Re: Here's an obscure bug for medieval music afficiandos
Hi, Sherry:
I haven't gotten around to looking at this music in page view, yet, so I didn't see the page view behaviour.
Here's an English translation of the lyric:
The merry face of spring turns to the world,
sharp winter now flees, vanquished;
bedecked in many colours, Flora reigns,
the harmony of the woods praises her in song. Ah!
Lying in Flora's lap, Phoebus once more smiles,
now covered in many-coloured flowers
Zephyr breathes nectar-scented breezes.
Let us rush to compete for love's prize. Ah!
In harp-like tones the sweet nightingale sings,
with many flowers, the joyous meadows are laughing,
a flock of birds rises up through the pleasant forests,
the chorus of maidens already promises a thousand joys. Ah!
Carmina Burana, if you don't know it, is based on sectarian (and often erotic) poems from the 12th to 14th centuries, collected by monks at the monastery of Beuern in Germany. The iconic O Fortuna, which opens the work, is one of the most ripped-off pieces of classical music there is -- for beer ads and football games, mostly.
I want to do a fully staged version of the work, with Orff's similar piece, the Catulli Carmina, as a second act. Catulli Carmina is based on the love poems of Catallus. Orff wanted them both to be staged pieces, but that is rarely done these days.
It may take a few years to reach fruition.
David
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