Carmina Burana - Carl Orff (1895 - 1982) |
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Carl
Orff composed a number of works for the theatre and concert hall but he is
chiefly remembered for his far-reaching contribution to music education –
his Orff-Schulwerk, published in 1930, is still in use today – and
for his dramatic cantata, Carmina Burana, written in 1936. Orff
came from a musical family and had a number of songs and other pieces
published whilst still in his teens. His style at that time could be
described as Post-Romantic, influenced as it was by Schoenberg and Richard
Strauss. His ground-breaking research into the way in which music and
movement are instinctively and inextricably linked in young children
resulted in a radical change in how music was taught in schools throughout
Europe and beyond. He became fascinated with the power of primitive
rhythms and simple melodies, which gradually found expression in his own
compositions. With Carmina Burana he finally turned his back on
chromaticism and complex polyphony for a deliberately simplified style,
characterised by its rhythmic energy and the repetition of short melodic
phrases supported by elemental block harmonies. It comes as no surprise to
learn that Orff was dismissed by the critics - one called him ‘a rich
man’s banjo player’ – but the work immediately appealed to the public and
has remained a great favourite ever since. |
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The text
of Carmina Burana is a selection from a large collection of secular
poems of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, preserved in a manuscript
at the Bavarian monastery of Benediktbeuren. The poems are mostly in
Latin, the international language of the day, though some are in old
French or Middle High German and come from a wide variety of sources. It
is somewhat surprising to learn that, apart from some poems that are of a
morally uplifting nature, most are bawdy student songs celebrating such
un-monklike earthly delights as drinking, gambling, dancing and
lovemaking. |
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Orff
described Carmina Burana as a ‘scenic cantata’. It uses a very
large orchestra and was originally designed for the stage, with dancing
and mime accompanying the music. It was first performed at the Frankfurt
Opera House. The work begins and ends with a powerful hymn to the goddess
Fortuna, the Empress of the World, seen as a monstrous whirling wheel
carrying its victims first to the heights, then dashing them to the
ground. In between come three main sections. The first is a depiction of
Spring, Primo Vere, illustrated by rustic songs and dances. The
second is set in a tavern, vividly described by a succession of characters
including the swan on the spit (counter-tenor solo), who laments his
dreadful fate. Part III, The Court of Love, is an uninhibited
celebration of the delights of love. The final number, Blanziflor and
Helena, leads back to the opening hymn (popularised by a well-known TV
commercial), thereby not only unifying the whole work, but also acting as
a pertinent reminder that our lives are ever subject to the slings and
arrows of outrageous Fortune. |
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John
Bawden
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To those using these notes You are more than
welcome to use all or part of these notes for your
choral society or church programme, or for educational
purposes. If you do, please would you be kind enough to
advise me by e-mail -
bawden37@sky.com - and would you also acknowledge my
authorship. If you wish to use these notes for
commercial purposes, e.g. a CD or DVD liner, please
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