est affectus et defectus semper in angaria.

#EST AFFECTUS ET DEFECTUS SEMPER IN ANGARIA. FULL#

It had a hugely successful premier in 1937 and has become a staple of classical choral literature. Carl Orff was introduced to this mass of material in the 1930’s and put 24 of them to music in the Carmina. Some of the pieces (out of over 250 in all) are 1,000 years old. The manuscript was discovered there in the mid-1800’s, but scholars now think that the songs themselves were written elsewhere, probably by a wide variety of people. But actually the monks didn’t write them. Part of the scandalous reputation of Carmina (which I would say is pretty much undeserved) is that all these songs about springtime, love, and drinking were thought of as being written by the monks at Beuern, and they were supposed to have their minds on higher matters. What does the title mean? “Carmina” simply means “songs.” “Burana” means “of Beuern” or (if you want the whole big German word) “of Benediktbeuern,” a monastery in Bavaria. If you find it intriguing, I’d encourage you to purchase the book I eventually wrote that covers the entire work.įirst, some general background on Carmina. Following is some brief introductory material. How could I get the ideas in these texts across to my fellow choir members so that they wouldn’t just be mouthing syllables? I eventually settled on writing short essays on the words, and here I am today, still doing the same thing here on this website and making the material available to any and all who are interested. Since the music itself was very challenging and we were under a demanding deadline, there was no chance for any type of in-person commentary to be given at our rehearsals. This question engaged me particularly in the case of Carmina, since not only were the texts very old, but they were also in medieval Latin with a sprinkling of German and French. Back then I was trying to figure out how I could create some type of venue to explain the meaning of the lyrics. We didn’t have a ballet to go along with it (although I’ve since attended a performance that included that element), but it was quite an evening all the same.

#EST AFFECTUS ET DEFECTUS SEMPER IN ANGARIA. FULL#

(Follow the link to the Chorale’s home page.) This article was written for an earlier concert, so don’t be confused!īack in the fall of 2013 I had the incredible opportunity of singing a full performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana with my own choir and a Denver-area symphony orchestra. Please note: The choir to which I belong, the Cherry Creek Chorale, is performing “O Fortuna” in its October 2021 concert.

Est affectus et defectus semper in angaria.