TITLE: Carmina Burana (1936)

COMPOSER: Carl Orff (1895-1982)

• arranged for chamber winds by Friedrich Wanek

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Born in Munich, Germany, into an old Bavarian military family, Carl Orff (1895 - 1982) began piano studies at the age of five, under the tutelage of his mother. His interests in language and poetry were fostered in school. He received his formal musical training at the Munich Academy. In 1925, he helped to found the Gunter Schule, which aimed to educate the lay public in creative musicianship. Orff's techniques have been adopted by elementary school educators throughout the world. He began his career as a composer in 1925 with realizations of Monteverdi's early 17th century works. His first stage work, Carmina Burana, was composed in 1936 and premiered at the Frankfurt Opera in 1937; it became an outstanding success. After the War, Orff was asked by the Bavarian Broadcasting Company to develop a series of broadcasts for and with children; the pedagogical concepts of that work were captured in the five volumes of Music for Children.

MOVEMENTS: Five

1. Fortune plango vulnera 2' 05
2. In trutina 2' 07"
3. Tanz 1' 52"
4. Amor volat undique 3' 15"
5. In traberna 3' 34"

PERFORMANCE TIME: 12' 52"

INSTRUMENTATION: 10 Instruments

• 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Bb Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns

EDITIONS: Available for Purchase

• Schott Music Corp: American Agent - European American

COMPOSITION SKETCH AND MUSICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Orff drew the inspiration for his grand vocal and orchestral work from twenty-four poems, of the two hundred, found in the 13th century monastery of Benediktbeuern, near Munich in Bavaria, and published in 1847 under the title of Carmina Burana. Carmina is the plural of the Latin word carmen and in early time, carried the implication of student songs. Burana was the Latin name for the area we know today as Bavaria. Both sacred and secular, the texts are about earthly pleasures: eating, dancing, drinking, gambling, and lovemaking. They proclaim the beauty of life and the glory of springtime. The manuscript, an early source of secular music, contains songs and poetry used by medieval golliards in Middle Latin and German. Golliards were street poets who survived by using their wits. Orff developed a compositional philosophy that synthesized words, song, dance, movement and music. He termed this synthesis as "total theater". His theatrical cantata, Carmina Burana, was meant to include mime dancing and acting, however, today the work usually does not include these visual effects during performance. The music is simple in harmony and range, consistent with 13th century music, with a driving rhythm to which the listener instinctively responds. Wanek has taken five movements of the larger work and craftily reduced the original instrumental, percussive and choral forces to a mere ten players, while at the same time retaining the musical integrity of Orff's cantata.

SELECTED RECORDINGS:

Transcription Recording:

Complete Original Work Recordings:

RELATED WEBSITES:

Carl Orff Biography and Other Links - http://encarta.msn.com/index/conciseindex/1F/01F6A000.htm

Carmina Burana Information - http://encarta.msn.com/index/conciseindex/1F/01F6A000.htm