Everybody likes Carmina Burana - that's probably why Carl Orff is forgiven the sin of being a little too close to the Nazis in the 1930s (although he never subscribed to Nazi ideology himself). But that period was such a cultural wasteland in Germany that Carmina Burana, first performed in 1937, really stands out "as the only universally important work produced during the entire period of the Third Reich." Not that the Nazi regime was really happy with this music - they were nervous about the erotic tone of some of the poems, and also denounced the unfamiliar (=un-German) rhythms. The popularity of the work continued to grow after the war, and by the 1960s Carmina Burana was well established in the international classical repertoire.
I have known this work since my student days, but somehow I never wondered about the meaning of the "Burana" in the title ("Carmina" of course is Latin for "songs"). I have now found out that "Burana" is the Latinization of "Benediktbeuern," a town in Bavaria with a large Benedictine monastery where the collection of songs was found in the early 18th century.
The anonymous manuscript contains more than 250 poems and dramatic texts, mostly from the 11th and 12th centuries. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent and satirical. They are mostly written in medieval Latin, some in Middle High German, and some in a mixture of Latin and German or French vernacular. The manuscripts reflect an international European movement, with songs from Occitania, France, England, Scotland, Aragon, Castile, and the Holy Roman Empire.
They were written by students and clergy when Latin was the lingua franca throughout Italy and Western Europe for traveling scholars, students, and theologians. Most of the poems and songs appear to be the work of Goliards, clerics who satirized the Catholic Church. The collection is the most important collection of Goliard and vagabond songs.
Twenty-four poems in Carmina Burana were set to music by Carl Orff in 1936, and his composition quickly became popular and a staple of the classical music repertoire.
The first part of the composition, called "In the Spring," consists of love songs, the second part, "In the Tavern," of drinking and gambling songs, and the third part, "In the Court of Love," of songs about sensual love. The whole is preceded and concluded by a hymn to Fortuna, the goddess of fate. In fact, Orff depicts life as a kind of wheel of fortune. The motto of the piece is: "Sometimes you are lucky, but the next day you can be unlucky." That is why it is important to fully enjoy the moments of intense happiness, because they are often short-lived. Carpe diem!
Carl Orff was inspired not only by the medieval texts, but especially by the image on the first page of the medieval manuscript. It is a picture of the wheel of fortune. At the bottom of the wheel lies a king in the mud, and next to him is the inscription: regnum non habeo, or: I have no kingdom. On the left he rises with the wheel, it says: Regnabo, or I will reign. At the top of the wheel he sits on the throne: regno, or, I reign. On the right he descends with the wheel, next to which is written regnavi: I have reigned. The king ends where he began: at the bottom.
The composition tells the same story. We start at the bottom of the wheel: fate is lamented. Then spring comes, nature blossoms and love blooms, culminating in the lyrical exclamation: I would give anything to be in the arms of the Queen of England; with this we have reached the top of the wheel, kingship is achieved in a sense. Then we slowly descend again; the descent is a surrender to love, culminating in total surrender: Dulcissime, totam tibi subdo me, or: Most sweet one, I submit myself completely to you. This closes the circle.
Translation of the Carmina Burana at Poetry in Translation.
Listen to: Sarah Aristidou, soprano; Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke, tenor; Markus Werba, baritone; WDR Symphony Orchestra; WDR Radio Choir; NDR Vocal Ensemble;
Boys and girls of the Cologne Cathedral Music; WDR Symphony Orchestra; Cristian Măcelaru, conductor
[Contains edited translations from the Carmina Burana article in the Dutch language Wikipedia]
Choral Masterworks