CARMINA BURANA: HISTORY

Carmina Burana (Lieder aus Beuern) is actually a collection of plays and songs from a medieval German manuscript.  Its original date is unknown but it is believed to have been written between the 11th-13th centuries. Carmina Burana was named after the Benedictine monastery where it was speculated to have been discovered in 1803. Some of the works which number over 1,000 songs may be attributed to "goliards," a reference to de-frocked priests and minor clergy and are written primarily in Latin or German.  Many of the works include religious poems, drinking and love songs, and satires of leaders of the medieval era. The works are broken down into the following: Ecclesiastica, (religious) Moralia et Satirica (moral/satirical), Amtoria (love), Portoria (drinking and gambling), and Supplementium (supplemental). The collection is reputed to contain the grandest of secular lyrics from the Middle Ages and has fascinated people over many centuries.

Famous composer Carl Orff was motivated to write a secular cantata of Carmina Burana in 1937 but he did not use the original melodies found in the manuscript. Orff used 24 of the poems with the most well-known poem being Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi or Oh, Fortuna named for the Roman goddess of Fortune. Orff's composition is in following overall structure:

• Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi (Fortune, Empress of the World)
• 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)

Orff's work is still heard today in concert halls, football stadiums, and television advertisements with its driving and powerful sounds.