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Current News
Carmina Burana comes to New Paltz this
spring...
Carl Orff’s dramatic cantata Carmina Burana brings to
life a medieval world of wayward monks, lovers and drinkers, set to music of
elemental power and deceptive simplicity. The texts come from a 13th-century
manuscript of Latin and Middle High German poems found at the abbey of
Benediktbeuren in Bavaria. The poems’ authorship is unknown, but they are
probably the work of goliards, clerical students of an irreverent,
satirical turn of mind whose poetry makes fun of the rituals of the church and
celebrates the pleasures of bed and bottle.
Since its premiere in 1937, Carmina Burana has been one
of the most quoted, imitated and parodied pieces in the choral repertoire, but
it still retains its hypnotic power. Orff himself must have sensed this; after
the first performance he wrote to his publisher, "Everything I have written to
date, and which you have, unfortunately, printed, can be destroyed. With Carmina
Burana my collected works begin."
Carmina Burana is divided into
five sections, each suggesting a short dramatic scene:
-
Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi [Fortuna, Empress of the World] – the famous
opening chorus, with its driving percussive rhythms borrowed from
Stravinsky’s ballets.
-
Primo vere [Spring] – a celebration of the return of Spring, new life
and love, with sinuous, flexible vocal melodies.
- In
Taberna [In the Tavern] – set for male voices, this section features the
baritone soloist as the “Abbot of Cucany”, or king of drunken revelry; the
tenor as a roasting swan; and the male chorus in a rousing drinking song.
-
Cours d'amours [Court of Love] – a dialogue between baritone and
soprano, with commentary by the chorus; he presses his advances on her, she
hesitates but ultimately yields.
-
Blanziflor et Helena [Blanziflor and Helena] – a hymn in praise of the
Goddess of Love, followed by a return of the opening chorus.
With its pounding rhythms, expressive melodies and
uncomplicated harmonies, Carmina Burana has long been a favorite of
singers and audiences alike. Please join us on May 6 for this landmark of
twentieth-century choral music.
Dr. Edward Lundergan |
