NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Carmina Burana (Orff)

Carmina Burana is a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff between 1935 and 1936. It is based on 24 of the poems found in 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 magic images.") Carmina Burana is part of Trionfi, the musical triptych that also includes the cantata Catulli Carmina and Trionfo di Afrodite. The best-known movement is "O Fortuna" that opens and closes the piece. Carl Orff Carl Orff (July 10, 1895 â€“ March 29, 1982) was a 20th-century German composer, most famous for Carmina Burana (1937). ... Carmina Burana (IPA: ; note that the stress is on the first syllable of Carmina, not the second) also known as the Burana Codex is a manuscript collection, now in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich, of more than 1000 poems and songs written in the early 13th century. ... Image File history File links Fortuna_Wheel. ... Image File history File links Fortuna_Wheel. ... Fortuna governs the circle of the four stages of life, the Wheel of Fortune, in a manuscript of Carmina Burana In Roman mythology, Fortuna (equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) was the personification of luck, hopefully of good luck, but she could be represented veiled and blind, as modern depictions... A cantata (Italian, sung) is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment and generally containing more than one movement. ... Carl Orff Carl Orff (July 10, 1895 â€“ March 29, 1982) was a 20th-century German composer, most famous for Carmina Burana (1937). ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Carmina Burana (IPA: ; note that the stress is on the first syllable of Carmina, not the second) also known as the Burana Codex is a manuscript collection, now in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich, of more than 1000 poems and songs written in the early 13th century. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... Benediktbeuern is a community in the county Bad TÃ¶lz-Wolfratshausen in Bavaria, Germany and is located at 47Â°42â€²N 11Â°25â€²E. The distance between Bichl and Benediktbeuern is only 2 kilometer (equal to 1. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Trionfi is the trilogy of cantatas by German composer Carl Orff: Carmina Burana Catulli Carmina Trionfo di Afrodite Carmina Burana is by far the most famous of the three cantatas, and includes O Fortuna. ... The Raising of the Cross, Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, Antwerp A triptych (from the Greek tri- three + ptychÄ“ fold) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together. ... Catulli Carmina is a cantata by Carl Orff to the texts of Catullus, the Roman poet of the 1st century BC. 1 - cui dono lepidum nouum libellum 2 - passer. ... Trionfo di Afrodite is a musical piece written by the German composer Carl Orff. ... Fortuna governs the circle of the four stages of life, the Wheel of Fortune, in a manuscript of Carmina Burana In Roman mythology, Fortuna (equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) was the personification of luck, hopefully of good luck, but she could be represented veiled and blind, as modern depictions...

Text

Orff first encountered the text in John Addington Symonds's 1884 publication, Wine, Women, and Song, which included English translations of 46 poems from the collection. Michel Hofmann, a young law student and Latin and Greek enthusiast, assisted Orff in the selection and organization of 24 of these poems into a libretto including both Latin and Middle High German verse. The selection covers a wide range of secular 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. Carmina Burana (IPA: ; note that the stress is on the first syllable of Carmina, not the second) also known as the Burana Codex is a manuscript collection, now in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich, of more than 1000 poems and songs written in the early 13th century. ... John Addington Symonds was the name of a father and son, both English writers. ... Antonio Ghislanzoni, nineteenth century Italian librettist. ... Middle High German (MHG, German Mittelhochdeutsch) is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... 20XX redirects here. ... This article is about fortune. ... For the business meaning, see Wealth (economics). ... For other uses, see Spring. ... A lion drinking Cygnus olor (mute swan) drinking Drinking is the act of consuming a liquid through the mouth. ... Gluttony can also refer to a character named Gluttony - a homonculus from the anime series Full Metal Alchemist Gluttony is the over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, or intoxicants to the point of waste. ... Caravaggio, The Cardsharps, c. ... Lust is any intense desire or craving for self gratification. ...

Instrumentation

Carmina Burana is scored for 3 flutes (two doubling piccolo), 3 oboes (one doubling English horn), 3 clarinets in B flat and A (one doubling E flat clarinet, one doubling bass clarinet), 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns in F, 3 trumpets in B flat and C, 3 trombones, tuba, 2 pianos, celesta, a large percussion section and strings. â™ This article is about the family of musical instruments. ... The piccolo is a small flute. ... The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. ... Cor anglais The cor anglais or English horn is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. ... Two soprano clarinets: a Bâ™ clarinet (left, with capped mouthpiece) and an A clarinet (right, with no mouthpiece). ... Eâ™ clarinet with Oehler system keywork. ... The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. ... The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers and occasionally even higher. ... This is a contrabassoon. ... For other uses, see Horn. ... The trumpet is a musical instrument in the brass family. ... The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. ... For other uses, see Tuba (disambiguation). ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ... French type, four-octave Celesta The Celesta (IPA ) is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. ... A string instrument (also stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ...

The percussion section consists of 5 timpani (one piccolo), 2 snare drums, bass drum, triangle, antique cymbals, crash cymbals, suspended cymbal, ratchet, castanets, sleigh bells, tam-tam, tambourine, tubular bells, 3 bells, 3 glockenspiels and xylophone. A timpanist in the United States Air Forces in Europe Band. ... The snare drum or side drum is a tubular drum made of wood or metal with skins, or heads, stretched over the top and bottom openings, and with a set of snares (cords) stretched across the bottom head. ... A bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. ... An old-fashioned triangle, with wand (beater) Angelika Kauffmann: LAllegra, 1779 The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. ... Crotales or antique cymbals are tuned percussion instruments. ... A crash cymbal is a type of cymbal that produces a loud, sharp, but comparatively short-duration crash used mainly as an occasional accent effect. ... Classical suspended cymbal A suspended cymbal is any single cymbal played with a stick or beater rather than struck against another cymbal. ... A Purim gragger, a kind of ratchet used in Judaism. ... Renoirs 1909 painting Dancing girl with castanets Castanets A castanet is a percussion instrument (idiophone), much used in oriental (Moorish and Ottoman music), Roman music, Spanish music and Latin American music. ... Some jingle bells. ... A tam tam is also a kind of Gong A tam is also kind of Jamaican hat, probably from the Irish tam-o-shanter. ... â€œBubenâ€ redirects here. ... Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. ... A bell is a simple sound-making device. ... Most orchestral glockenspiels are mounted in a case. ... Kulintang a Kayo, a Philippine xylophone The xylophone (from the Greek meaning wooden sound) is a musical instrument in the percussion family which probably originated in Indonesia. ...

The vocal parts include soprano solo, tenor solo, baritone solo, soli of 3 tenors, baritone, and 2 basses, a large mixed choir (soprano, alto, tenor, bass), a chamber choir (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) and a children's choir (ragazzi). This article is about the singing voice part. ... This article is about Tenor vocalists in music. ... Baritone (French: ; German: ; Italian: ) is most commonly the type of male voice that lies between bass and tenor. ... A bass (or basso in Italian) is a male singer who sings in the deepest vocal range of the human voice. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the voice-type. ...

A reduced version for soloists, mixed choir, children's choir, 2 pianos and percussion was prepared by Orff himself, to afford smaller ensembles the opportunity of performing the piece.

Structure

Carmina Burana is structured into five major sections, containing thirteen movements total. Orff indicates attacca markings between all the movements within each scene. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 407 Ã— 599 pixels Full resolution (500 Ã— 736 pixel, file size: 513 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Codex Buranus (Carmina Burana) Wheel of Fortune (Schicksalsrad) Faithful reproductions of two-dimensional original works cannot attract copyright in the U.S. according to the... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 407 Ã— 599 pixels Full resolution (500 Ã— 736 pixel, file size: 513 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Codex Buranus (Carmina Burana) Wheel of Fortune (Schicksalsrad) Faithful reproductions of two-dimensional original works cannot attract copyright in the U.S. according to the... In music, a movement is a large division of a larger composition or musical form. ... Attacca (Italian for attack) is a musical direction instructing the players to proceed immediately to the next section without a pause. ...

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: Wheel of Fortune (X) Wheel of Fortune (X) is a Major Arcana Tarot card. ...

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 by consisting of both the opening and closing movements. Johann Andreas Schmeller (6 August 1785 Tirschenreuth - 27 September 1852 in Munich) was a German scholar. ...

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 draws scorn on an aesthetic level from many musicians,^{[attribution needed]}^{[citation needed]} although considering the complicated compositional techniques favored by almost all other renowned composers of the day, the work may also be considered in this respect extremely bold. Musical development is the transformation and restatement of initial material, often contrasted with musical variation, with which it may be difficult to distinguish as a general process. ... Polyphony is a musical texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony). ...

Orff was influenced melodically by late Renaissance and early Baroque models including William Byrd and Claudio Monteverdi. It is a common misconception that Orff based the melodies of Carmina Burana on neumeatic melodies; none of the melodies found in the Burana Codex had been deciphered at the time of Orff's composition, and none of them had served Orff as a melodic model. 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). For other uses, see William Byrd (disambiguation). ... This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... Igor Stravinsky. ... Les Noces (English: The Wedding; Russian: Ð¡Ð²Ð°Ð´ÐµÐ±ÐºÐ°) is a dance cantata, or ballet with singers, with a libretto in Russian composed by Igor Stravinsky and choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska that was premiered on June 13, 1923, by the Ballets Russes. ...

Rhythm for Orff, as 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. A caesura, in poetry, is an audible pause that breaks up a line of verse. ...

Staging

Orff developed 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.

Reception

Carmina Burana was first staged in Frankfurt by the Frankfurt Opera on June 8, 1937 (Conductor: Bertil Wetzelsberger, Choir Cäcilienchor, staging by Otto Wälterlin and sets and costumes by Ludwig Sievert). Shortly after the greatly successful premiere, Orff wrote the following letter to his publisher, Schott Music: For other uses, see Frankfurt (disambiguation). ... The Alte Oper circa 1900 The Alte Oper (Old Opera) is a major concert hall and former opera house in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. ... is the 159th day of the year (160th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Schott Music is one of the oldest German music publishers. ...

Several performances were repeated elsewhere in Germany, and though the Nazi bureaucracy was at first nervous about the erotic tone of some of the poems,^[2] they eventually embraced it and it became the most famous piece of music composed in Nazi Germany.^[3] 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 repertory. National Socialism redirects here. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ...

Alex Ross writes: "[Although Orff had collaborated with the Nazis] 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."[1] Alex Ross (b. ...

In retrospect the desire he expressed in the letter to his publisher has by and large been fulfilled: No other composition of his approaches its renown as evidenced in both pop culture's appropriation 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 music.

Notable recordings

Eugen Jochum (November 1, 1902 – March 26, 1987) was a conductor. ... Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera house located in Berlin, Germany (in what was formerly West Berlin). ... Gundula Janowitz (born August 2, 1937 in Berlin, Germany) was one of the greatest lyric sopranos in modern history, renowned for her magnificent tone -- often described as creamy or silvery -- and her vocal control at the top of her range. ... Gerhard Stolze (October 1, 1926, Dessau - March 11, 1979, Garmisch-Partenkirchen) was a German tenor. ... The German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (born May 28, 1925) is regarded by many as the finest Lieder singer of his generation, if not of the last century. ... Logo Deutsche Grammophon is a German record label. ... BBC Radio 3 is a radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. ... James Levine (born June 23, 1943 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American orchestral pianist and conductor and most well known as the music director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. ... The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, based in Chicago, Illinois, is one of the leading orchestras in the world. ... June Anderson (born December 30, 1952) is an American coloratura soprano. ... Bernd Weikl (born Vienna, 29 July 1942) is an Austrian operatic baritone, best-known for his performances in the operas of Richard Wagner. ... Riccardo Muti (born July 28, 1941, in Naples) is an Italian conductor best known for being the Music Director of Milans La Scala opera house, a position he held from 1986 to 2005, and of The Philadelphia Orchestra from 1980 to 1992. ... The Philharmonia is an orchestra based in London. ... Joyce Arleen Auger (or AugÃ©r) (September 13, 1939 - June 10, 1993) was an American soprano singer, admired for her coloratura voice and interpretations of works by Bach, Handel, Haydn, Monteverdi, Gluck, and Mozart. ... Born in 1921 in the Haque in the Netherlands, the tenor John van Kesteren first worked as a electronical telex specialist for the Dutch Telegraph Company PTT. His very first appearance as a non-professional singer was in 1942 with an operetta company in Apeldoorn in Holland in the French... For other uses, see EMI (disambiguation). ... BBC Radio 3 is a radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. ... Leonard Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor. ... The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) was founded in 1880, making it the second oldest symphony in the United States after the New York Philharmonic. ... BBC Radio 3 is a radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. ...

Carmina Burana in popular culture

The music of Carmina Burana, particularly the bombastic parts of the "O Fortuna" movement, appears in numerous movies and commercials and has been covered and sampled by many bands.

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958), commonly known as MJ as well as the King of Pop, is an American musician, entertainer, and pop icon whose successful career and controversial personal life have been a part of pop culture for the last three decades. ... The Dangerous World Tour was a music tour by Michael Jackson that started June 27, 1992 and ended November 11, 1993. ... Ozzy redirects here. ... Raymond Daniel Manzarek or Manczarek (b. ... This page is about the rock band. ... Blackened death metal also called death/black metal or black/death metal (depending on which styles is dominant) is a fusion genre of extreme metal utilising elements of death metal and black metal with bands usually hailing from Europe. ... Vital Remains is a death metal band from Providence, Rhode Island. ... The name Carmina Burana refers both to a collection of 13th-century songs and poetry, and 20th-century musical settings of texts from it. ... Dechristianize was the attack on churches that occured during the The Terror in the French Revolution. ... John Boorman (born January 18, 1933 in Shepperton, Surrey, United Kingdom), is a British filmmaker, currently based in Ireland, best known for his feature films such as Point Blank, Deliverance, Excalibur, and The General. ... Excalibur is a 1981 film which retells the legend of King Arthur. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For the old stadium, see Wembley Stadium (1923). ... The Doors is a 1991 film about Jim Morrison and The Doors. ... For the song, see Natural Born Killaz. ... Capital One Financial Corp. ... For the ghost town in Washington, see Molson, Washington. ... Old Spice is an American brand of male grooming products. ... Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961, in New York City, New York) is an Irish American, conservative talk radio host (The Sean Hannity Show), co-host of Fox News Channels program Hannity & Colmes, host of the Fox News weekend program Hannitys America, and author of two books. ... Martina McBride (born Martina Mariea Schiff, July 29, 1966 in Sharon, Kansas) is an American Grammy nominated country music singer-songwriter. ... Salo may refer to: SalÃ² (Salo), a town in Lombardy, Italy SalÃ² Republic (Italian Social Republic, or Repubblica di SalÃ²) Salo, Finland, a town in the province of Western Finland Salo, Gabon, a town in OgoouÃ©-Ivindo, Gabon Salo (food) - Salted unrendered pork fat SalÃ² o le 120 giornate di... Late Night with Conan OBrien is an American late night talk show that is syndicated worldwide. ...

References

Bibliography

External links

Categories: All pages needing cleanup | Wikipedia articles needing factual verification since September 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since September 2007 | Cantatas | Compositions by Carl Orff Image File history File links Carl_Orff-Carmina_Burana-O_Fortuna. ... Carmina Burana (IPA: ; note that the stress is on the first syllable of Carmina, not the second) also known as the Burana Codex is a manuscript collection, now in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich, of more than 1000 poems and songs written in the early 13th century. ... Carl Orff Carl Orff (July 10, 1895 â€“ March 29, 1982) was a 20th-century German composer, most famous for Carmina Burana (1937). ... Musical Instrument Digital Interface, or MIDI, is a system designed to transmit information between electronic musical instruments. ...

Contents

Text

Instrumentation

Structure

Musical style

Staging

Reception

Notable recordings

Carmina Burana in popular culture

References

Bibliography

External links

Contents

Text GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Instrumentation

Structure

Musical style

Staging

Reception

Notable recordings

Carmina Burana in popular culture

References

Bibliography

External links

Text