Carmina Burana

This article is about the medieval collection of poetry. For Carl Orff's musical composition, see Carmina Burana (Orff).

Carmina Burana (IPA: ; note that the stress is on the first syllable of Carmina, not the second) also known as the Burana Codex is a manuscript collection, now in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich, of over 1000 poems and songs written in the early 13th century.

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The manuscript

The Latin title Carmina Burana or Songs of Beuern was assigned by Johann Andreas Schmeller in 1847. Beuern (from OHG bur = "small house") refers to Benediktbeuern, a village in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps about thirty miles south of Munich which takes its name from the abbey of Benediktbeuern founded there in 733. 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.

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.

Many of the religious songs and several of the love songs and drinking songs are accompanied by neumes that suggest melodies. Some of the poems have also had corresponding melodies discovered in later manuscript sources.

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.

Musical settings of these texts

Besides Carl Orff's famous setting of 24 of the poems, Carmina Burana, other musical settings include:

German band Corvus Corax recorded "Cantus Buranus", a full-length opera set to the original Carmina Burana manuscript in 2005.
The RPG videogame 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."). The song now exists in several versions, including full orchestra and also with a rock band for the recent movie sequel to the game, Advent Children.
Pieces by German folk-metal bands In Extremo, Finisterra, Tanzwut, such as "Totus Floreo", "Stetit Puella", "Omnia Sol Temperat"
Pieces by the German electro-medieval musical groups Helium Vola and Qntal
Pieces by the Norwegian gothic metal musical group Tristania ("Wormwood" from album "World Of Glass" 2001)
Pieces by the Symphonic Metal musical group Therion ("O fortuna" from album "Deggial" 2000)

External links

Texts of the Carmina Burana Latin.
Carmina Burana
Ecce Gratum C. B. 143 synthesizer and theremin duo

German poems | Medieval Latin literature | Medieval literature

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The manuscript

Musical settings of these texts

External links