Carmina Burana

ABOUT

The Carmina Burana was composed in 1935 and 1936 by Carl Orff. It is a secular work, based on 24 poems selected from a medieval collection of texts that is also called Carmina Burana. The full Latin title of the work is Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae cantoribus et choris cantandae comitantibus instrumentis atque imaginibus magicis (“Songs of Beuern: Secular songs for singers and choruses to be sung together with instruments and magical images”). The first and last movements are called “Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi” (“Fortune, Empress of the World”) and start with the well-known chorus “O Fortuna”, which has been used in several film scores and advertisements.

The original text dates from the 11th to 13th centuries. The libretto is mostly in secular Latin verse, with a small amount of Middle High German and Old French. The selection covers a wide range of topics, as familiar in the Middle Ages 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 and perils of drinking, gluttony, gambling, and lust. The poems are satirical and were written as a form of protest by student clergymen, disillusioned with the increasing contradictions within the church at that time.

Conductor: Richard Haigh

Soprano: Elizabeth Catharina

Tenor: Willem Bester

Bass: Conroy Scott

Percussion ensemble: Fold'em Percussion Ensemble, led by Frank Mallows

Pianos: Francois du Toit and Sandra Kettle-Loubser

Secure parking is available ONLY on the Grand Parade, at the City Hall end, where there will be guards with dogs

No Disabled access to Balcony and Bays (upstairs).

Wheelchair access to City Hall and Stalls (downstairs)

DIRECTIONS