Information Behind the Music: Carmina Burana Carl Orff, (1895

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Information Behind the Music: Carmina Burana Carl Orff, (1895 Information Behind the Music: Carmina Burana Carl Orff, (1895-1982) was a German composer known particularly for his operas and dramatic works and for his innovations in music education. He studied at the Munich Academy of Music and with the German composer Heinrich Kaminski. In the 1930’s he edited some 17th-century operas and in 1937 produced his secular oratorio Carmina Burana. Intended to be staged with dance, it was based on a manuscript of medieval poems. As a cantata for orchestra, chorus, and vocal soloists it premiered in 1937 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Orff drew his text from a 13th-century manuscript containing songs and plays written in Latin and medieval German, which was discovered in 1803 at the Bavarian monastery of Benediktbeuern. Dubbed the Carmina Burana (“Songs of Beuern”) by the German philologist Johann Andreas Schmeller, the texts present a varied view of medieval life, including religious verses, social satires, and bawdy drinking songs. Although some of the verses were accompanied by archaic musical notation, confirming that they were indeed meant to be sung, that notation remained largely undeciphered, leaving Orff free to imagine his own musical settings. He selected 24 songs, which he arranged into a prologue, an epilogue, and three parts of roughly equal length. The first part, “Primo Vere” (“In Early Spring”), presents youthful, energetic dances. The second part, “In Taberna” (“In the Tavern”), evokes drunken feasting and debauchery. Courtship and romantic love are the subject of the third part, “Cour d’Amours” (“Court of Love”). Throughout, simple orchestration, melodies, and harmonies combine with heavy rhythmic percussion to give the music a primeval, visceral character. The best-known song from Carmina Burana is “O Fortuna” (“Oh Fortune”), which serves as both prologue and epilogue. It frames the revelry of the three main movements with a stark warning about the power of luck and fate, offering the ancient image of a wheel of fortune that deals out triumph and disaster at random. The forceful first measures are among the grandest statements in all choral literature. Credit to: Encyclopaedia Britannica .
Recommended publications
  • Carmina Burana Carl Orff (1895–1982) Composed: 1935–1936 Style: Contemporary Duration: 58 Minutes
    Carmina Burana Carl Orff (1895–1982) Composed: 1935–1936 Style: Contemporary Duration: 58 minutes The Latin title of tonight’s major work, translated literally as “Songs of Beuren,” comes from the Abby of Benediktbeuren where a book of poems was discovered in 1803. The Abbey is located about 30 miles south of Munich, where the composer Carl Orff was born, educated, and spent most of his life. The 13th century book contains roughly 200 secular poems that describe medieval times. The poems, written by wandering scholars and clerics known as Goliards, attack and satirize the hypocrisy of the Church while praising the self-indulgent virtues of love, food, and drink. Their language and form often parody liturgical phrases and conventions. Similarly, Orff often uses the styles and conventions of 13th century church music, most notably plainchant, to give an air of seriousness and reverence to the texts that their actual meaning could hardly demand. In addition to plainchant, however, the eclectic musical material relies upon all kinds of historical antecedents— from flamenco rhythms (no. 17, “Stetit puella”) to operatic arias (no. 21, “Intrutina”) to chorale texture (no. 24, “Ave formosissima”). The 24 poems that compose Carmina Burana are divided into three large sections— “Springtime,” “In the Tavern,” and “Court of Love” —plus a prologue and epilogue. The work begins with the chorus “Fortuna imperatrix mundi,” (“Fortune, Empress of the World”), which bemoans humankind’s helplessness in the face of the fickle wheel of fate. “Rising first, then declining, hateful life treats us badly, then with kindness, making sport of our desires.” After a brief morality tale, “Fortune plango vunera,” the “Springtime” section begins.
    [Show full text]
  • Catulo Y Lesbia En La Obra De Carl Orff
    Catulo y Lesbia en la obra de Carl Orff Beatriz Cotello [Corresponsal ante la Ópera de Viena, Austria] Resumen: En este artículo se presentan las cantatas creadas por el compositor Génesis de Catulli Carmina alemán Carl Orff sobre material poético de Catulo: los ludi scenici sobre los amo- res de Catulo y Lesbia titulados Catulli arl Orff (1895-1982) Carmina y el concerto scenico Trionfo di Afrodite en el que musicaliza los poemas complementa su obra de Catulo sobre el himeneo (con el aditamento de un epitalamio de Safo y más famosa y conoci- un coro de Eurípides). El artículo ofrece da, Carmina Burana, un análisis del contenido dramático y musical de ambas piezas y se destacan con dos cantatas, Catulli las características de la concepción de la música de Orff. Junto con Carmina Carmina ludi scaenici Burana, las obras forman un tríptico en y Trionfo di Afrodita: que se celebra el triunfo del amor sobre todo el acontecer humano. conforma así un tríp- Palabras clave: Carl Orff - Trionfi - tico sobre el amor humano en diversas Catulo y Lesbia - Afrodita C 1 expresiones. Un artículo anterior que presenta la obra de Orff en términos Catulo and Lesbia as represented by Carl Orff de su búsqueda de “lo elemental” en la música, ofrece ya un análisis de los Abstract: This article deals with two works from the german composer Carl Carmina Burana. Nos referiremos aho- Orff based on Catullus Latin poetry: Catulli Carmina in which he depicts the ra a las cantatas complementarias. love story of Catulo and Lesbia and La idea de poner en música los ver- Trionfo di Afrodite, where he uses two long wedding poems of Catullus and sos de Catulo surge en 1930, cuando material from Safo and Euripides.
    [Show full text]
  • Carl Orff Carmina Burana (1937)
    CARL ORFF CARMINA BURANA (1937) CARL ORFF CARMINA BURANA (1937) CARMINA: Plural of Carmen, Latin for song. BURANA: Latin for, from Bayern, Bavaria. CANTATA VERSUS ORATORIO: Ø Cantata: A sacred or secular work for chorus and orchestra. Ø Oratorio: An opera without scenery or costumes. THE MUSIC: Ø A collection of 24 songs, most in Latin, some in Middle High German, with a few French words. THE SPECTACLE: Ø Seventy piece orchestra. Ø Large chorus of men, women and boys and girls. Ø Three soloists: tenor, baritone and soprano. THE POETRY: Ø The Medieval Latin poetry of Carmina Burana is in a style called Saturnian that dates back to 200 B.C. It was accented and stressed, used by soldiers on the march, tavern patrons and children at play. Later used by early Christians. Ø While the poems are secular, some are hymn-like. Orff’s arrangements highlight this. Ø The poems were composed by 13th century Goliards, Medieval itinerant street poets who lived by their wits, going from town to town, entertaining people for a few coins. Many were ex monks or university drop-outs. Ø Common Goliard themes include disaffection with society, mockery of the church, carnal desire and love. Ø Benedictine monks in a Bavarian monastery, founded in 733 in Beuern, in the Alps south of Munich, collected these Goliardic poems. Ø After the dissolution of the monastery in 1803, some two hundred of these poems were published in 1847 by Andreas Schmeller, a dialect scholar, in an anthology that he labeled Carmina Burana. Ø Orff discovered these in 1935 and, with the help of the poet Michael Hoffman, organized twenty-four poems from the collection into a libretto by the same name.
    [Show full text]
  • American International School of Vienna Choral Program Invited to Perform Carmina Burana in New York City’S Avery Fisher Hall New York, N.Y
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: American International School of Vienna Choral Program Invited to Perform Carmina Burana in New York City’s Avery Fisher Hall New York, N.Y. – March 28, 2013 Outstanding music program Distinguished Concerts International New York City (DCINY) announced receives special invitation today that director Kathy Heedles and the American International School Choirs have been invited to participate in a performance of ‘Carmina Burana’ on the DCINY Concert Series in New York City. This performance at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall is on March 10, 2014. These outstanding musicians will join with other choristers to form the Distinguished Concerts Singers International, a choir of distinction. Conductor Vance George will lead the performance and will serve as the clinician for the residency. Why the invitation was extended Dr. Jonathan Griffith, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor for DCINY states: “The American International School students and their director received this invitation because of the quality and high level of musicianship demonstrated by the singers on a previous performance of ‘O Fortuna’ from ‘Carmina Burana’. It is quite an honor just to be invited to perform in New York. These wonderful musicians not only represent a high quality of music and education, but they also become ambassadors for the entire community. This is an event of extreme pride for everybody and deserving of the community’s recognition and support.” The singers will spend 5 days and 4 nights in New York City in preparation for their concert. “The singers will spend approximately 9-10 hours in rehearsals over the 5 day residency.” says Griffith.
    [Show full text]
  • Concert: Carmina Burana by Carl Orff Ithaca College Choral Union
    Ithaca College Digital Commons @ IC All Concert & Recital Programs Concert & Recital Programs 4-17-2005 Concert: Carmina Burana by Carl Orff Ithaca College Choral Union Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra Lawrence Doebler Jeffrey Grogan Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/music_programs Part of the Music Commons Recommended Citation Ithaca College Choral Union; Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra; Doebler, Lawrence; and Grogan, Jeffrey, "Concert: Carmina Burana by Carl Orff" (2005). All Concert & Recital Programs. 4790. https://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/music_programs/4790 This Program is brought to you for free and open access by the Concert & Recital Programs at Digital Commons @ IC. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Concert & Recital Programs by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ IC. ITHACA COLLEGE CHORAL UNION ITHACA COLLEGE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Lawrence Doebler, conductor CARMINA BURANA by Carl Orff Randie Blooding, baritone Deborah Montgomery-Cove, soprano Carl Johengen, tenor Ithaca College Women's Chorale, Janet Galvan, conductor Ithaca College Chorus, Janet Galvan, conductor Ithaca College Choir, Lawrence Doebler, conductor Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra, Jeffrey Grogan, conductor Charis Dimaris and Read Gainsford, pianists Members of the Ithaca Children's Choir Community School of Music and Arts Janet Galvan, artistic director Verna Brummett, conductor Ford Hall Sunday, April 17, 2005 4:00 p.m. ITHACA THE OVERTURE TO THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL Samuel Barber Ithaca College Symphony
    [Show full text]
  • Boston Symphony Orchestra Concert Programs, Season 128, 2008-2009
    * BOSTON SYAfl PHONY m ORCHESTRA i i , V SEASON f '0* 3' Music Director lk Conductor j Emei {Music Director Lc I IP the Clarendon BACK BAY The Way to Live ;; III! in"! I II !! U nil * I v l iji HI I etc - I y=- • ^ Fi 2 '\ i ra % m 1 1 ih ... >'? & !W ||RBIK;| 4* i :: it n w* n- I II " n ||| IJH ? iu u. I 1?: iiir iu» !! i; !l! Hi \m SL • i= ! - I m, - ! | || L ' RENDERING BY NEOSCAPE INTRODUCING FIVE STAR LIVING™ WITH UNPRECEDENTED SERVICES AND AMENITIES DESIGNED BY ROBERT A.M. STERN ARCHITECTS, LLP ONE TO FOUR BEDROOM LUXURY CONDOMINIUM RESIDENCES STARTING ON THE 15TH FLOOI CORNER OF CLARENDON AND STUART STREETS THE CLARENDON SALES AND DESIGN GALLERY, 14 NEWBURY STREET, BOSTON, MA 617.267.4001 www.theclarendonbackbay.com BRELATED DL/aLcomp/ REGISTERED W "HE U.S. GREEN BUILDING COUNl ITH ANTICIPATED LEED SILVER CERTIFICATION The artist's rendering shown may not be representative of the building. The features described and depicted herein are based upon current development plans, which a described. No Fede: subject to change without notice. No guarantee is made that said features will be built, or, if built, will be of the same type, size, or nature as depicted or where prohibited. agency has judged the merits or value, if any, of this property. This is not an offer where registration is required prior to any offer being made. Void Table of Contents | Week 7 15 BSO NEWS 21 ON DISPLAY IN SYMPHONY HALL 23 BSO MUSIC DIRECTOR JAMES LEVINE 26 THE BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 31 THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM Notes on the Program 35 The Original Sound of the "Carmina burana" (c.1230) 41 Carl Orff's "Carmina burana" 53 To Read and Hear More..
    [Show full text]
  • Reconsidering the Carmina Burana Gundela Bobeth (Translated by Henry Hope)1
    4 | Wine, women, and song? Reconsidering the Carmina Burana gundela bobeth (translated by henry hope)1 Introduction: blending popular views and scientific approaches By choosing the catchy title Carmina Burana –‘songs from Benediktbeuern’–for his 1847 publication of all Latin and German poems from a thirteenth-century manuscript held at the Kurfürstliche Hof- und Staatsbibliothek Munich, a manuscript as exciting then as now, the librar- ian Johann Andreas Schmeller coined a term which, unto the present day, is generally held to denote secular music-making of the Middle Ages in paradigmatic manner.2 The Carmina Burana may be numbered among the few cornerstones of medieval music history which are known, at least by name, to a broader public beyond the realms of musicology and medieval history, and which have evolved into a ‘living cultural heritage of the present’.3 Held today at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek under shelfmarks Clm 4660 and 4660a, and commonly known as the ‘Codex Buranus’, the manuscript – referred to in what follows as D-Mbs Clm 4660-4660a – constitutes the largest anthology of secular lyrics in medieval Latin and counts among the most frequently studied manuscripts of the Middle Ages.4 Yet the entity most commonly associated with the title Carmina Burana has only little to do with the musical transmission of this manu- script. Carl Orff’s eponymous cantata of 1937, which quickly became one of the most famous choral works of the twentieth century, generally tops the list of associations. Orff’s cantata relates to D-Mbs Clm 4660-4660a only in as much as it is based on a subjective selection of the texts edited by Schmeller; it does not claim to emulate the medieval melodies.
    [Show full text]
  • Carmina Burana
    Carmina Burana Featuring the Choir and Percussion Ensembles of the Department of Music at the Université de Moncton; Monique Richard, conductor; Indian River Festival Chorus; Kelsea McLean, conductor; Danika Lorèn, soprano; Jonathan MacArthur, tenor; Adam Harris, baritone; Peter Tiefenbach, piano; and Robert Kortgaard, piano Sunday, July 10, 7:30pm Fogarty’s Cover Stan Rogers, arr. by Ron Smail I Dreamed of Rain Jan Garrett, arr. by Larry Nickel Praise His Holy Name Keith Hampton Embarquement pour Cythere Francis Poulenc Catching Shadows Ivan Trevino Misa Criolla Ariel Ramirez INTERMISSION Carmina Burana Carl Orff Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi Fortune, Empress of the World 1. O Fortuna O Fortune 2. Fortune plango vulnera I lament the wounds that Fortune deals I. Primo vere In Spring 3. Veris leta facies The joyous face of Spring 4. Omnia Sol temperat All things are tempered by the Sun 5. Ecce gratum Behold the welcome Uf dem anger In the Meadow 6. Tanz Dance 7. Floret silva The forest flowers 8. Chramer, gip die varwe mir Monger, give me coloured paint 9. a) Reie Round dance b) Swaz hie gat umbe They who here go dancing around c) Chume, chum, geselle min Come, come, my dear companion d) Swaz hie gat umbe (reprise) They who here go dancing around 10. Were diu werlt alle min If the whole world were but mine II. In Taberna In the Tavern 11. Estuans interius Seething inside 12. Olim lacus colueram Once I swam in lakes 13. Ego sum abbas Cucaniensis I am the abbot of Cockaigne 14. In taberna quando sumus When we are in the tavern III.
    [Show full text]
  • German Minnesang, Although in the English Language, to Allow It to Be Judged in This Kingdom A&S Competition
    I follow her banner Unlike a helpless sparrow that is the swift hawk’s prey Just like a hunter’s arrow once aimed will kill the jay So she will be my destiny to conquer her my finest deed She forced me almost to retreat with beauty, grace and chastity My life was vain and hollow and frequently I went astray No better banner I can follow than hers, wherever is the way. Is she at least aware of me? from places far away I heed I am a grain in fields of wheat a drop of water in the sea. I suffer from a dreadful sorrow how often did I quietly pray That there will be no more tomorrow so that my pain shall go away. My bended neck just feels her knee crouched in the dust beneath her feet Deliverance, which I so dearly need she never will award to me. 1 Nîht ein baner ich bezzer volgen mac Middle-High German version Niht swie diu spaz sô klein waz ist der snel valken bejac alsô swie der bogenzein ûf den edel valken zil mac sô si wirt sîn mîne schône minne ir eroberigen daz ist mîne bürde mîne torheit wart gevalle vor ir burc aber dur ir tugenden unde staetem sinne Was sô verdriezlich mîne welte verloufen vome wege manige tac mîne sunnenschîn unde schône helde nîht ein baner ich bezzer volgen mac ûzem vremde lant kumt der gruoze mîn wie sol si mich erkennen enmitten vome kornat blôz ein halm enmitten vome mer ein kleine tröpfelîn Ich bin volleclîche gar von sorgen swie oft mac ich wol mahtlôs sinnen daz ie niemer ist ein anders morgen alsô mîne endelôs riuwe gât von hinnen der nûwe vrôdenreich wol doln ir knie in drec die stolzecheit kumt ze ligen die gunst diu ich sô tuon beger mîner armen minne gift si nimmer nie 2 Summary Name: Falko von der Weser Group: An Dun Theine This entry is a poem I wrote in the style of the high medieval German Minnelieder (Minnesongs) like those found in the “Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift”, also known as Codex Manesse (The Great Heidelberg Songbook) and the “Weingartner Liederhandschrift” (The Konstanz-Weingarten Songbook).
    [Show full text]
  • Mouvance and Authorship in Heinrich Von Morungen
    UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Songs of the Self: Authorship and Mastery in Minnesang Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/87n0t2tm Author Fockele, Kenneth Elswick Publication Date 2016 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Songs of the Self: Authorship and Mastery in Minnesang by Kenneth Elswick Fockele A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in German and Medieval Studies in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Niklaus Largier, chair Professor Elaine Tennant Professor Frank Bezner Fall 2016 Songs of the Self: Authorship and Mastery in Minnesang © 2016 by Kenneth Elswick Fockele Abstract Songs of the Self: Authorship and Mastery in Minnesang by Kenneth Elswick Fockele Doctor of Philosophy in German and Medieval Studies University of California, Berkeley Professor Niklaus Largier, Chair Despite the centrality of medieval courtly love lyric, or Minnesang, to the canon of German literature, its interpretation has been shaped in large degree by what is not known about it—that is, the lack of information about its authors. This has led on the one hand to functional approaches that treat the authors as a class subject to sociological analysis, and on the other to approaches that emphasize the fictionality of Minnesang as a form of role- playing in which genre conventions supersede individual contributions. I argue that the men who composed and performed these songs at court were, in fact, using them to create and curate individual profiles for themselves.
    [Show full text]
  • “O Fortuna” from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana Movement Idea by Cristi Cary Miller
    “O Fortuna” from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana Movement Idea by Cristi Cary Miller May be used with the listening lesson for “O Fortuna” from Carmina Burana by Carl Orff in the October/November 2010, Volume 11, No. 2 issue of Music Express. Formation: Partners forming concentric circles, inside circle facing outward. Each dancer holds a scarf in right hand. INTRO “O Fortuna”: Outside circle slowly raises scarf in the air and waves it R/L. “Velut luna”: Inside circle repeats action. “Statu variabilis”: With arms still raised above head, partners circle each other CW and return to starting position, facing to their R. SECTION ONE Line 1 Beats 1-6: Circles walk to their R (inside CCW, outside CW), waving scarves downward L/R on the beats. Beats 7-12: All turn in place with scarves in air. Line 2 Beats 1-6: Repeat above going in opposite direction and back to part- ners. Beats 7-12: All turn in place with scarves in air. Line 3 Beats 1-12: Circles walk to their R, waving scarves downward L/R on the beats, stopping at partners on opposite side of circle. SECTION TWO Line 1 Beats 1-6: Outside circle only walks to their R, waving scarves down- ward L/R on the beats; inside circle stays in place. Beats 7-12: Outside circle dancers turn in place with scarves in the air and hold position. Line 2 Beats 1-6: Inside circle only walks to their R, waving scarves downward L/R on the beats; outside circle stays in place.
    [Show full text]
  • Of Music PROGRAM
    SHEPHERD SCHOOL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA RICE CHORALE HOUSTON CHILDREN'S CHORUS CHAMBER CHOIR Larry Rachleff, conductor Friday, April23, 1993 8:00p.m. Stude Concert Hall "-' sfkteherd RICE UNIVERSITY Sc~ol Of Music PROGRAM Fanfare for a Great City Arthur Gottschalk (b. 1952) Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn, Op. 56a Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) INTERMISSION Carmina Burana Carl Orff ( 1895-1982) Rice Chorale Houston Children's Chorus Chamber Choir Kelley Cooksey, soprano Francisco Almanza, tenor Robert Ames, baritone In consideration of the performers and members of the audience, please check audible paging devices with the ushers and silence audible timepieces. The taking of photographs and the use of recording equipment are prohibited. SHEPHERD SCHOOL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Violin I Viola (cont.) Oboe Trumpet (cont.) Julie Savignon, Erwin Foubert Margaret Butler Troy Rowley concertmaster Patrick Horn Kyle Bruckmann David Workman Claudia Harrison Stephanie Griffin Jeffrey Champion Trombone Barbara Wittenberg Bin Sun Dione Chandler Wade Demmert Jeanine Tiemeyer Andrew Weaver Karen Friedman David Ford Kristin Lacey Sharon Neufeld ~ Brent Phillips Mihaela Oancea English Horn Cello Kyle Bruckmann Inga Ingver Tuba Katherine de Bethune, Yenn Chwen Er Clarinet Jeffrey Tomberg principal Yoong-han Chan Benjamin Brady Danny Urban ~ Jeanne Jaubert Magdalena Villegas Joanne Court Scott Brady Timpani and Tanya Schreiber Kelly Cramm Mary Ellen Morris Percussion Rebecca Ansel Martin van Maanen Robin Creighton Douglas Cardwell Eitan Ornoy X in-Yang Zhou Amy
    [Show full text]