that's a page from a 12th century text called Carmina Burana, or "Songs from Benediktbeurn," written entirely in Medieval Latin. created by a couple clergy students, the manuscripts concerns itself with themes of 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, of course, lust. if the drawing above doesn't demonstrate how loopy in love with decadence and sex were the minds of these kids, then give me a moment.
give me 800 years.
in 1937 Germany, the Frankfurt Opera premiered a piece composed by Carl Orff called Carmina Burana, a "scenic cantata" that used various parts of the original medieval text as its libretto. Orff's full Latin title was Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae cantoribus et choris cantandae comitantibus instrumentis atque imaginibus magicis, or "Songs of Beurn: Secular songs for singers and choruses to be sung together with instruments and magic images."
i don't know about the premiere, but the first time time i saw a performance of Carmina Burana, all the magic images were in my head. the melodies are so catchy, it hurts. the instrumentation is glittery, the rhythms are like running through a meadow. angels and demons fly out of the soloists' throats. most importantly, this is without a doubt one of the most epic collections of music ever created. and it's raunchy, too.
the best example i'll give are the lyrics from the "Tempus est iocundum." i won't say it explicitly, but the chorus appears to be quite the ejection of excitement...
| Tempus es iocundum, | This is the joyful time, |
| o virgines, | O maidens, |
| modo congaudete | rejoice with them, |
| vos iuvenes. | young men! |
| (Baritone) | |
| Oh, oh, oh, | Oh! Oh! Oh! |
| totus floreo, | I am bursting out all over! |
| iam amore virginali | I am burning all over with first love! |
| totus ardeo, novus, novus amor est, quo pereo. | New, new love is what I am dying of! |
| (Women) | |
| Mea me confortat | I am heartened |
| promissio, | by my promise, |
| mea me deportat | I am downcast by my refusal |
| (Soprano and boys) | |
| Oh, oh, oh | Oh! Oh! Oh! |
| totus floreo | I am bursting out all over! |
| iam amore virginali | I am burning all over with first love! |
| totus ardeo, novus, novus amor est, quo pereo. | New, new love is what I am dying of! |
| (Men) | |
| Tempore brumali | In the winter |
| vir patiens, | man is patient, |
| animo vernali | the breath of spring |
| lasciviens. | makes him lust. |
| (Baritone) | |
| Oh, oh, oh, | Oh! Oh! Oh! |
| totus floreo, | I am bursting out all over! |
| iam amore virginali | I am burning all over with first love! |
| totus ardeo, novus, novus amor est, quo pereo. | New, new love is what I am dying of! |
| (Women) | |
| Mea mecum ludit | My virginity |
| virginitas, | makes me frisky, |
| mea me detrudit | my simplicity |
| simplicitas. | holds me back. |
| (Soprano and Boys) | |
| Oh, oh, oh, | Oh! Oh! Oh! |
| totus floreo, | I am bursting out all over! |
| iam amore virginali | I am burning all over with first love! |
| totus ardeo, novus, novus amor est, quo pereo. | New, new love is what I am dying of! |
| (Chorus) | |
| Veni, domicella, | Come, my mistress, |
| cum gaudio, | with joy, |
| veni, veni, pulchra, | come, come, my pretty, |
| iam pereo. | I am dying! |
| (Baritone, Boys and Chorus) | |
| Oh, oh, oh, | Oh! Oh! Oh! |
| totus floreo, | I am bursting out all over! |
| iam amore virginali | I am burning all over with first love! |
| totus ardeo, novus, novus amor est, quo pereo. | New, new love is what I am dying of! |
then the next song, "Dulcissime," which consists of two lines of lyrics:
| Dulcissime, | Sweetest one! Ah! |
| totam tibi subdo me! | I give myself to you totally! |
wow. absolute orgasm. and it's not just the words. from the rapid, haphazard choral excitement of the piece right before, this is just one female vocalist moaning for 34 seconds.
you already know the most famous piece from this work, "O Fortuna." it's that incredibly epic song reminiscent of horses charging, planets crashing, slow-motion, and unstoppable glory in all its forms. check out these lyrics though:
| O Fortuna | O Fortune, |
| velut luna | like the moon |
| statu variabilis, | you are changeable, |
| semper crescis | ever waxing |
| aut decrescis; | and waning; |
| vita detestabilis | hateful life |
| nunc obdurat | first oppresses |
| et tunc curat | and then soothes |
| ludo mentis aciem, | as fancy takes it; |
| egestatem, | poverty |
| potestatem | and power |
| dissolvit ut glaciem. | it melts them like ice. |
| Sors immanis | Fate - monstrous |
| et inanis, | and empty, |
| rota tu volubilis, | you whirling wheel, |
| status malus, | you are malevolent, |
| vana salus | well-being is vain |
| semper dissolubilis, | and always fades to nothing, |
| obumbrata | shadowed |
| et velata | and veiled |
| michi quoque niteris; | you plague me too; |
| nunc per ludum | now through the game |
| dorsum nudum | I bring my bare back |
| fero tui sceleris. | to your villainy. |
| Sors salutis | Fate is against me |
| et virtutis | in health |
| michi nunc contraria, | and virtue, |
| est affectus | driven on |
| et defectus | and weighted down, |
| semper in angaria. | always enslaved. |
| Hac in hora | So at this hour |
| sine mora | without delay |
| corde pulsum tangite; | pluck the vibrating strings; |
| quod per sortem | since Fate |
| sternit fortem, | strikes down the strong man, |
| mecum omnes plangite! | everyone weep with me! |
these are the words that Orff's masterpiece starts AND ends with. essentially, even though much of the cantata has lyrics about love and drinking and growing and youthfulness and growing old and everything else you can think of, the composer realizes and makes you realize that all that is simply life. and it can be summed up with a fearful, epic, monolithic, tumbling, black, monstrous ode to Fortune and her fateful wheel that spins us around. and so, in an effort to replicate life, Orff ends Carmina Burana the way it starts.
birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death birth youth bloom love sex death.
"Life ain't nothin' but bitches and money." -- Ice Cube, from "Gangsta Gangsta" on N.W.A's Straight Outta Compton.
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