After the premiere of Carmina Burana, Carl Orff told his publisher to scrap all his previous works, declaring Carmina Burana the beginning of his collected works.
Historical Context
The Codex Buranus, named after its original location in Benediktbeuern, is a medieval manuscript collection from the 12th and 13th centuries containing over 250 poems, mostly in Latin.
Recording & Production
The version of Carmina Burana on this CD, arranged for soloists, choir, two pianos, and percussion, was created by Wilhelm Killmayer in 1956 at the request of Carl Orff.
Composition History
Carl Orff discovered the text for Carmina Burana, the Codex Buranus, in a Würzburg antiquarian bookshop catalog and received the text on Maundy Thursday 1934.
Compositional Technique
Carl Orff translates the inexorably turning wheel of fate into a polymetric structure in Carmina Burana, setting the 2/2 meter of the instruments against the 3/2 meter of the melody.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Carl Orff chose the texts for Carmina Burana not for artistic reasons, but because he wanted a 'valid European material' that conveyed spiritual power.
Composition History
Carl Orff's Carmina Burana premiered on June 8, 1937, at the Städtische Bühnen in Frankfurt/Main.
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