Nancy Page's CARMINA BURANA

Carmina Burana, or “Songs from Beuern” is the name given to a manuscript of poems written by Goliards. Twenty-four of the poems were set to the music of Carl Orff in 1936. Orff’s composition quickly became popular and a staple piece of the classical music repertoire. Orff opens with the stunning and famous O Fortuna; its text is a medieval, resigned acceptance of the Wheel of Fortune as the determiner of one’s own fate. It is followed by three sections: In Springtime - man’s encounter with nature and how the seasons bring on love, In the Tavern - the rowdy atmosphere breaks out with drinking songs and hymns to debauchery, and Court of Love - describes the passions of men and women. Orff concludes Carmina Burana with O Fortuna; the wheel comes full circle - the cycle complete. All of man’s petty feelings and endeavors are in the fickle hands of fate.

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