Orff's "Bavarian World Theatre" and reflects his search for a theatrical language of his own, detached from operatic bel canto.