Carmina Burana (Orff)

Carmina Burana is a cantata composed in 1935 and 1936 by Carl Orff, based on 24 poems from the medieval collection Carmina Burana. Its full Latin title is Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae cantoribus et choris cantandae comitantibus instrumentis atque imaginibus magicis ("Songs of Beuern: Secular songs for singers and choruses to be sung together with instruments and magical images"). It was first performed by the Oper Frankfurt on 8 June 1937. It is part of Trionfi, a musical triptych that also includes Catulli Carmina and Trionfo di Afrodite. The first and last sections of the piece are called "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi" ("Fortune, Empress of the World") and start with "O Fortuna".

Carmina Burana
Cantata by Carl Orff
Cover of the score showing the Wheel of Fortune
Language
Based on24 poems from Carmina Burana
Premiere
8 June 1937 (1937-06-08)
Oper Frankfurt

Text
Rota fortunae (Wheel of Fortune) from the Codex Buranus

In 1934, Orff encountered the 1847 edition of the Carmina Burana by Johann Andreas Schmeller, the original text dating mostly from the 11th or 12th century, including some from the 13th century. Michel Hofmann was a young law student and an enthusiast of Latin and Greek; he assisted Orff in the selection and organization of 24 of these poems into a libretto mostly in secular Latin verse, with a small amount of Middle High German[1] and Old French. The selection covers a wide range of topics, as familiar in the 13th century as they are in the 21st century: the fickleness of fortune and wealth, the ephemeral nature of life, the joy of the return of spring and the pleasures and perils of drinking, gluttony, gambling, and lust.

Structure

Carmina Burana is structured into five major sections, containing 25 movements in total, including one repeated movement and one purely instrumental one. Orff indicates attacca markings between all the movements within each scene.

Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi Fortune, Empress of the World
1 O FortunaLatin O Fortunechoir
2 Fortune plango vulneraLatin I lament the wounds that Fortune dealschoir
I Primo vere In Spring
3 Veris leta faciesLatin The joyous face of Springsmall choir
4 Omnia Sol temperatLatin All things are tempered by the Sunbaritone
5 Ecce gratumLatin Behold the welcomechoir
Uf dem anger In the Meadow
6 Tanz Danceinstrumental
7 Floret silva nobilisLatin / Middle High German The noble woods are burgeoningchoir
8 Chramer, gip die varwe mirMiddle High German Monger, give me coloured paint2 choirs (small and large)
9 (a) Reie Round danceinstrumental
(b) Swaz hie gat umbeMiddle High German They who here go dancing aroundchoir
(c) Chume, chum, geselle minMiddle High German Come, come, my dear companionsmall choir
(d) Swaz hie gat umbe (reprise)Middle High German They who here go dancing aroundchoir
10 Were diu werlt alle minMiddle High German If the whole world were but minechoir
II In Taberna In the Tavern
11 Estuans interiusLatin Seething insidebaritone
12 Olim lacus colueramLatin Once I swam in lakestenor, choir (male)
13 Ego sum abbasLatin I am the abbot (of Cockaigne)baritone, choir (male)
14 In taberna quando sumusLatin When we are in the tavernchoir (male)
III Cour d'amours Court of Love
15 Amor volat undiqueLatin Love flies everywheresoprano, boys' choir
16 Dies, nox et omniaLatin / Old French Day, night and everythingbaritone
17 Stetit puellaLatin There stood a girlsoprano
18 Circa mea pectoraLatin / Middle High German In my breastbaritone, choir
19 Si puer cum puellulaLatin If a boy with a girl3 tenors, 1 baritone, 2 basses
20 Veni, veni, veniasLatin Come, come, pray comedouble choir
21 In trutinaLatin On the scalessoprano
22 Tempus est iocundumLatin Time to jestsoprano, baritone, choir, boys' choir
23 DulcissimeLatin Sweetest boysoprano
Blanziflor et Helena Blancheflour and Helen
24 Ave formosissimaLatin Hail to the most lovelychoir
Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi Fortune, Empress of the World
25 O Fortuna (reprise)Latin O Fortunechoir

Much of the compositional structure is based on the idea of the turning Fortuna Wheel. The drawing of the wheel found on the first page of the Burana Codex includes four phrases around the outside of the wheel:

Regnabo, Regno, Regnavi, Sum sine regno.
(I shall reign, I reign, I have reigned, I am without a realm).

Within each scene, and sometimes within a single movement, the wheel of fortune turns, joy turning to bitterness, and hope turning to grief. "O Fortuna", the first poem in the Schmeller edition, completes this circle, forming a compositional frame for the work through being both the opening and closing movements.

Staging
Set design by Helmut Jürgens for a performance in Munich in 1959

Orff subscribed to a dramatic concept called "Theatrum Mundi" in which music, movement, and speech were inseparable. Babcock writes that "Orff's artistic formula limited the music in that every musical moment was to be connected with an action on stage. It is here that modern performances of Carmina Burana fall short of Orff's intentions." Orff subtitled Carmina Burana a "scenic cantata" in his intention to stage the work with dance, choreography, visual design and other stage action; the piece is now usually performed in concert halls as a cantata.

John Butler was the first of several choreographers to tackle the score. His Carmina Burana was premiered by the New York City Opera on September 24, 1959, featuring Carmen de Lavallade, Veronika Mlakar, Scott Douglass, and Glen Tetley.[2] It has since been performed by numerous companies including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet West, and Richmond Ballet and is now considered a canonical modern-ballet work.

A danced version of Carmina Burana was choreographed by Loyce Houlton for the Minnesota Dance Theatre in 1978.[3] In honour of Orff's 80th birthday, an acted and choreographed film version was filmed, directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle for the German broadcaster ZDF; Orff collaborated in its production.[4]

Kent Stowell choreographed the work for Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. It premiered on October 5, 1993, with scenic design by Ming Cho Lee.[5]

Musical style

Orff's style demonstrates a desire for directness of speech and of access. Carmina Burana contains little or no development in the classical sense, and polyphony is also conspicuously absent. Carmina Burana avoids overt harmonic complexities, a fact which many musicians and critics have pointed out, such as Ann Powers of The New York Times.[6]

Orff was influenced melodically by late Renaissance and early Baroque models including William Byrd and Claudio Monteverdi.[7] It is a common misconception that Orff based the melodies of Carmina Burana on neumeatic melodies; while many of the lyrics in the Burana Codex are enhanced with neumes, almost none of these melodies had been deciphered at the time of Orff's composition, and none of them had served Orff as a melodic model.[8][9] His shimmering orchestration shows a deference to Stravinsky. In particular, Orff's music is very reminiscent of Stravinsky's earlier work, Les noces (The Wedding).

Rhythm, for Orff as it was for Stravinsky, is often the primary musical element. Over all, it sounds rhythmically straightforward and simple, but the metre will change freely from one measure to the next. While the rhythmic arc in a section is taken as a whole, a measure of five may be followed by one of seven, to one of four, and so on, often with caesura marked between them. These constant rhythmic changes combined with the caesura create a very "conversational" feel – so much so that the rhythmic complexities of the piece are often overlooked.

Some of the solo arias pose bold challenges for singers: the only solo tenor aria, Olim lacus colueram, is often sung almost completely in falsetto to demonstrate the suffering of the character (in this case, a roasting swan). The baritone arias often demand high notes not commonly found in baritone repertoire, and parts of the baritone aria Dies nox et omnia are often sung in falsetto, a rare example in baritone repertoire. Also noted is the solo soprano aria, Dulcissime which demands extremely high notes. Orff intended this aria for a lyric soprano, not a coloratura, so that the musical tensions would be more obvious.

Instrumentation

Carmina Burana is scored for a large orchestra consisting of:

Woodwinds Brass Strings Keyboards Percussion
Voices

Reception

Carmina Burana was first staged by the Oper Frankfurt on 8 June 1937 under conductor Bertil Wetzelsberger (1892–1967) with the Cäcilienchor Frankfurt, staging by Oskar Wälterlin and sets and costumes by Ludwig Sievert. Shortly after the greatly successful premiere, Orff said the following to his publisher, Schott Music: "Everything I have written to date, and which you have, unfortunately, printed, can be destroyed. With Carmina Burana, my collected works begin."[10]

Several performances were repeated elsewhere in Germany. The Nazi regime was at first nervous about the erotic tone of some of the poems,[11] but eventually embraced the piece. It became the most famous piece of music composed in Germany at the time.[12] The popularity of the work continued to rise after the war, and by the 1960s Carmina Burana was well established as part of the international classic repertoire. The piece was voted number 62 at the Classic 100 Ten Years On and is at number 144 of the 2020 Classic FM Hall of Fame.[13]

Alex Ross wrote that "the music itself commits no sins simply by being and remaining popular. That Carmina Burana has appeared in hundreds of films and television commercials is proof that it contains no diabolical message, indeed that it contains no message whatsoever."[14]

Subsequent arrangements

The popularity of the work has ensured the creation of many additional arrangements for a variety of performing forces.

In 1956, Orff's disciple Wilhelm Killmayer created a reduced version for soloists, SATB mixed choir, children's choir, two pianos and six percussion (timpani + 5), and was authorized by Orff. The score has short solos for three tenors, baritone and two basses. This version is to allow smaller ensembles the opportunity to perform the piece.[15][16][17]

An arrangement for wind ensemble was prepared by Juan Vicente Mas Quiles (born 1921), who wanted both to give wind bands a chance to perform the work and to facilitate performances in cities that have a high quality choral union and wind band, but lack a symphony orchestra. A performance of this arrangement was recorded by the North Texas Wind Symphony under Eugene Corporon. In writing this transcription, Mas Quiles maintained the original chorus, percussion, and piano parts.[18]

Carmina Burana in Greece became popular because of its use, at the beginning and at the end of Andreas Papandreou's election speeches from the 1974 legislative election of to those of 1993 legislative election.[19][20]

Notable recordings

References
  1. More precisely, Bavarian-colored Middle High German. Reconstructions of the pronunciation of the Middle High German texts in the Carmina Burana in John Austin (1995). "Pronunciation of the Middle High German Sections of Carl Orff's 'Carmina Burana'." The Choral Journal, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 15–18, and in Guy A.J. Tops (2005). "De uitspraak van de middelhoogduitse teksten in Carl Orffs Carmina Burana." Stemband, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 8–9. (In Dutch; contains IPA transcriptions of the Middle High German texts.).
  2. Balanchine's Complete Stories of the Great Ballets, Doubleday 1977, (96).
  3. Minnesota Dance Theatre celebrates 50 years with Carmina Burana
  4. Carmina Burana by Carl Orff , Jean Pierre Ponnelle (1975)
  5. "Carmina Burana, production details, Pacific Northwest Ballet
  6. "Not Medieval but Eternal; In Its Sixth Decade, Carmina Burana Still Echoes" by Ann Powers, The New York Times (14 June 1999)
  7. Helm, Everett (July 1955). "Carl Orff". The Musical Quarterly. Oxford. 41 (3): 292.
  8. Liess, Andreas (1980). Orff. Idee und Werk (in German). Munich: Goldmann. pp. 82–83. ISBN 978-3-442-33038-6. Orff waren also zur Zeit der Schöpfung der Carmina originale Melodien nicht bekannt. (At the time of writing the Carmina, Orff had no knowledge of the original melodies.)
  9. Bernt, Günter (1979). Carmina Burana (in German). Munich: dtv. p. 862. ISBN 978-3-7608-0361-6. Die Carmina Burana Carl Orffs versuchen nicht, die überlieferten Melodien zu verwenden. (Carl Orff's Carmina Burana do not attempt to utilise the traditional melodies.)
  10. Various, vol. IV, 66.
  11. Kater 2000, p. 123.
  12. Taruskin 2005, p. 764.
  13. "Classic FM Hall of Fame 2020", Classic FM
  14. "In Music, Though, There Were No Victories" by Alex Ross, The New York Times (20 August 1995)
  15. Chamber version of Orff's Carmina Burana
  16. Tucson Chamber Carmina Burana
  17. Carmina Burana (Edition for voices, two pianos and percussion)
  18. "Juan Vicente Mas Quiles – Carmina Burana, published by Schott Music
  19. "Πώς τα Carmina Burana έγιναν ύμνος του ΠΑΣΟΚ- Τι σημαίνουν οι στίχοι στα ελληνικά". iNewsgr.com. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  20. "Carmina Burana: Τα μεσαιωνικά ποιήματα του 12ου & 13ου αιώνα που έγιναν και ο ύμνος του ΠΑΣΟΚ". in.gr (in Greek). 2023-06-08. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  21. "Carmina Burana de Carl Orff" by Betrand Dermoncourt, radioclassique.fr 1 October 2014 (in French)
  22. Deutsche Grammophon – Carl Orff: Carmina Burana / Catulli Carmina / Trionfo di Afrodite
  23. www.classicstoday.com – Trionfi / Review by Victor Carr Jr
  24. www.cdandlp.com – Orff, Carl – Trionfi: Carmina Burana; Catulli Carmina; Trionfo di Afrodite / Eugen Jochum
  25. m.exlibris.ch – Carmina Burana / C. Orff
  26. CD Review "Building a Library": Carmina Burana, BBC
  27. "Herbert Kegel – portrait by Rainer Aschemeier, 17 July 2006 (in German)
  28. LP cover (back), BASF-Musikproduktion 2022050-8 (in German);
  29. "100 CDS for Building Your Library". www.classicstoday.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  30. "Jeffrey Reid Baker's Website". jeffreyreidbaker.com.
  31. "Orff: Carmina Burana / Rattle", David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com, at ArkivMusic
  32. "Orff: Carmina Burana – Christian Thielemann". Barnesandnoble.com. Retrieved 20 July 2018
  33. Roca, Octavio; Critic, Chronicle Dance (1997-11-07). "Smuin's 'Carmina' Hits the Heart / Double bill at Fort Mason". SFGate. Retrieved 2019-10-04.

Sources

  • Kater, Michael H. (2000). "Carl Orff: Man of Legend". Composers of the Nazi Era: Eight Portraits. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-509924-9.
  • Taruskin, Richard (2005). The Oxford History of Western Music. Vol. 4 "The Early Twentieth Century". Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Various authors (eds.): Carl Orff und sein Werk. Dokumentation, 8 vols., Schneider, Tutzing 1975–1983, ISBN 3-7952-0154-3, ISBN 3-7952-0162-4, ISBN 3-7952-0202-7, ISBN 3-7952-0257-4, ISBN 3-7952-0294-9, ISBN 3-7952-0308-2, ISBN 3-7952-0308-2, ISBN 3-7952-0373-2

Further reading
  • Abrantes, Miguel Carvalho (2020). The Carmina Burana of Carl Orff: Translated from Latin to English.
  • Babcock, Jonathan. "Carl Orff's Carmina Burana: A Fresh Approach to the Work's Performance Practice". Choral Journal 45, no. 11 (May 2006): 26–40.
  • Fassone, Alberto: "Carl Orff", in: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, London: Macmillan 2001.
  • Lo, Kii-Ming, "Sehen, Hören und Begreifen: Jean-Pierre Ponnelles Verfilmung der Carmina Burana von Carl Orff", in: Thomas Rösch (ed.), Text, Musik, Szene – Das Musiktheater von Carl Orff, Mainz etc. (Schott) 2015, pp. 147–173.
  • Steinberg, Michael. "Carl Orff: Carmina Burana". Choral Masterworks: A Listener's Guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, 230–242.
  • Werner Thomas: Das Rad der Fortuna – Ausgewählte Aufsätze zu Werk und Wirkung Carl Orffs, Schott, Mainz 1990, ISBN 3-7957-0209-7.
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