CARMINA BURANA
PROGRAM NOTES

Carl Orff: Carmina Burana (Side-by-Side with YOSA)

Program note by Jeffrey Kahane, Artistic Director

As disparate in their sound-worlds and aesthetics as the three works on tonight’s program are, in fact they are closely aligned in the sense that each of them is in its own way an irresistible celebration of the visceral  power of rhythm.

Carmina Burana - which means "Songs of Beuern"* - is one of those rare works in the classical canon that has not only been hugely popular since the day of its very first performance almost 100 years ago, but has deeply infiltrated popular culture. The powerful opening chorus “O Fortuna” shows up in any number of films, as well as television commercials, sporting events, and stadium rock.

Notwithstanding its status as one of classical music’s authentic “greatest hits”, it remains to this day a controversial work because of its association with World War 2 Germany, and because of Carl Orff’s highly ambiguous status with respect to being a German artist during the time of the Third Reich. Orff himself had a Jewish grandmother (a fact which he did his best to hide) and as a young man associated himself with leftist political and artistic movements that would have been completely anathema to the Nazis. Athough he never joined the Nazi party, neither did he make any effort to distance himself from the regime,  let alone to adopt a dissident stance, which, of course, would only have led to his being exiled, censored, imprisoned, or executed. Ironically, the initial reaction by Nazi officials to Carmina Burana was highly negative (undoubtedly because of the bawdy nature of some of the poetry), but when it was realized how popular the music was, rather than being censored by the authorities it was co-opted as a triumphant example of German music. Rather than going into the complex and unresolvable set of moral issues raised by Orff’s story, it would surely be better (and more enjoyable) to consider what it is that has made thisubiquitous work so universally popular.

To start with, Orff’s masterful use of rhythm to generate excitement and tension is present in almost every movement - the rhythms often have a primal quality  that might well make a listener want to get up and move or dance. In fact, as one listens, it is important to remember that Orff originally conceived this piece as a theatrical spectacle with dancers and scenery - the full Latin title is “Cantiones profanae cantoribus et choris cantandae comitantibus instrumentis atque imaginibus magicis - which means "Songs of Beuern: Secular songs for singers and choruses to be sung together with instruments and magical images”.  Orff also shows himself to be an incredibly clever composer both harmonically and melodically, with a knack for composing irresistibly catchy tunes and chord progressions that are both memorable and effective.  

What is perhaps less easy for contemporary audiences to appreciate about the work is Orff’s obvious love for medieval Latin (and, to a lesser extent, medieval German), and his exceptional understanding of the power of that poetry. The poems, which are all anonymous, come from a collection of poetry - the ancient Latin word for poem is “carmen” (plural “Carmina”)  - which also means “song”, all of which dates from the 12th century. The poems  range from charming, delicate love lyrics to the raciest of doggerel. Latin, with its almost infinite flexibility and long history, has lent itself particularly well not only to some of the most exalted and intricate poetry in Western literature (think Vergil and Ovid) but also to lyrics that are as simple as some pop or folk songs.

The  wonderful array of poems that make up the text of Carmina Burana were  composed by a group of wandering poets known as  the Goliards. These young men were highly educated masters of Latin verse who were former clerics or students of theology -which meant they probably  had a very hard time making a living.  In order to survive, they engaged in a rowdy lifestyle,  involving traveling from town to town and entertaining the populace by the singing of songs that mocked what they perceived as the corruption and hypocrisy of the medieval Church. Some of the songs are clearly intended to parody sacred Latin hymns or chants of the time, and while they are by today’s standards perhaps not so shocking, they would certainly have been perceived as blasphemous at the time, something which might well have been enthusiastically appreciated by those who shared the poets’ disdain for hypocritical clerics who lived lives of the most outrageous and decadent corruption.  The Codex which contained these poems was lost for centuries, until it were discovered in the mid-1800’s and published for the first time. It was this collection that Carl Orff came across in the 1930’s and inspired what would become his launching-pad to world fame.

One delightful and little-known fact about Orff is that when the great film-maker Stanley Kubrick was in the process of creating his masterpiece “2001: A Space Odyssey”, he asked Orff, then in his 70’s, if he would be willing to compose the score. Orff declined, saying he did not feel capable of taking on such a project. When Orff died in 1972, he was world-renowned not only for Carmina Burana, but also for his immense contributions to music education for children, which are still made use of by schools around the world. 

*The word Burana comes from the German “Beuern” refers to the Bavarian town of Benediktbeuern, whose  magnificent cloister and abbey  of the same name was legendary for its beauty. (The monastery was, tragically, severely damaged in a massive storm in 2023, but in spite of the loss of much of the original buildings, will open to the public again in the spring of 2027.)