I have just finished singing in a performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana with Collegium Symphonic Choir. Every time I do a piece of music, I always fall in love with it and think, “This is the best thing I’ve ever done!” But now I’m thinking, “Hey, I think this might actually be the best thing I’ve ever done!”
Carmina Burana (or ‘Songs of Beuern’) is an 11th century collection of poems written by defrocked monks and vagrants who had been kicked out of their monasteries and had to get money teaching and doing whatever they could. Along the way, they wrote these great poems about Spring and drinking and life and lots of sex. Fantastic.
A number of memories of the piece. The double piano of the ‘Tanz’, with each player alternating eighth notes. The slow and thoughtful ‘Veris leta facies’. And the famous ‘O Fortuna’, with which Carmina begins and ends. While singing this in the middle of a hundred people, the overwhelming image I got was that of a baby being born screaming into a world of fear and tumult, helplessly strapped to the torturous wheel of fortune. ‘In taberna quando sumus’ is a lusty drinking song, and an exceptionally fast bit of Latin as well. ‘Tempus est iocundum’ is typical of the joyful percussiveness of the piece. For Carmina is very noisy, and unclassically boisterous.
And so sexy. ‘Veni, veni, venias’ represents the fury of lovers. The feeling is: Come on, come on! I have got to have you now or I am going to die. ‘In trutina’, deservedly the second-most famous piece, in which the Girl decides to submit to the yoke of love. And ‘Dulcissime’ is the climax of the piece, if you will. A high soprano solo that goes right to the centre of you when it works. (And it did.)
It’s not a tough work to get, conceptually, but it is a very demanding sing that requires highly tuned attention and stamina from singers. The audience really seemed to enjoy it. Perhaps it’s so accessible because it’s so unrestrained. If you haven’t heard it all the way through before, it’s a very satisfying and recommended listen.
15 October 2006 at 10:33 am
Our concert was also quite awesome! Had some trouble synchronising French with notes but otherwise all good! The Requiem was just awesome! We had a chmaber orchestra accompanying us and the soloists were fantastic and so were we! Yes, modesty is one of my finer points! The after-party was also quite good, although I left early because of work today. Glad you had a good night!
See you Tuesday.
– Ash
15 October 2006 at 4:24 pm
Wow Daniel – you are a man of many talents. Singing is not one of mine, alas. I would love to be able to sing – it must give you such pleasure. I like to sing alone, on the beach, in the car, but in public, to another person, never!
18 October 2006 at 10:07 am
Oh! That’s my dad’s favourite opera-ishness-thing. We were going to go but basically forgot. REGRET. I can only imagine how amazing this would sound in concert, especially when singing in the middle of it. Yay for being awesome 🙂
24 October 2006 at 11:11 pm
Yea for Dan still singing. I would but I need him around to keep me from going flat.