2. Origins
• Carmina Burana- latin for “Songs from Beuern”
• Benediktbeuern- district in Bavaria
• manuscript of 254 dramatic texts from 11th or
12th century
• main Latin, few Middle High German (1050-
1350), Old French
• some macaronic (FGL)
• work of Goliards
• found in 1803 in Benedictine monastery Bavaria
• most important collection of vagabond songs
3. Part of Trionfi
• Triptych also includes Catulli Camina
and Trionfo di Afrodite
• 24 songs in Carmina Burana
• Scenic Cantata by Carl Orff
• 1935 and 1936
• Classical music repetoire
• “O Fortuna” is epic
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es2
aOSw4n2A&feature=relmfu
• Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanæ
cantoribus et choris cantandæ
comitantibus instrumentis atque
imaginibus magicis ("Songs of Beuern:
Secular songs for singers and choruses
to be sung together with instruments
and magic images."
“Carmina Burana remains one of the most popular pieces of music ever written.” -wiki
4. • 1934 Orff encountered • Fickleness of fortune and
text wealth
• 1847 edition of the • Ephemeral nature of life
Carmina Burana by • Joy of the return of Spring
Johann Andreas Shmeller • Pleasures and perils of:
• Michel Hofmann- Latin 1. drinking
and Greek
2. gluttony
• Selection and
organization of 24 poems 3. gambling
into a libretto 4. lust
5. - First staged by the Frankfurt Opera June 8, 1937
- Erotic tone brought nervousness
- WWII
- Most famous piece of music composed in Germany at
time
“The music itself commits no sins simply by being and
remaining popular. That Carmina Burana has appeared in
hundreds of films and television commericals is proof
that it contains no diabolical message, indeed that it
contains no message whatsoever.” –Alex Ross
6. Musical Style
• Directness of speech and access
• Polyphony absent
• Avoids overt harmonic complexities
• Influenced melodically by late Renaissance/early
Baroque models
• Misconception of neumeatic melodies (prior to 5
line staff notation)
• Reminiscent of Stravinsky’s earlier work
ex. Les Noces (the Wedding)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IDyrJnKkpI
7. More…
• primary music element
• Rhythmically straightforward
• Meter changes freely between measures
• Rhythmic changes with caesura
• “Controversial” feel
• Solo arias challenging
• Olim lacus colueram- only solo tenor aria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US3PoZ1MqGI
8. • Baritone arias often demand high notes
• Parts of bari. Aria Dies nox et omnia must be sung
in falsetto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY47ihxYr_w
• soprano aria, Dulcissime
• Lyric soprano- operatic soprano, bright, full
timbre and heard over orchestra
• Musical tensions more obvious
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0iaZz8TNUA
9. "Everything I have written to date, and which
you have, unfortunately, printed, can be
destroyed. With Carmina Burana, my collected
works begin.” -Orff
