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Carmina Burana (/ˈkɑːrmɪnəbʊˈrɑːnə/, Latin for 'Songs from Benediktbeuern' [Buria in Latin]) is a manuscript of 254^[1] poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent, and satirical. They were written principally in Medieval Latin, a few in Middle High German, and old Arpitan. Some are macaronic, a mixture of Latin and German or French vernacular.

They were written by students and clergy when Latin was the lingua franca throughout Italy and western Europe for travelling scholars, universities, and theologians. Most of the poems and songs appear to be the work of Goliards, clergy (mostly students) who satirized the Catholic Church. The collection preserves the works of a number of poets, including Peter of Blois, Walter of Châtillon, and an anonymous poet referred to as the Archpoet.

The collection was found in 1803 in the Benedictinemonastery of Benediktbeuern, Bavaria, and is now housed in the Bavarian State Library in Munich. It is considered to be the most important collection of Goliard and vagabond songs, along with the Carmina Cantabrigiensia.

The manuscripts reflect an international European movement, with songs originating from Occitania, France, England, Scotland, Aragon, Castile, and the Holy Roman Empire.^[2]

Twenty-four poems in Carmina Burana were set to music by Carl Orff in 1936. His composition quickly became popular and a staple piece of the classical music repertoire. The opening and closing movement 'O Fortuna' has been used in numerous films.

Carmina Burana 'Opening' (O Fortuna) Music by Carl Orff (1895-1982) Directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle Munchner Rundfunkorchester Chor des Bayerischen.

• 1Manuscript

Manuscript[edit]

Carmina Burana (CB) is a manuscript written in 1230 by two different scribes in an early gothic minuscule^[3] on 119 sheets of parchment. A number of free pages, cut of a slightly different size, were attached at the end of the text in the 14th century.^[4] At some point in the Late Middle Ages, the handwritten pages were bound into a small folder called the Codex Buranus.^[5] However, in the process of binding, the text was placed partially out of order, and some pages were most likely lost, as well. The manuscript contains eight miniatures: the rota fortunae (which actually is an illustration from songs CB 14–18, but was placed by the book binder as the cover), an imaginative forest, a pair of lovers, scenes from the story of Dido and Aeneas, a scene of drinking beer, and three scenes of playing dice, tables, and chess.^[6]

Carmina Burana is a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff in 1935 and 1936. 'The Lasting Appeal of Orff's Carmina Burana', sound files and transcription at NPR. UC Davis University Chorus, Alumni Chorus, Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Boychoir, Shawnette Sulker (sopran), Gerald Thomas Gray (tenor) i Malcolm MacKenzie (baryton).

History[edit]

Older research assumed that the manuscript was written in Benediktbeuern where it was found.^[7] Today, however, Carmina Burana scholars have several different ideas about the manuscript's place of origin. It is agreed that the manuscript must be from the region of central Europe where the Bavarian dialect of German is spoken due to the Middle High German phrases in the text—a region that includes parts of southern Germany, western Austria, and northern Italy. It must also be from the southern part of that region because of the Italian peculiarities of the text. The two possible locations of its origin are the bishop's seat of Seckau in Styria and Kloster Neustift near Brixen in South Tyrol.

A bishop named Heinrich was provost in Seckau from 1232 to 1243, and he is mentioned as provost of Maria Saal in Carinthia in CB 6*^[8] of the added folio. This would support Seckau as the possible point of origin, and it is possible that Heinrich funded the creation of the Carmina Burana. The marchiones (people from Steiermark) were mentioned in CB 219,3 before the Bavarians, Saxons, or Austrians, presumably indicating that Steiermark was the location closest to the writers. Many of the hymns were dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, who was venerated in Seckau, such as CB 12* and 19*–22*.^[9]

In support of Kloster Neustift, the text's open-mindedness is characteristic of the reform-minded Augustine Canons Regular of the time, as is the spoken quality of the writing. Also, Brixen is mentioned in CB 95, and the beginning to a story appears in CB 203a which is unique to Tirol called the Eckenlied about the mythic hero Dietrich von Bern.^[10][11][12]

It is less clear how the Carmina Burana traveled to Benediktbeuern.^[13] Fritz Peter Knapp suggested that the manuscript could have traveled in 1350 by way of the Wittelsbacher family who were Vögte of both Tirol and Bavaria, if it was written in Neustift.^[12]

Themes[edit]

Generally, the works contained in the Carmina Burana can be arranged into four groups according to theme:^[5]

1. 55 songs of morals and mockery (CB 1–55)
2. 131 love songs (CB 56–186)
3. 40 drinking and gaming songs (CB 187–226)
4. two longer spiritual theater pieces (CB 227 and 228)

This outline, however, has many exceptions. CB 122–134, which are categorized as love songs, actually are not: they contain a song for mourning the dead, a satire, and two educational stories about the names of animals. Another group of spiritual poems may have been included in the Carmina Burana and since lost.^[14] The attached folio contains a mix of 21 generally spiritual songs: a prose-prayer to Saint Erasmus and four more spiritual plays, some of which have only survived as fragments. These larger thematic groups can also be further subdivided, for example, the end of the world (CB 24–31), songs about the crusades (CB 46–52) or reworkings of writings from antiquity (CB 97–102).

Other frequently recurring themes include: critiques of simony and greed in the church, that, with the advent of the monetary economy in the 12th century, rapidly became an important issue (CB 1–11, 39, 41–45); lamentations in the form of the planctus, for example about the ebb and flow of human fate (CB 14–18) or about death (CB 122–131); the hymnic celebration of the return of spring (CB 132, 135, 137, 138, 161 and others); pastourelles about the rape/seduction of shepherdesses by knights, students/clergymen (CB 79, 90, 157–158); and the description of love as military service (CB 60, 62, and 166), a topos known from Ovid's elegiac love poems. Ovid and especially his erotic elegies were reproduced, imitated and exaggerated in the Carmina Burana.^[15] Following Ovid, depictions of sexual intercourse in the manuscript are frank and sometimes aggressive. CB 76, for example, makes use of the first-person narrative to describe a ten-hour love act with the goddess of love herself, Venus.^[16]

The Carmina Burana contains numerous poetic descriptions of a raucous medieval paradise (CB 195–207, 211, 217, 219), for which the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus, known for his advocation of the blissful life, is even taken as an authority on the subject (CB 211). CB 219 describes, for example, an ordo vagorum (vagrant order) to which people from every land and clerics of all rankings were invited—even presbyter cum sua matrona, or 'a priest with his lady wife' (humorous because Catholic priests must swear an oath of celibacy). CB 215 even provides an example of the religious rites of this order, the Officium lusorum, the 'Service', or 'Mass', 'of the Gamblers'. In this parody world, the rules of priesthood include sleeping in, eating heavy food and drinking rich wine, and regularly playing dice games. These rules were described in such detail that older research on the Carmina Burana took these descriptions literally and assumed there actually existed such a lazy order of priests.^[17] In fact, though, this outspoken reverie of living delights and freedom from moral obligations shows 'an attitude towards life and the world that stands in stark contrast to the firmly established expectations of life in the Middle Ages.'^[18] The literary researcher Christine Kasper considers this description of a bawdy paradise as part of the early history of the European story of the land of Cockaigne: in CB 222 the abbas Cucaniensis, or Abbot of Cockaigne, is said to have presided over a group of dice players.^[19]

Authors[edit]

Almost nothing is known about the authors of the Carmina Burana. Only a few songs can be ascribed to specific authors, such as those by Hugh Primas of Orléans (died c. 1160), by the Archpoet (died c. 1165), by Frenchman Walter of Châtillon (died c. 1201), and by BretonPetrus Blesensis (died c. 1203). Additionally, the attached folio contains German stanzas that mention specific authors, so they can be ascribed to German MinnesingerDietmar von Aist (died c. 1170), to Heinrich von Morungen (died c. 1222), to Walther von der Vogelweide (died c. 1228), and to Neidhart (died c. 1240). The only signed poems are contained in the attached folio, and they are by the so-called Marner, a wandering poet and singer from Swabia. Many poems stem from works written in Classical antiquity by Ovid, Horace, Juvenal, and Ausonius; however, about two-thirds of the poems appear not to be derivative works.^[20]

The text is mostly an anonymous work, and it appears to have been written by Goliards and vagrants who were either theology students travelling between universities or clerics who had not yet received a prebendary. Presumably these individuals scrounged and begged for a living, which might explain why a good portion of the moral songs are dedicated to condemning those who aren't generous alms givers (e.g., CB 3, 9, 11, and 19–21). The authors demonstrate a broad knowledge of ancient mythology, which they employ to rich effect through metonymy and allegorical references, and which they effortlessly weave into scenes from the Bible. Lyaeus, for example, the mythical god of wine (Dionysus), casually makes an appearance at the Marriage at Cana in CB 194 where Jesus performed the miracle of transforming water into wine (John 2:1–12).

Rediscovery and history of publication[edit]

The manuscript was discovered in the monastery at Benediktbeuren in 1803 by librarian Johann Christoph von Aretin. He transferred it to the Bavarian State Library in Munich where it currently resides (Signatur: clm 4660/4660a).^[21][22] Aretin regarded the Codex as his personal reading material, and wrote to a friend that he was glad to have discovered 'a collection of poetic and prosaic satire, directed mostly against the papal seat'.^[23]

The first pieces to be published were Middle-High German texts, which Aretin's colleague Bernhard Joseph Docen published in 1806.^[24] Additional pieces were eventually published by Jacob Grimm in 1844.^[25] The first collected edition of the Carmina Burana was not published until 1847, almost 40 years after Aretin's discovery.^[26] Publisher Johann Andreas Schmeller chose a misleading title for the collection, which created the misconception that the works contained in the Codex Buranas were not from Benediktbeuren.^[27] Schmeller attempted to organize the collection into 'joking' (Scherz) and 'serious' (Ernst) works, but he never fully completed the task. The ordering scheme used today was proposed in 1930 by Alfons Hilka and Otto Schumann [de] in the first critical text edition of the Carmina Burana.^[28] The two based their edition on previous work by Munich philologistWilhelm Meyer, who discovered that some pages of the Codex Buranus had mistakenly been bound into other old books. He also was able to revise illegible portions of the text by comparing them to similar works.^[29]

Musical settings[edit]

About one-quarter of the poems in the Carmina Burana are accompanied in the manuscript by music using unheighted, staffless neumes,^[30] an archaic system of musical notation that by the time of the manuscript had largely been superseded by staffed neumes.^[31] Unheighted neumes only indicate whether a given note is pitched higher or lower than the preceding note, without giving any indication of how much change in pitch there is between two notes, so they are useful only as mnemonic devices for singers who are already familiar with the melody. However, it is possible to identify many of those melodies by comparing them with melodies notated in staffed neumes in other contemporary manuscripts from the schools of Notre Dame and Saint Martial.^[31]

Between 1935 and 1936, German composer Carl Orff composed music, also called Carmina Burana, for 24 of the poems. The single song 'O Fortuna' (the Roman goddess of luck and fate), from the movement 'Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi', is often heard in many popular settings such as films. Orff's composition has been performed by many ensembles.

Other musical settings include:

• 1584: A sanitized version of 'Tempus adest floridum' was published in the Finnish collection Piae Cantiones. The Piae Cantiones version includes a melody recognizable to modern audiences as the one that is now used for the Christmas carol 'Good King Wenceslas.'
• 1949–1951:Matyas Seiber 'Cantata Secularis:the Four Seasons' for SATB and orchestra.
• 1983: Album by Ray Manzarek, keyboard player for The Doors, produced by Philip Glass and Kurt Munkacsi; arrangements by Ray Manzarek. A&M Records.^[32]
• 1991: Apotheosis, a techno group from Belgium, produced their first single, 'O Fortuna', in 1991, which heavily sampled the classical piece originally composed by Carl Orff. However, the estate of Carl Orff (who died in 1982) took legal action in court to stop the distribution of the records on the grounds of copyright infringement. Judgment was finally accorded to the estate.^[33]
• 1992–2014: German bands Qntal and Helium Vola set several hymns of Carmina Burana to electro-medieval music.
• 1993: East-German punk band Feeling B recorded a version of the song Veris Dulcis for their album Die Maske des Roten Todes.
• 1997: Japanese composer Nobuo Uematsu used portions of 'O Fortuna', 'Estuans interius', 'Veni, veni, venias', and 'Ave formosissima' for the final boss theme 'One-Winged Angel' in Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII.
• 1998: The song 'Venus' on the album Aégis by Norwegian doom/gothic metal band Theatre of Tragedy includes lyrics such as 'Amor volat undique' and 'Circa mea pectora'.
• 1998: Composer John Paul used a portion of the lyrics of 'Fas et nefas ambulant' in the musical score of the video game Gauntlet Legends.^[34]
• 2000: Swedish symphonic metal band Therion played 'O Fortuna' in their album Deggial.
• 2000: German band Estampie recorded 'O Fortuna' with Alexander Veljanov for their album Ondas.
• 2000 & 2006: German electronic band Enigma used samples from Carmina Burana in their album The Screen Behind the Mirror and the first two lines of 'Omnia Sol temperat' in their track 'Eppur si muove' from their album A Posteriori.
• 2001: The song 'Wormwood' on the album World of Glass by the Norwegian gothic metal musical group Tristania include lyrics from 'In taberna quando sumus'.
• 2003: Synth/Medieval French band Era recorded a mix called 'The Mass' featuring pieces of 'O Fortuna' from the original Carmina Burana.
• 2005: German band Corvus Corax recorded Cantus Buranus, a full-length opera set to the original Carmina Burana manuscript in 2005, and released Cantus Buranus II in 2008
• 2009: The Trans-Siberian Orchestra included the song 'Carmina Burana' on their album Night Castle.
• 2010: Composer Ryan Scott Oliver quoted parts of 'Fortune plango' in the song 'Good Lady' in his multimedia work 35MM.

Discography[edit]

• 1964, 1967 – Carmina Burana – Studio der frühen Musik, dir. Thomas Binkley (Teldec, 2 CD)
• 1968 – Carmina Burana – Capella Antiqua München, dir. Konrad Ruhland (Christophorus)
• 1975, 1976, 1978 – Carmina Burana – Clemencic Consort, dir. René Clemencic (Harmonia Mundi, 3 CD)
• 1980 – Carmina Burana – Bärin Gässlin (Pläne)
• 1983 – Carmina Burana; Das Grosse Passionspiel – Das Mittelalter Ensemble der Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, dir. Thomas Binkley (Deutsche Harmonia mundi, 2 CD)
• 1988 – Carmina Burana – Madrigalisti di Genova, dir. Leopoldo Gamberini (Ars Nova, LP)
• 1989 – Carmina Burana – Berry Hayward Consort & Ensemble Vocal Claire Caillard-Hayward (BNL)
• 1990 – Carmina Burana; Le Grand Mystère de la Passion – Ensemble Organum, dir. Marcel Pérès (Harmonia Mundi, 2 CD)
• 1991 – Carmina Burana XII – Ensemble Alegria (Pierre Vérany)
• 1992 – Satires, Desires and Excesses; Songs from Carmina Burana – Orleans Musica da Camera, dir. Milton G. Scheuermann (Centaur)
• 1994 – Carmina Burana – New London Consort, dir. Philip Pickett (L'Oiseau Lyre, 4 CD)
• 1996 – Carmina Burana; Poetry & Music – Boston Camerata, dir. Joel Cohen (Erato)
• 1997 – Carmina Burana; Carmina Moralia, Carmina Veris et Amoris, Carmina Lusorum et Potatorum, Carmina Divina – Theatrum Instrumentorum (Arts)
• 1997 – Carmina Burana; Medieval Poems and Songs – Ensemble Unicorn, dir. Michael Posch + Ensemble Oni Wytars, dir. Marco Ambrosini (Naxos)
• 1998 – Carmina Burana – Modo Antiquo, dir. Bettina Hoffmann (Paragon-Amadeus 2 CD)
• 1998 – In Taberna; Carmina Burana – Collegium Arniense (Well Music)
• 2000 – Carmina Burana – Le Concert dans l'Oeuf & l'Atelier Polyphonique de Bourgogne (Collection Romane)
• 2004 – Carmina Burana; Tempus transit – Millenarium (Ricercar)
• 2005 – Carmina Burana; Officium lusorum – Millenarium (Ricercar)
• 2008 – Carmina Burana; Medieval Songs from the Codex Buranus – Clemencic Consort, dir. René Clemencic (Oehms)
• 2008 – Carmina Burana; Sacri sarcasmi – La Reverdie (Arcana)
• 2010 – Carmina Burana – Obsidienne, dir. Emmanuel Bonnardot (Eloquentia)

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Notes

1. ^Carmina Burana. Die Lieder der Benediktbeurer Handschrift. Zweisprachige Ausgabe, ed. and translated by Carl Fischer and Hugo Kuhn, dtv, Munich 1991; however, if CB 211 and 211a are counted as two different songs, one obtains the collection consisting of 315 texts, see e.g. Schaller, col. 1513
2. ^Carmina Burana, Version originale & Integrale, 2 Volumes (HMU 335, HMU 336), Clemencic Consort, Direction René Clemencic, Harmonia Mundi
3. ^That is, small letters—what is today called lower-case—as opposed to majuscule, large, capital, upper-case. It was used in Roman manuscripts.
4. ^Diemer, p. 898
5. ^ ^abSchaller, col. 1513
6. ^Joachim M. Plotzek, 'Carmina Burana', in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 2, Artemis, Munich and Zurich 1983, col. 1513
7. ^Max Manitius, Geschichte der lateinischen Literatur des Mittelalters, vol. 3: Vom Ausbruch des Kirchenstreites bis zum Ende des 12. Jahrhunderts, (= Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft, newly ed. by Walter Otto, Abt. IX, Part 2, vol. 3), C. H. Beck, Munich 1931, p. 966
8. ^An asterisk (*) indicates that the song is in the added folio.
9. ^Walter Bischoff (ed.), Carmina Burana I/3, Heidelberg 1970, p. XII;
   Walther Lipphardt, Zur Herkunft der Carmina Burana, in: Egon Kühebacher (ed.), Literatur und Bildende Kunst im Tiroler Mittelalter, Innsbruck 1982, 209–223.
10. ^Georg Steer, 'Carmina Burana in Südtirol. Zur Herkunft des clm 4660', in: Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum 112 (1983), p. 1–37
11. ^Olive Sayce, Plurilingualism in the Carmina Burana. A Study of the Linguistic and Literary Influence on the Codex, Kümmerle, Göttingen 1992
12. ^ ^abKnapp, p. 410f.
13. ^Carmina Burana. Die Lieder der Benediktbeurer Handschrift. Zweisprachige Ausgabe, ed. and transl. by Carl Fischer and Hugo Kuhn, dtv, München 1991, p. 838
14. ^Diemer, p. 898; this assumption is doubted at: Burghart Wachinger, Liebeslieder vom späten 12. bis zum frühen 16. Jahrhundert, in: Walter Haug (ed.), Mittelalter und Frühe Neuzeit. Übergänge, Umbrüche und Neuansätze (= Fortuna vitrea, vol. 16), Tübingen 1999, p. 10f.
15. ^Hermann Unger, De Ovidiana in carminibus Buranis quae dicuntur imitatione, Straßburg 1914
16. ^Knapp, p. 416.
    From Dum caupona verterem (On turning away from the tavern), verse 17: sternens eam lectulo / fere decem horis / mitigavi rabiem / febrici doloris. (I laid her on the couch, and for about ten hours quietened the madness of my feverish passion), Walsh, p. 58
17. ^Helga Schüppert, Kirchenkritik in der lateinischen Lyrik des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts, Wilhelm Fink Verlag, München 1972, p. 185.
18. ^Rainer Nickel: Carmina Burana. In: Wilhelm Höhn und Norbert Zink (eds.): Handbuch für den Lateinunterricht. Sekundarstufe II. Diesterweg, Frankfurt am Main 1979, p. 342, quote translated by Wikipedia contributor
19. ^Christine Kasper, Das Schlaraffenland zieht in die Stadt. Vom Land des Überflusses zum Paradies für Sozialschmarotzer, in: Jahrbuch der Oswald von Wolkenstein-Gesellschaft 7 (1992/93), p. 255–291
20. ^Dieter Schaller, 'Carmina Burana', in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, Op. cit., col. 1514
21. ^München, Staatsbibliothek, Clm 4660Archived 2012-11-11 at the Wayback Machine im Handschriftencensus
22. ^Auch zum Folgenden s. Franz X. Scheuerer: Zum philologischen Werk J. A. Schmellers und seiner wissenschaftlichen Rezeption. Eine Studie zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte der Germanistik, de Gruyter, Berlin und New York 1995, p. 64
23. ^quoted in Joachim Schickel: 'Carmina Burana' in Kindlers Literaturlexikon. Kindler, Zürich 1964, S. 1794.
24. ^Bernhard Joseph Docen: Miszellaneen zur Geschichte der deutschen Literatur, vol. 2, 1807, pp. 189–208
25. ^Jacob Grimm: 'Gedichte des Mittelalters auf König Friedrich I. den Staufer und aus seiner so wie der nächstfolgenden Zeit', in: Philologische und historische Abhandlungen der Königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin. Aus dem Jahre 1843, Berlin 1845, pp. 143–254
26. ^'Carmina Burana. Lateinische und deutsche Lieder und Gedichte einer Handschrift des XIII. Jahrhunderts aus Benedictbeuern auf der k. Bibliothek zu München', ed. by J. A. S. [i. e. Johann Andreas Schmeller], in: Bibliothek des literarischen Vereins in Stuttgart XVI, 1, Stuttgart 1847
27. ^Eberhard Brost: 'Nachwort'. In: Carmina Burana. Lieder der Vaganten, lateinisch und deutsch nach Ludwig Laistner. Lambert Schneider, Heidelberg 1964, p. 200.
28. ^Carmina Burana. Mit Benutzung der Vorarbeiten Wilhelm Meyers kritisch hg. v. Alfons Hilka und Otto Schumann, 2 vols, Heidelberg 1930.
29. ^'Fragmenta Burana', ed. by Wilhelm Meyer, in: Festschrift zur Feier des hundertfünfzigjährigen Bestehens der königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, phil.-hist. Klasse, Berlin 1901, pp. 1–190.
30. ^Richard Taruskin, Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century (vol. 1 of The Oxford History of Western Music), p. 138
31. ^ ^abCarmina Burana. In: Stanley Sadie (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians
32. ^Carmina Burana, raymanzarek.com
33. ^'Apotheosis'. Discogs. Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2018.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)
34. ^'Gauntlet Legends Designer Diary'. gamespot.com. Archived from the original on 2009-04-13.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)

Bibliography

• Diemer, Peter and Dorothee. 'Die Carmina Burana' in: Carmina Burana. Text und Übersetzung, Benedikt Konrad Vollmann (ed.), Deutscher Klassiker Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1987.
• Knapp, Fritz Peter. 'Die Literatur des Früh- und Hochmittelalters in den Bistümern Passau, Salzburg, Brixen und Trient von den Anfängen bis 1273' in Geschichte der Literatur in Österreich von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart, ed. by Herbert Zemann, vol. 1), Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, Graz 1994.
• Schaller, Dieter. 'Carmina Burana' in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 2, Artemis, Munich and Zurich 1983.
• Walsh, P. G., ed. (1993). Love Lyrics from the Carmina Burana. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN978-0-807-84400-7.

Further reading[edit]

• Lehtonen, Tuomas M. S. (1995). Fortuna, Money, and the Sublunar World: Twelfth-century Ethical Poetics and the Satirical Poetry of the Carmina Burana (Ph.D. thesis, University of Helsinki). Bibliotheca historica, 9. Helsinki: Finnish Historical Society. ISBN978-951-710-027-4. ISSN1238-3503.

External links[edit]

• Latin Wikisource has original text related to this article: Carmina Burana
• Quotations related to Carmina Burana at Wikiquote
• Media related to Carmina Burana manuscript at Wikimedia Commons

Carmina Burana is a scenic 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 section of the piece are called 'Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi' ('Fortune, Empress of the World') and start with the very well known 'O Fortuna'.

• 6Reception

Text[edit]

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 [de] 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[edit]

Carmina Burana is structured into five major sections, containing 25 movements in total. Orff indicates attacca markings between all the movements within each scene.

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[edit]

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.' Although Carmina Burana was intended as a staged work involving dance, choreography, visual design and other stage action, the piece is now usually performed in concert halls as a cantata. A notable exception is the Trans-Siberian Orchestra version which features strobe lights and what appears to be flames engulfing the stage, wings and balconies, pulsing intensely in time to the music.^{[citation needed]} A danced version choreographed by Loyce Houlton for the Minnesota Dance Theatre in 1978 was prepared in collaboration with Orff himself.^{[citation needed]}. 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.

Musical style[edit]

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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.^[2]

Orff was influenced melodically by late Renaissance and early Baroque models including William Byrd and Claudio Monteverdi.^[3] 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.^[4][5] 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. Overall, 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 unique 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[edit]

Carmina Burana is scored for a large orchestra consisting of:

The score also has short solos for three tenors, baritone and two basses. A reduced version for soloists, SATB mixed choir, children's choir, two pianos and six percussion (timpani + 5) was prepared by Orff's disciple Wilhelm Killmayer in 1956 and authorized by Orff himself, to allow smaller ensembles the opportunity to perform the piece. See also Subsequent arrangements below.

Reception[edit]

Carmina Burana was first staged by the Oper Frankfurt on 8 June 1937 under conductor Bertil Wetzelsberger [de] (1892–1967) with the Cäcilienchor Frankfurt [de], staging by Oskar Wälterlin [de] 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.^[6]

Several performances were repeated elsewhere in Germany. The Nazi regime was at first nervous about the erotic tone of some of the poems,^[7] but eventually embraced the piece. It became the most famous piece of music composed in Germany at the time.^[8] 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.

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.'^[9]

The desire Orff expressed to his publisher has by and large been fulfilled: No other composition of his approaches its renown, as evidenced in both pop culture's use of 'O Fortuna' and the classical world's persistent programming and recording of the work. In the United States, Carmina Burana represents one of the few box office certainties in 20th-century repertoire.

Subsequent arrangements[edit]

Orff's disciple Wilhelm Killmayer in 1956 created a reduced version for soloists, SATB mixed choir, children's choir, two pianos and six percussion (timpani + 5). This version, authorized by Orff himself, allowed smaller ensembles the opportunity to perform the piece.

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

An arrangement for wind ensemble was prepared by Juan Vicente Mas Quiles [ca] (born 1921), who wanted to both 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.^[10]

An additional arrangement for concert winds was prepared by composer John Krance and does not include chorus. Various arrangements of different movements for young bands also exist.

Australian classical guitarist Gareth Koch arranged and recorded Carmina Burana for the guitar. It was originally released by the ABC Classics label in 1998 and re-released in 2005.

Carmina Burana Wave File

Notable recordings[edit]

• Ferdinand Leitner with the Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie Orchester, the Kölner Rundfunkchor led by Herbert Shernus, and the Tölzer Knabenchor, led by Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden [de], was 'Carl Orff's Original Authorized Recording'.^{[citation needed]} Released 1973 on Acanta and as part of seven CD set 'Carl Orff Colection' (Acanta, 1992) and on Arts Archives (2003).
• Herbert Blomstedt with the San Francisco Symphony, and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, led by Vance George, won the Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance in 1992. The recording was released by Decca on October 11, 1991.
• Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos with the New Philharmonia Orchestra, the New Philharmonia Chorus (chorus master: Wilhelm Pitz), Wandsworth School Boys' Choir, John Noble, Raymond Wolansky, Lucia Popp, Emi, 1966.
• Charles Dutoit with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and Saint Lawrence Choir (Beverly Hoch (s), Stanford Olsen (t), Mark Oswald (bar). 1997, Decca 028945529028. High quality recording technically (balancing orchestra and choir)
• Kurt Eichhorn with the Munich Radio Orchestra and Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks [de], Tölzer Knabenchor; Lucia Popp, John van Kesteren, Hermann Prey; film directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle for ZDF;^[11] recorded July 1973, released 1974 on Eurodisc; CD reissues on BMG in 1984 and 1995. Both the film adaptation and recording were endorsed by Carl Orff himself (Orff also collaborated on the film in honour of his 80th birthday)
• Eugen Jochum (conductor) with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Chorus (Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks: Josef Kugler (choir master), Hans Braun (baritone vocal), Ratko Delorko (tenor vocal), Paul Kuen (tenor vocal), Elfriede Trötschel (soprano vocal), Annelies Kupper (soprano vocal), Elisabeth Lindermeier (soprano vocal), Richard Holm (tenor vocal), Elisabeth Wiese-Lange (soprano vocal), Kurt Böhme (bass vocal), Julius Karr-Bartoli, Kurt Prestel) as part of Trionfi: Carmina Burana (recorded 1952 ℗ 1953) / Catulli Carmina (recorded 1954 ℗ 1954–1956) / Trionfo di Afrodite) (recorded 1955 ℗ 1956); released on November 1, 2002 as 2 CD: 2h11:56 {CD 1: 55:26: Carmina Burana; CD 2: 1h16:30: Catulli Carmina / Trionfo di Afrodite} on Deutsche Grammophon, ADD 0289 474 1312 7 GM 2 Mono^[12][13]; reissued on 04/06/2012 as 2 CD: 2h11:50 {CD 1: 55:14: Carmina Burana; CD 2: 1h16:36: Catulli Carmina (36:03) / Trionfo di Afrodite (40:33)} on Major Classics, M2CD016, 5 060294 540168^[14][15])
• Eugen Jochum with the choir and orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Gundula Janowitz, Gerhard Stolze, and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Recorded October 1967 in Berlin's Ufa-Studio, released 1968 (Deutsche Grammophon). This version was endorsed by Carl Orff himself and was the first choice of the BBC Radio 3 CD Review 'Building a Library' review in 1995.^[16]
• Herbert Kegel with the MDR Rundfunkchor, the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra and Jutta Vulpius [de], Hans-Joachim Rotzsch, Kurt Hübenthal and Kurt Rehm. Recorded and released 1960 (VEB Deutsche Schallplatten). Orff himself loved this version.^[17]
• James Levine with Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and June Anderson, Philip Creech, and Bernd Weikl. Recorded 1984 (Deutsche Grammophon). This version won the 1987 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance.
• Ray Manzarek, keyboard player for the Doors, produced by Philip Glass and Kurt Munkacsi. Arrangements by Ray Manzarek. Carmina Burana, released 1983 on A&M Records. Genres: Rock music, Progressive rock, Art rock.
• Riccardo Muti with Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus and Arleen Auger, John van Kesteren and Jonathan Summers. Recorded 1979 (EMI), featured in the top three of BBC Radio 3's review and is also recommended by Classics Today.^[18]
• New York Choral Society accompanied by Jeffrey Reid Baker using synthesizers. A 1988 recording.^[19]
• Eugene Ormandy, with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Rutgers University Choir, Recorded and released, 1960, reissued, 1987 CBS Masterworks Records
• Seiji Ozawa with the Berlin Philharmonic and Shin-Yu Kai Chorus; Kathleen Battle, Frank Lopardo and Thomas Allen; 1990 Philips DVD video.
• Simon Rattle with the Berlin Philharmonic and Berlin Radio Choir; Sally Matthews, Lawrence Brownlee and Christian Gerhaher; 2005 EMI Classics. Very fast, percussive emphasis.^[20]
• Robert Shaw with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus, and Atlanta Boy Choir; Judith Blegen (sop.), William Brown (ten.), and Håkan Hagegård (bar.); recorded 1981, released 1983 by Telarc.
• Leonard Slatkin with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, RCA 09026 61673-2, featured in the top three of BBC Radio 3's review
• Leopold Stokowski with the Houston Symphony, Guy Gardner, Virginia Babikian, Clyde Hager, the Houston Chorale and the Houston Youth Symphony Boys Choir. Released 1959 Capitol Records
• Christian Thielemann with the choir and orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Knabenchor Berlin. Released 1999 by Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Hamburg. Named 'Editor's Choice' by Gramophone^[21]
• Michael Tilson Thomas with the Cleveland Orchestra, Chorus and Boys Choir; Judith Blegen, Kenneth Riegel and Peter Binder; Recorded 1974, released 1975 CBS Records (quadrophonic); CD re-release 1990 MK 33172 CBS Records Masterworks
• Jos Van Immerseel with Anima Eterna Brugge, Collegium Vocale Gent, and Cantate Domino; Yeree Suh (sop.), Yves Saelens (ten.) and Thomas Bauer (bar.); 2014 Zigzag. Recorded on period instruments.

See also[edit]

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References[edit]

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. ^'Not Medieval but Eternal; In Its Sixth Decade, Carmina Burana Still Echoes' by Ann Powers, The New York Times (14 June 1999)
3. ^Helm, Everett (July 1955). 'Carl Orff'. Oxford: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 41, No. 3. p. 292.Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
4. ^Liess, Andreas (1980). Orff. Idee und Werk (in German). Munich: Goldmann. pp. 82–83. ISBN978-3-442-33038-6. 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.)
5. ^Bernt, Günter (1979). Carmina Burana (in German). Munich: dtv. p. 862. ISBN978-3-7608-0361-6. 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.)
6. ^Various, vol. IV, 66.
7. ^Kater 2000, p. 123.
8. ^Taruskin 2005, p. 764.
9. ^'In Music, Though, There Were No Victories' by Alex Ross, The New York Times (20 August 1995)
10. ^'Juan Vicente Mas Quiles – Carmina Burana, published by Schott Music
11. ^Carmina Burana (1975) on IMDb
12. ^CARL ORFF: Carmina Burana / Catulli Carmina / Trionfo di Afrodite
13. ^www.classicstoday.com > TRIONFI / Review by: Victor Carr Jr
14. ^www.cdandlp.com > Orff, Carl - Trionfi: carmina burana; catulli carmina; trionfo di afrodite / eugen jochum
15. ^m.exlibris.ch > Carmina Burana / C. Orff
16. ^CD Review 'Building a Library': Carmina Burana, BBC
17. ^'Herbert Kegel – portrait by Rainer Aschemeier, 17 July 2006 (in German)
18. ^https://web.archive.org/web/20110718164755/http://www.classicstoday.com/features/100cds.asp
19. ^'Jeffrey Reid Baker's Website'. jeffreyreidbaker.com.
20. ^'Orff: Carmina Burana / Rattle', David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com, at ArkivMusic
21. ^“Orff: Carmina Burana - Christian Thielemann”. Barnesandnoble.com. Retrieved 20 July 2018

Sources

• Kater, Michael H. (2000). 'Carl Orff: Man of Legend'. Composers of the Nazi Era: Eight Portraits. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Taruskin, Richard (2005). The Oxford History of Western Music. 4 'The Early Twentieth Century'. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Various authors (eds.): Carl Orff und sein Werk. Dokumentation, 8 vols., Schneider, Tutzing 1975–1983, ISBN3-7952-0154-3, ISBN3-7952-0162-4, ISBN3-7952-0202-7, ISBN3-7952-0257-4, ISBN3-7952-0294-9, ISBN3-7952-0308-2, ISBN3-7952-0308-2, ISBN3-7952-0373-2

Bibliography[edit]

• 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.
• Kii-Ming Lo, '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, ISBN3-7957-0209-7.

External links[edit]

Youtube To Wav File Converter

• 'Ave Formosissima', 'O Fortuna' on YouTube, Coro Sinfônico Comunitário da Universidade de Brasília
• Carmina Burana Web Comprehensive site about Carl Orff's Carmina Burana
• Program notes on Carmina Burana, 28 March 2004, Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia
• 'The Lasting Appeal of Orff's Carmina Burana', sound files and transcription at NPR
• 'Carl Orff: Carmina Burana' (complete performance, 1:11 hours), University Chorus and Alumni Chorus, UC Davis Symphony Orchestra and the Pacific Boychoir at the Mondavi Center (4 June 2006)

Carmina Burana Wave File