Carl Orff's Carmina Burana by the Sydney Philharmonia
Symphony Chorus
Date: Saturday 22 May 2021 at 3pmVenue: Centennial Hall, Sydney Town Hall
The 120 voices of our Symphony Chorus fill the Sydney Town Hall with Carl Orff’s kaleidoscopic Carmina Burana – one of the best-known choral extravaganzas of the 20th century. Based on a collection of medieval poems and profane songs, this thrilling work sings of the fickleness of fate and fortune, the circle of life and the earthy pleasures of wine, gambling and lust. The music drives through roaring rapids of primal ecstasy, dancing whirlpools and gentle pools of lullaby. Our performance will use the scintillating arrangement for two grand pianos and six percussion instruments made by Orff’s student Wilhelm Killmayer.
But before the singing to the Moon in the opening O Fortuna! the Symphony Chorus exalt the Sun as “both life-giver and dealer in death” in Peter Sculthorpe’s Sun Music for voices and percussion where he depicts “long, shimmering sonorous images” of his experiences of living in Australia. John Peterson’s The earth that fire touches captures in music the diverse Australian landscape – from dense, green forests to sparse, red deserts, with long single notes for the wide, open spaces, to celebratory dances of nature’s rebirth after fire.
PROGRAM
Deborah CHEETHAM & Matthew DOYLE Tarimi nulay – Long time living here†
Peter SCULTHORPE Sun Music – for voices and percussion
John PETERSON The earth that fire touches
Carl ORFF arr. Wilhelm KILLMAYER Carmina Burana arranged for voices, two pianos & percussion
† Commissioned as part of our 100 Minutes of New Australian Music centenary project in 2020.
Photos credit: Sydney Philharmonia Choirs
Artists:
Brett Weymark conductor
Penelope Mills soprano
Andrew Goodwin* tenor
José Carbó baritone
Symphony Chorus
Claire Howard Race piano
Catherine Davis piano
Sydney Philharmonia Percussion Ensemble
*Kanen Breen replaces Andrew Goodwin who is not well enough to sing.
Two sound worlds that span continents and centuries – vastly different but equally strange and familiar, intimate and remote, mysterious and wild.
The program will run for approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes, including a 20-minute interval.
BOOK TICKETS HERE
Carmina Burana, briefly:
Carmina Burana is a cantata composed in 1935 and 1936 by Carl Orff, based on poems from the medieval collection Carmina Burana. Its full Latin title 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").
It is Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" [Buria in Latin], a manuscript of poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent, and satirical. It was first performed by the Oper Frankfurt on 8 June 1937. It is part of Trionfi, a musical triptych that also includes Catulli Carmina and Trionfo di Afrodite. The first and last sections of the piece are called "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi" ("Fortune, Empress of the World") and start with the very well known "O Fortuna" (Video credit, with lovely scenic paintings of JMW Turner: YouTube, uploaded by Beatriz. Accessed April 26, 2021.)
Lyrics of Carmina Burana
By Carl Orff
Reviews:
Related Links:
Carl Orff. Inspired Pen Web, Tel Asiado. April 28, 2021.
Carmina Burana BBC Proms (1994). YouTube, uploaded by RSBM. April 28, 2021.
Orff's Carmina Burana conducted by Zeiji Ozawa. Uploaded by Andre Luiz Bellafronte. Accessed May 22, 2021.
Resources:
Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. (Available on access, April 26, 2021.)
Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Sydney.com. Accessed April 28, 2021.
Carmina Burana by Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. What's On City of Sydney. Accessed April 26, 2021.
Carmina Burana by Orff. www.britannica.com
Carmina Burana (Orff). en.wikipedia.org
Choir’s bawdy recital ‘a bold statement to the world’. The Sydney Morning Herald. Written by Steve Meacham. Accessed May 18, 2021.
COVID-19 SAFETY
- Audiences will be required to QR code register upon entry to the Sydney Town Hall.
- As a condition of the venue, audiences will be required to wear masks throughout the performance. If this changes we will inform patrons as soon as possible.
- Hand sanitizer will be available.
- We will publish a digital program book on our website a week prior to the concert. A limited number of printed program books will be available for $5 each at the concert.
DETAILS ABOUT COVID SAFE PLAN
(c) April 26, 2021. Updated May 22, 2021. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
