Fate and Earthly Pleasures

We all enjoy having fun and we find it in many sources, including music. We also know how chance impacts our lives. In both ancient philosophy and in Greek and Roman myths, human fortunes, good or bad, were determined by the goddess of fate and her wheel of fortune. Inspired by the wheel of fortune, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana begins and ends with warnings about the twists of fate. But life goes on! So, in between, there are songs about earthly pleasures: the arrival of spring, the joys and pains of romantic love, raucous behavior, lust and chastity, gambling, and satires aimed at the Catholic Church. Orff’s inspiration was 11th and 12th century poems discovered 600 years later in a monastic collection, apparently written by university students studying to be priests!

 

Composers find many ways to have or express fun with their music. Orff’s Carmina Burana is a favored example; it is an audio feast of playfulness, especially when performed with orchestra! We are delighted to collaborate with the Rivers Symphony Orchestra and its conductor, Christopher Memoli and with the Wellesley Middle School 6th Grade Treble Chorus (Lauren Connors, Director). Together we will bring you the rare opportunity to hear Carmina Burana with a full orchestra and all the additional power, drama, and liveliness that the instruments bring to conveying the full sentiments of these medieval poems!