The "new song" that TSO has been performing at concerts since 2002, is the beginning piece of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, called O Fortuna. "The Carmina Burana is a collection of poems, songs, and short plays found in Benediktbeuern, a Benedictine abbey about 100 km south of Munich, in 1803. This manuscript was of 13th century German origin and contained approximately 250 poems, and other pieces. When Johann Andreas Schmeller published the collection in 1847, he gave it the title of "Carmina Burana." This name means 'songs of Beuren,' though it has since been dis- covered that the manuscript did not originate there, and may have come from Seckau. Although the manuscript dates from the thirteenth century, most of it was written in the twelfth. This was a period of peace and prosperity in comparison with the years of war which preceded it. The majority of the Carmina Burana is written in Latin, which was the standard language of literacy at the time. There are, however, many pieces written in Middle High German, which shows the blossoming influence of vernacular languages on literature which began during this time. This collection is the most import- ant and comprehensive source for both early German literature and goliardic verse. |
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A few of the poems are accompanied by the music they are to be set to. This music is written in unheighted neumes, which was at the time a rare type of notation. Since most of the work does not include melodies, they have been inferred from the texts through clues leading to well known medieval melodies. This type of German medieval music is called Vagantenlieder. There have been many re- corded performances of parts of the Carmina Burana since its rediscovery. These range from performances close to that of a modern opera based on a selection of the poems. This opera, composed by Carl Orff, does not always follow the music given in the manuscript. This work, first performed in 1937, has become quite famous. As with so many great pieces, the music this opera has been used for TV commercials and movies." - http://www.auburn.edu/ O Fortuna also appears on the Shopko Bonus CD. |
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Carl Orff - Carmina Burana Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi (Fortune, Empress of the World) O Fortuna (Chorus) O Fortune |
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O Fortuna, velut luna statu variabilis, semper crescis aut decrescis; vita detestabilis nunc obdurat et tunc curat ludo mentis aciem, egestatem, potestatem dissolvit ut glaciem. Sors immanis et inanis, rota tu volubilis, status malus, vana salus semper dissolubilis, obumbrata et velata michi quoque niteris; nunc per ludum dorsum nudum fero tui sceleris. Sors salutis et virtutis michi nunc contraria, est affectus et defectus semper in angaria. Hac in hora sine mora corde pulsum tangite; quod per sortem sternit fortem, mecum omnes plangite! |
O Fortune, like the moon you are changeable, ever waxing and waning; hateful life first oppresses and then soothes as fancy takes it; poverty and power it melts them like ice. Fate - monstrous and empty, you whirling wheel, you are malevolent, well-being is vain and always fades to nothing, shadowed and veiled you plague me too; now through the game I bring my bare back to your villainy. Fate is against me in health and virtue, driven on and weighted down, always enslaved. So at this hour without delay pluck the vibrating strings; since Fate strikes down the string man, everyone weep with me! |
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