Music of the Week: May 12, 2023: Carl Orff – Carmina Burana
Spring has come, and summer is upon us, so we are going to celebrate the many facets of human life with this extraordinary composition by 20th-century German composer Carl Orff—the Carmina Burana.
The title belongs to an anthology of 254 medieval song texts and dramatic scenes written in medieval Latin, German, and French-Provençal and refers to the “Songs from Benediktbeuren,” a famous monastery in Southern Bavaria where the 11th-century-manuscript was found.
The selection of 24 poems and songs used by Orff to compose the tremendous music of the same title captures a wide range of themes of mundane human life, such as gladness over the return of spring, the transience of life, the joy of drinking and feasting, and the vacillations of fortune addressed and personified as “Oh Fortuna.”
The orchestral and choir version we have selected for you is a voluptuous performance by the Latin American Youth Orchestra and the Andean Youth Choir under prodigy conductor Gustavo Dudamel.
Magnificent!
Related:
Carmina Burana on Wikipedia
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