1. Art and Diseño

Town Crier
Painting by Kitty Wallis
CABRILLO CHORUS - SPRING 2015
2015 Symphony Concert: Sacred and Profane
• O Magnum Mysterium - Tomás Luis de Victoria
• Carmina Burana - Carl Orff
Classic Evening
On May 9th and 10th Cheryl will lead us in a
partnership with the Santa Cruz Symphony under
the musical direction of Daniel Stewart, with soloists
from the Metropolitan Opera and the children from
the Cabrillo Youth Chorus for a dramatic conclusion
to the symphony’s 57th season featuring Carl Orff’s
awe-inspiring choral masterpiece, Carmina Burana.
Encore Matinee
This energetic work by the German composer and
folklorist will be performed costumed in medieval
garb. The chorus has some great resources for this
event having performed in costume in 1993 during
our Eastern European tour and again with the
Symphony in 2003.
“The goddess Fortuna must have been smiling
on me when, as if by chance, she put a copy of
a catalogue in my hands. It was published by a
seller of old books in Wurzburg, and one title in
the list attracted me with an almost magical force:
Carmina Burana,” wrote Carl Orff in his memoirs
about the discovery of the manuscript in
Benediktbeuem Monastery which would serve
as the basis for his best-known work.
• 8PM Saturday, May 9th 2015
• Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
• 2PM Sunday, May 10th 2015
• Mello Center, Watsonville
Please reserve the evenings of May 5th-8th for
rehearsals at the civic. Details to follow.
From the S.C. Symphony Program Notes
by Don Adkins
Carmina Burana comes from a collection of songs
found in the library of a monastery in the foothills
of the Bavarian Alps. The original source, a 13thCentury Latin codex, was brought to light when the
Abbey of Benediktbeuern was secularized by the
Austrian Emperor in 1803, a move undertaken in
the spirit of enlightenment to redistribute wealth
from the church back to the people. The codex was
published in 1847 under the title later chosen by
Orff for his work. The song texts are a collection
consisting mainly of works by travelling musicians.
These lively poems, about 200 of them, come from
France, Germany, England and Italy and deal with
all areas of human existence – sacred, secular,
social and personal. The topics include the sensual
pleasures of food, drink, romantic and physical
love; satires on church, state and social interaction;
and complaints about money and declining moral
values.
Although we do not know most of the authors, the
intellectual elite of the 13th Century, both settled
and nomadic, appear to be responsible for most of
the Latin poetry and song texts. Troubadours who
were trained and respected poets and musicians,
and also often nobility, performed this style of
music. Some of the texts mixed German and Latin
or French and Latin. A few of the poems in this
collection can be ascribed to some of the greatest
thinkers of the time, such as Archipoeta who wrote,
among other things, numerous love and drinking
songs. Orff chose 24 of these texts for his work.
The spiritual unity and exuberant life found in this
material reflects the excitement of the 13th Century
and strongly attracted him: “In all my work, my final
concern is not with musical but spiritual exposition.”
The poetry also sketches a picture of humanity that
is still recognizable today.
The illustration used as the frontispiece of the
collection, a reproduction from the original
manuscript, caught Orff’s imagination. A wheel
of fortune is depicted, a symbol of constantly
changing human experience. He decided to
begin and end with the chorus “O Fortuna” and
divided the rest of the texts into three sections
depicting man’s encounter with different aspects
of physical existence: 1. “Spring” and “On the
Village Green,” 2. “In the Tavern,” and 3. “Court of
Love.”
Orff was once questioned about his choice of texts:
“Sometimes I am asked why in the main I choose
old material for my stage works. I do not feel it to
be old, but only valid. The dated elements are lost
and the spiritual strength remains.” Spirituality
was essential to Orff’s artistic concepts, not as a
way of expressing ancient ideas, but as a vehicle
for depicting the mood and essence of his own
contemporary experience.
The subtitle of the work, “Secular songs for soloists
and chorus, accompanied by instruments and
magic tableaux,” demonstrates Orff’s conception
of this piece as a theatrical production. The first
performances were staged in a wide variety of
styles, ranging from a cosmological music-drama to
an allegorical medieval mystery play. Orff’s entire
Set design by Helmut Jürgens for a performance in Munich in 1959:
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musical output can be categorized as school or stage
works: he considered all of his work to be theatrical.
One acquaintance wrote: “Orff’s first reaction to the
collection of Carmina Burana was as a man of the
theatre, who saw it as a colorful dance and song
drama. The function of Orff the musician was to
work out a setting for this dramatic inspiration. The
mimed events are the primary source of the music,
which is, consequently, rhythmic and incredibly
concentrated.” If we depended on large theatrical
performances for the only live presentations of
this music, the opportunity to enjoy Orff’s creation
would be extremely limited. Even though staging
can make the symbolism easier to understand,
most performances today are concert versions
sometimes with minimal production elements.
Orff’s mature style is evident in all aspects of Carmina
Burana. The song forms are usually strophic, a
repetition of the same music for the different
verses. The orchestra creates static blocks of sound
through the use of simple ostinatos, repeated
accompaniment patterns, and unchanging tonal
colors. This simplification is often given the label
primitivism, a term that was strongly associated
with the earlier music of Stravinsky and often
pertained to the prominence of rhythmic drive. Orff
used this approach to express what was important
to him. Otto Oster wrote: “Rhythm is not merely
the medium of Carl Orff’s art; it is the spiritual
foundation of his musical architecture.” Orff felt
that all of his theater works were dependent upon
artistic primitivism: “The nearer one comes to the
essence of the statement, the near to absolute
simplicity, the more immediate and powerful is
the effect.”
Gregorian plainchant, Italian opera and Lutheran
chorales. The unifying factor that draws everything
together is his simple approach to rhythm, pitch and
orchestral color. His use of the voice is an essential
element of his overall sound and one of his most
important contributions to musical practice. Orff
is highly sensitive to the tonal sub-structure of
language: the musical qualities found in the spoken
word. He uses the naturally occurring rise and fall
of the text as the basic contour of his melodies.
Even though many composers have done the same,
Orff’s approach is so sensitive and effective that it is
an indispensable element of his style.
From the first performance, Carmina Burana has
enjoyed tremendous success. It was first seen
as a controversial but successful example of the
new world-theater striving to present stage works
outside of the standard European approach. As a
large-scale choral work it has become one of the
most performed internationally due, in large part,
to its simple presentation of the universal concepts
of fortune, nature, beauty, wine and love.
The musical styles include Bavarian folk songs,
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Carl Orff
20th Century German Composer
Orff Schulwerk Percussion Instruments
The following is taken from the Guide to Choral
Masterpieces by Melvin Burger:
Born July 10, 1895, in Munich
Died March 29, 1982 in Munich
Carl Orff’s early
years
gave
no hint of the
direction his life
and music were
to take. Born
to a wealthy,
cultured family,
Orff displayed
his
musical
abilities
at
an early age,
had his first
compositions
published at age fifteen, and graduated from the
Munic h Academy of Music when he was nineteen
years old. For several years, while continuing to
compose in what can be termed a post-Romantic
style, he held various conducting and coaching
positions at opera houses in Munich, Mannheim,
and Darmstadt.
Then came the turning. In 1920, Orff began
studying with Heinrich Kaminski, a reclusive,
mystic composer. Collaboration with dancer Mary
Wigman at about the same time led to an interest
in the eurhythmics of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, who
focused his attention on the physical elements
involved in the creation and perception of music.
”I’m a native Bavarian, born in Munich, and this
city, this country, this landscape have given me so
much, have shaped my self and my oeuvre.” -Carl
Orff Carl Orff’s childhood in Munich, where he was
born on July 10, 1895, was full of impressions
which would influence his later works. . .
Then, in 1925, with Dorothee Günther, Orff founded
the Güntherschule, a music school that put into
practice his evolving ideas on music education—
that music should generate physical movement,
that physical movement should generate music,
and that improvising on simple percussion
instruments, starting with the rhythmic patterns of
everyday speech, should be a central part of every
child’s education. Out of his experience at the
Güntherschule came Orff’s five-volume teaching
course, Schulwerke—an important publication, still
in active music’ education use, that links music,
speech, and gesture.
The first work by Orff that showed the influence
of his rethinking of the fundamental concepts of
music was Carmina Burana, a scenic cantata he
composed in 1935 and 1936. On its completion
he disowned all of his previous music, making
Carmina Burana, in effect, his first composition.
Over the following years Orff wrote exclusively for
the stage, since he believed that the potential of
concert music had been largely exhausted. Catulli
carmina (1943) and Trionfo di Afrodite (1952) are
dramatic cantatas
that
Orff
later
added to Carmina
Burana to form a
trilogy, which he
entitled
Trionfi.
Neither the two
later works nor his
more operatic stage
creations have had
nearly the impact
or the popularity of
Carmina Burana.
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Hear Ye, Hear Ye!
It’s time to start thinking about your simple medieval
peasant costume! You are responsible for gathering
and creating your own garb. We are enclosing
some pictures to give you ideas and guidelines. We
will arrange times during rehearsal for those who
have costumes prepared to come in their peasant
ware, so you can see what they’ve come up with.
We hope you will be able to find most items in your
own or in a friend’s closet, or at thrift stores. Other
pieces can be easily sewn.
We may be able to share some limited fabrics and
ready-made costume pieces with each other. Look
for extra costume items you could lend to others.
We will announce how and when to do this at
rehearsal.
The Look
The look is medieval peasant, NOT Camelot,
Renaissance Faire, King Arthur’s Court or
Robin Hood.
Defining the Wearer
(from The Medieval Tailor’s Assistant by Sarah
Thursfield)
“Two main factors need to be taken into account in
deciding what dress is appropriate.
Wealth and status - Dress was an important
indicator of income and status. The dress of the
wealthy demonstrated that they were not subject
to the hardships of normal work, and had the
leisure and servants required to dress them.
A picture from the 2003 Performance of Carmina Burana:
Visual sources show that male manual workers wore
their clothes around knee length for convenience
and might strip off their outer clothes in hot
weather, while professionals such as lawyers and
doctors wore sober calf-length garments of finer
quality, and full-length robes were worn by senior
clergy, noblemen and royalty. Women’s clothes
were long, but working women might tuck up their
skirts above their ankles, while grander ladies wore
them trailing over their feet.
A rural worker would usually be limited to the cloth
available in his local market and the skills of the
person making (or remaking) his garment. Towndwellers had a wider choice but their clothes would
still be made to last, so they tended to be plain and
substantial.
Age - Young men wore short outer garments,
but older men wore them calf-length or longer.
Unmarried women could wear their hair loose and
their necklines low; married women were expected
to cover their hair and be more modest, while
widows often dressed plainly and in earlier styles.”
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The Cast
Your “character” may be any lower-class version of
those mentioned drinking in Taberna:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The mistress, master or soldier
A manservant or serving maid
The quick, the sluggard or the steady
A wanderer, simpleton or wise person
A poor, sick or exiled person
A youth, old man, old crone or mother
Various people of God: a sister or brother, nun or friar
The Color Scheme
The color scheme is beige, brown, rust and off-white
with accent colors of muted blues and greens. Avoid
red, orange, yellow and purple. Also please avoid
(or hide) zippers and buttons (especially in front.)
Avoid any shiny fabrics, prints, patterns, jewelry
and watches.
Men’s Costumes
Shirts: All sleeves should be full or 3/4 length. They
can be rolled. Avoid modern, dress-style collars
and cuffs. Go for blousy look; “poet” or “artist” type
shirts, smocked, or gathered; peasant shirts, but
without colored embroidery. Long sleeve tee-shirts
with collar and cuffs cut off will work in a neutral
color.
Legwear: Leggings and Tights are preferable!
(Borrow them from your women friends.)
Remember, non-shiny earth tones; black is okay.
Or loose fitting pants; khaki, beige, brown, rust or
black. Shorts can be worn if adapted as shown in
the illustrations handed out in class.
NO JEANS!
Codpieces: Highly desirable! We know you’ve
always wanted to wear one!
Tunics: Can be of various lengths can be easily
sewn, or even not sewn but left open at the sides.
They can have long sleeves or be worn over a shirt.
Head Gear: Cowls, hoods, caps and capes, as
shown in the illustrations. Bare head is okay.
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Women’s Costumes
Skirts and Dresses: should be mid-calf or longer.
Sleeves should be long or 3/4. Aprons, Tunics and
Overvests desirable.
Peasant Blouses: avoid short sleeves or colored
embroidery.
Head Gear: Wimples, cowls, scarves, flower circlets
and ribbons are all wonderful. Bare heads are
okay, too.
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Footwear
For men and women, sandals, ballet shoes, tai-chi
shoes, clogs, moccasins, Ugg boots, T-straps, flatsoled boots, pointy-toed cloth shoes will all work in
brown or black.
Women, if your skirts are long there is less to fuss
about footwear!
Belts and Bags
Belts: rope, fabric sashes, rustic looking leather.
Bags: various rustic “hand sewn” or leatherwork
bags may be worn over the shoulder, around the
neck or suspended from belts.
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Inspiration:
The Carmina Burana YouTube Movie has a blend of styles but it is a great way to get the “idea” of the
piece (although it is slightly racy) and it provides costume inspiration. Performed by the Mitteldeutschen
Rundfunks chorus, orchestra and ballet, conductor: Daniel Nazareth. Try clicking on the links below or copy
and paste the URL into your browser:
Part One: Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DR0bwVxTSntk
Part Two: Primo vere
https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D-QfNpBAIZoA
Part Three: Uf dem anger
https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DWkLD2cFSTyk
Part Four: in taberna https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DwF6RaarfmfI
Part Five: Cour D’amoures https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D1-nhJKjj_S0
You can also keep in touch and find these and more links on the Chorus Website:
http://www.cabrillo.edu/academics/music/symphonicchorus/carmina_Burana.html
Summer (Aestas) from the series The Seasons by Pieter van der Heyden
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