GALA CONCERTS Carmina Burana was composed by Carl Orff in 1935 and 1936. Initially conceived of as a scenic cantata, it is based on 24 poems from the medieval collection, Carmina Burana. Carmina Burana is part of Trionfi, a musical triptych that also includes Catulli Carmina and Trionfo di Afrodite. The first and last movements of the piece are called “Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi” (Fortune, Empress of the World) and start with the very well known “O Fortuna”.In 1934, Orff encountered the text in the 1847 edition of the Carmina Burana by Johann Andreas Schmeller, the original text dating mostly from the 11th or 12th century, including some from the 13th century. Michel Hofmann (de), then a young law student and Latin and Greek enthusiast, assisted Orff in the selection and organization of 24 of these poems into a libretto, mostly in Latin verse, with a small amount of Middle High German and Old Provençal. The selection covers a wide range of 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. Orff classified Carmina Burana as a collection of “Secular songs for singers and choruses to be sung together with instruments and magic images.” Carl Orff states in Palmer’s film “O Fortuna” that “Where you are born, and when you are born is everything.” In other statements quoted by scholars studying his life and work, he also revealed his belief that the World is all that exists, and that after this life, there is nothing. These ideas are very consistent with esoteric interpretations of the meaning of Fortuna, as one of the Tarot cards, and as a pervasive emblem in manuscripts
from the Middle Ages, including the original Carmina Burana. Moreover, medieval emblems consistently taught that Fortune is blind, and the man that follows it will be led astray. From these experiential concepts about Fortuna we can proceed to more metaphysical meanings, such as Fortuna standing for the cycles of the Universe at large, and by extension, as equivalent to the Eastern idea of Karma. These interpretations may explain why the famous Exordium and Epilogue in Orff’s Carmina Burana, the chorus “O Fortuna” has a dark and foreboding affect, in contrast to the orgiastic sensuality displayed in the rest of the piece. The work is in three sections: In Spring, In the Tavern, and The Court of Love with an opening prologue and finale. Overall Structure Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi (Fortune, Empress of the World) I. Primo vere (In Springtime) Uf dem anger (On the Lawn) II. In Taberna (In the Tavern) III. Cour d’amours (The Court of Love) Blanziflor et Helena (Blanziflor and Helena) Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi (Fortune, Empress of the World)
PERFORMERS Tallaght Choral Society, East Cork Choral Society, Montfort Youth Choir, Band of 1 Brigade, Soloists: Cara O’Sullivan (Soprano), Owen Gilhooly (Baritone) and Peter Kerr (Tenor), Conductor: Lieutenant Colonel Mark J. Armstrong
TALLAGHT CHORAL SOCIETY
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Cork Choral Festival Programme Inside.indd 11
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