Carmina Burana (pronounced [ˈkarmɪna buˈraːna]), also known as the Burana Codex, is a manuscript collection, found in 1803 in the Bavarian monastery of Benediktbeuern, and now housed in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich. A manuscript is any Document that is Written by hand as opposed to being printed or reproduced in some other way Benediktbeuern is a municipality in the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen in Bavaria, Germany. The Bavarian State Library ( German: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, abbreviated BSB) located in Munich, is the central Library of the Munich (München; Minga is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. The 119 leaves of the original collection contain 228 poems compiled by three different scribes.
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The manuscript
The Latin title Carmina Burana or Songs of Beuern was assigned by Johann Andreas Schmeller in 1847. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Johann Andreas Schmeller ( 6 August 1785, Tirschenreuth - 27 September 1852 in Munich) was a German scholar Beuern (from Old High German bur = "small house") refers to the abbey of Benediktbeuern founded in 733 in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps about thirty miles south of Munich. Benediktbeuern Abbey ( Kloster Benediktbeuern) is a monastery of the Salesians of Don Bosco, originally a monastery of the Benedictine Order, in Benediktbeuern Munich (München; Minga is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Subsequent research has shown that the manuscript did not originate there; Seckau Abbey is regarded as a likely earlier location. Seckau Abbey or Abbey of Our Dear Lady Seckau ( Abtei Seckau or de '''''Abtei Unserer Lieben Frau''''' is a Benedictine monastery in Seckau
The pieces are almost entirely in Ecclesiastical Latin meter; a few in a dialect of Middle High German, and some with traces of Old French. Ecclesiastical Latin (sometimes called Church Latin) is the Latin dialect as used in documents of the Roman Catholic Church and in its Latin liturgies Middle High German (MHG German Mittelhochdeutsch) is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350 Old French was the Romance Dialect continuum spoken in territories which span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium Many are macaronic, a mixture of Latin and German or French vernacular. Macaronic refers to text spoken or written using a mixture of Languages sometimes including Bilingual puns particularly when the languages are used in the same context They were written by students and clergy about 1230, when the Latin idiom was the lingua franca across Italy and western Europe for travelling scholars, universities and theologians. Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given Religion. A lingua franca (from Italian, literally meaning Frankish language, see etymology under Sabir and Italian below is any Language widely Most of the poems and songs appear to be the work of Goliards, clergy (mostly students) who sent up and satirized the Church. The Goliards were a group of Clergy who wrote bibulous satirical Latin Poetry in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given Religion. 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. Peter of Blois or Petrus Blesensis (c 1135 &ndash c 1203 was a French poet and diplomat who wrote in Latin. Walter of Châtillon ( Latin Gualterus de Castellione) was a 12th-century French writer and theologian who wrote in the Latin language The Archpoet, or Archipoeta, is a name given to the bibulous and boastful anonymous author of ten poems from Medieval Latin literature
Sections
The collection is divided into six 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. Therefore it is impossible to trace the manuscript's existence before its mutilation, since manuscripts were usually catalogued by their opening line. The final section was 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 texts.
Many of the religious songs and several of the love songs and drinking songs are accompanied by neumes that suggest melodies. Neumes are the basic elements of Western and Eastern systems of Musical notation prior to the invention of five-line staff notation Some of the poems have also had corresponding melodies discovered in later manuscript sources.
A typical example of one of the love songs is 13 (85), which highlights the melodious aspect of medieval Latin lyric:
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Musical settings of these texts
Between 1935 and 1936 German composer Carl Orff set 24 of the poems to new music, also called Carmina Burana. Carl Orff ( &ndash) was a 20th-century German Composer, most famous for Carmina Burana (1937 Carmina Burana is a scenic Cantata composed by Carl Orff between 1935 and 1936 The most famous movement is "O Fortuna" (Fortuna meaning Fortune in Latin, as well as a Roman goddess). O Fortuna is a poem from Carmina Burana, a collection of Latin poems written in early 13th century. In Roman mythology, Fortuna (equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) goddess of fortune was the Personification of Luck; Orff's composition has been performed by countless ensembles.
Other musical settings include:
- Several German bands (including Corvus Corax, Estampie, Qntal, Finisterra, Helium Vola, and In Extremo) regularly use poems from the manuscript as lyrics.
- Swedish symphonic metal band Therion played O Fortuna on album Deggial. Therion is a Swedish Symphonic metal band founded by Christofer Johnsson in 1987 O Fortuna is a poem from Carmina Burana, a collection of Latin poems written in early 13th century. For the Islamic eschatological figure see Dajjal. Deggial is an album released by Swedish Symphonic metal
- Trans-Siberian Orchestra has also done a rendition of O Fortuna, seen in many of their live shows, and is expected to be released in 2008, on a non-christmas album titled "Night Castle"
- German band Corvus Corax recorded "Cantus Buranus", a full-length opera set to the original Carmina Burana manuscript in 2005. Trans-Siberian Orchestra (often abbreviated as TSO) is a rock Orchestra founded by Paul O'Neill, Robert Kinkel, and Jon O Fortuna is a poem from Carmina Burana, a collection of Latin poems written in early 13th century. Trans-Siberian Orchestra (often abbreviated as TSO) is a rock Orchestra founded by Paul O'Neill, Robert Kinkel, and Jon Corvus Corax is a German band known for playing Medieval music using an abundance of authentic instruments Cantus Buranus is the recording album by the German medieval revival band Corvus Corax that employs the medieval text Carmina Burana.
- The video game Final Fantasy VII's most famous musical piece, "One-Winged Angel" (composed by Nobuo Uematsu), utilizes lyrics from Carmina Burana (specifically from "O Fortuna", "Estuans interius", "Veni, veni, venias", and "Ave formosissima. A role-playing game ( RPG; often roleplaying game) is a Game in which the participants assume the roles of Fictional characters. is a Console role-playing game developed by Square (now Square Enix) and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the is a Japanese Video game music Composer and Musician, best known for scoring numerous Final Fantasy titles ").
- Much of the musical score in The Vision of Escaflowne is taken from Carmina Burana. is a 26- Episode Anime Television series produced by Sunrise Studios and directed by Kazuki Akane.
- Pieces by German/Norwegian doom/gothic metal band Theatre of Tragedy, such as "Amor Volat Undique" and "Circa Mea Pectora" in the song Venus (album Aégis)
- Synth/Medieval, French band Era recorded a Mix called "The Mass" featuring pieces of "O Fortuna" from the original Carmina Burana. Theatre of Tragedy are a Norwegian band from Stavanger, originally assembled in 1992 and best known for their earlier albums which provided a great deal of influence An era is a commonly used word for long period of time When used in science for example geology eras denote clearly defined periods of time of arbitrary but well defined
- Pieces by the Norwegian gothic metal musical group Tristania ("Wormwood" from album "World Of Glass" 2001)
- American hardcore band Botch covers "O Fortuna" on the EP "The Unifying Themes of Sex, Death and Religion. Tristania is Gothic metal band from Norway, formed in the end of 1996 by Morten Veland, Einar Moen and Kenneth Olsson. Botch was a Mathcore band from Tacoma Washington, that formed in 1993 and disbanded in 2002 "
- Pieces by the Swedish medieval inspired band "Rävspel och Kråksång" translated into Swedish. Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the
- The manuscript is referred to in the musical Rent, in the song La Vie Boheme, with the line, "German wine, turpentine, Gertrude Stein, Antonioni, Bertolucci, Kurosawa, Carmina Burana. "La Vie Bohème" (the Bohemian life is a song in the musical Rent. Gertrude Stein ( February 3, 1874 &ndash July 27, 1946) was an American Writer who spent most of her life in France Michelangelo Antonioni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI ( September 29 1912 &ndash July 30 2007) was an Italian Modernist Bernardo Bertolucci (born March 16, 1940) is an Italian Writer and Academy Award winning Film director. "
- Ray Manzarek (of The Doors) recorded an edited version of this piece with Philip Glass. Raymond Daniel Manzarek Jr or Manczarek (b 12 February 1939 Illinois) is an American Musician, Singer, producer This article is about the band For their self-titled debut album see The Doors (album; for the Oliver Stone film see The Doors (film; for Doors in computing WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Philip Glass (born January 31 This was released in 1983.
- Composer John Paul used a portion of the lyrics of "Fas et nefas ambulant" in the musical score of the video game Gauntlet Legends. Gauntlet Legends is an Arcade game released in 1998 by Atari Games. [1]
- Philip Pickett and the New London Consort issued a 4-volume set of Carmina Burana settings using medieval instrumentation and performance techniques. Philip Pickett (born 19 November 1950 in London England is an English musician Recorder player and director of Early music ensembles
Footnotes
References
- Ensemble Unicorn/Ensemble Oni Wytars (under the direction of Michael Posch and Marco Ambrosini, 1997)
External links
- Text with translations from Teach Yourself Latin
- Athena Review
- Carmina Burana: An Analysis of Perfection, 1996. Oni Wytars is an Early music ensemble that was founded in 1983 by Marco Ambrosini and Peter Rabanser. Marco Ambrosini (born 1964 in Forlì, Italy) is an Italian Musician, Composer and Arranger living in Germany
- Complete orig. text (without translation) from Biblioteca Augustana
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