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Carmina Burana

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From the 11th-13th Century Carmina Burana, a collection of love and vagabond songs.

Carmina Burana (IPA: [ˈkɑrmɪnɑ buˈrɑːnɑ]; note that the stress is on the first syllable of Carmina, not the second) is a collection of 13th-century songs and poetry, the basis for Carl Orff's 20th-century musical settings, first performed in 1937. The opening movement of Orff's work, O Fortuna, has been used in many movies and advertisements.

The manuscript

The original Carmina Burana is a manuscript collection, now in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich, of over 1000 poems and songs written by the early 13th century. Johann Andreas Schmeller assigned it that Latin title (meaning "Songs of Beuern") in 1847 when he compiled it at the Benedictine abbey of Benediktbeuern in Bavaria. Subsequent research has shown that the manuscript did not originate there; Seckau Abbey is regarded as a likely earlier location.

The pieces are mostly in Latin - though not in Classical Latin meter - with a few in a dialect of Middle High German, and some snatches of Old French. Many simply are macaronic, a mixture of Latin and German or French vernacular of the time. They were written by students and clergy about 1230, the Latin idiom was the lingua franca across Italy and western European for travelling scholars, universities and theologians. Most of the poems and songs appear to be the work of Goliards, clergy (mostly students) who lampooned and satirized the Church. The collection preserves the works of a number of poets, including Peter of Blois, Walter of Châtillon, and the anonymous one referred to as the Archpoet.

Some of the songs are accompanied by neumes that at least suggest the melodies, and performances of reconstructions from them have been recorded.

The collection is divided into 6 sections:

  • Carmina ecclesiastica (Songs on religious themes)
  • Carmina moralia et satirica (Moral/Satirical songs)
  • Carmina amatoria (Love songs)
  • Carmina potoria (Drinking songs - also includes gambling songs and parodies)
  • Ludi (Religious plays)
  • Supplementum (Versions of some of the earlier songs with textual variations)


The first section, thought to be of religious songs, is now lost and there is no record of the missing poems. This also means that it is impossible to trace the manuscript's existence prior to its mutilation, since manuscripts were usually catalogued by their opening line. The final section is not originally part of the manuscript and is a scholarly reconstruction of some of the poems where differences and emendations have been found buried underneath other text.


  • This is a typical example of one of the love songs, highlighting the melodious aspect of medieval Latin lyric. 13 (85)

Veris dulcis in tempore
florenti stat sub arbore
Iuliana cum sorore.
Dulcis amore!
Refl. Qui te caret hoc tempore, fit vilior. [...]


In the sweet season of spring
Stands beneath the blossoming tree
Juliana with her sister.
Sweet love!
He who goes without you at a time like this, he is worthless.


Orff's Work

Selections from the medieval Carmina Burana were set to music by Carl Orff as a "scenic cantata", entitled Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae cantoribus et choris cantandae comitantibus instrumentis atque imaginibus magicis (Latin: "Songs of Beuren: Secular songs for singers and choruses to be sung together with instruments and magic images"). Although this formal subtitle is infrequently used to refer to the work, recent productions involving modern dance retain this vision of a total theater comprised of music, words, visual design, movement and dance to overwhelm the senses.

Though the original manuscript contained some musical settings, Orff chose to compose a piece for large orchestra, chorus, and solo vocalists and retain only the original Latin and Middle High German verse. Carmina Burana was first staged in Frankfurt by the Frankfurt Opera on June 8, 1937 (Conductor: Bertil Wetzelsberger, Choir Cäcilienchor, staging by Otto Wälterlin and sets and costumes by Ludwig Sievert). Several performances were repeated elsewhere in Germany and its popularity grew such that it became the most famous piece of music composed in Nazi Germany and its composer quickly commissioned to write other works.

While initially condemned by local critics as entartet ("degenerate", see degenerate music), the work was later enthusiastically embraced by the Nazi regime as a celebration of early "Aryan" culture. After the war the popularity of the work continued to rise, and by the 1960s Carmina Burana was well established as part of the international classic repertory and was performed in 1966 in Israel. Although intended as a staged work involving choreography and other stage action, the piece is now usually performed in concert halls as a cantata. Recent performances involving the Minnesota Dance Theatre and live-footage projections are a notable exception.

The work mixes highly rhythmic and percussive passages with tuneful sections. Some portions are purely instrumental, others are for solo voice with accompaniment, and others are for the full ensemble of massed chorus and orchestra. The best-known movements are the bracketing O Fortuna sections which open and close the cantata.

The libretto covers a wide range of secular topics, as familiar in the 13th century as they are in the 21st century: the fickleness of fortune and wealth, the ephemeral nature of life, the joy of the return of Spring, and the pleasures of drinking, gluttony, gambling and lust.

Other musical settings of these texts include:

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