Carmina Burana
The University of New Mexico Symphony Orchestra
Jorge Pérez-Gómez, conductor
The UNM Concert Choir
John Clark, conductor
From the Liner Notes:
Munich-born Carl Orff (1895—1982) was both a composer and educator. He drew on ancient tragedy, Baroque models, Bavarian peasant life, and Christian mystery to create a musical theatre of impressive force. Musical influences included Debussy, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, and Strauss. Orff’s interests were never confined simply to composition, but extended as well to the dramatic production of a musical work. Most of his works are musical dramas based on classical and metaphysical subjects. One of Orff’s biggest contributions to the musical world was as an educational theorist; many of his methods are now used in classrooms. In the 1920s, he and his wife founded the Guntherschule for gymnastics, music and dance in Munich, dedicated to exploring and teaching new relationships between movement and music.
Carmina Burana, generally considered to be Orff’s greatest composition, is the cycle of Medieval poems discovered in 1803 in a Bavarian monastery. The poems, originally sung, were composed between the 11th and 14th centuries by defrocked clerics and university students disenchanted with church practices. Considered heretics, the church in the 13th century tried to rid itself of these Goliards. Dealing with topics from love, to drinking, to criticism of Catholic institutions, the authors clearly believed the church should focus on immediate earthly concerns rather than on elevated theological ones. Orff chose 25, about one-third of the total poems, for orchestral arrangement. In keeping with his predilection for the dramatic, “total theatre” as Orff called it, a huge medievalizing setting and costumes were designed for the work’s premiere in 1937.
Track List:
Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi (Fortune, Empress of the World)
01) O Fortuna (Oh Fortune) choir
02) Fortuna plango vulnera (I bemoan the wounds of Fortune) choir
I. Primo Vere (Spring)
03) Veris leta facies (The merry face of Spring) small choir
04) Omnia Sol temperat (The sun warms everything) solo for baritone
05) Ecce gratum (Behold, the pleasant spring) choir
Uf Dem Anger (On The Green)
06) Tanz (Dance) orchestra
07) Floret silva (The noble woods are burgeoning) choir
08) Chramer, gip di varwe mir (Shopkeeper, give me colour) choir
09) Reie (Round dance) orchestra
Swaz hie gat umbe (Those who go round and round) choir
Churne, chum geselle min (Come, come, my love) small choir
Swaz hie gat umbe (Those who go…) choir
10) Were diu werit alle min (If all the world were mine) choir
II. In Taberna (In The Tavern)
11) Estuans interius (Burning inside) solo for baritone
12) Olim lacus colueram (Once I lived on lakes) solo for tenor and men’s chorus
13) Ego sum abbas (I am the abbot) solo for baritone and men’s chorus
14) In taberna quando sumus (When we are in the tavern) men’s chorus
III. Cour D’amours (In The Court Of Love)
15) Amor volat undique (Cupid flies everywhere) solo for soprano and children’s chorus
16) Dies, nox et omnia (Day, night and everything) solo for baritone
17) Stetit puella (A girl stood) solo for soprano
18) Circa mea pectora (In my heart) solo for baritone and choir
19) Si puer cum puellula (If a boy with a girl) men’s chorus
20) Veni, veni, venias (Come, come, O come) double choir
21) In trutina (In the balance) solo for soprano
22) Tempus est iocundum (This is the joyful time) solo for soprano, baritone, and choir
23) Dulcissime (Sweetest one) solo for soprano
Blanziflor et Helena (Blanchefleur and Helen)
24) Ave formosissima (Hail,most beautiful one) choir
Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi (Oh Fortune, Empress of the World)
25) O Fortuna (Oh Fortune) choir
Recording Information:
Recorded December 7, 1993 at Popejoy Hall, University of New Mexico
Producer: Keven Campbell
1st Recording Engineer: Manny Rettinger
2nd engineer: Robert Love, Simon Welter
Cover: “Rhapsody” by Leonardo Nierman.
Tapestry donated to Popejoy Hall of the University of New Mexico by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hirsch.
Photo: ©Anthony Richardson
Many thanks to Camera Works, Inc. of Albuquerque for their support.
Program Notes & Coordination: William M. Adler, Director of Development, UNM College of Fine Arts.
Ruth Martin, Assistant to the Director
Art Direction (CD): Perry Mak/Creative Zone Design
Start time: 2 min.
End time: 1 hour 6 min 42 sec.
Applause: 1 hour 6 min 42 sec to 1 hour 7 min 42 sec.
©1994 University of New Mexico
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