The music and lyrics of CARMINA BURANA, playing this weekend (May 21-23, 2010) at the Tulsa PAC.

Carmina Burana will feature the Tulsa Ballet dancers joined by members of Tulsa Opera, Tulsa Oratorio Chorus and Tulsa Symphony Orchestra for a very powerful multi-disciplinary arts experience... In other words, it's a really cool production that combines live choral music, live instrumental music with the dramatic power of dance. All on one stage!

James D. Watts from the The Tulsa World writes: Although composer Carl Orff approved a two-piano-and-percussion version of his “Carmina Burana,” the work was conceived for a large orchestra, one with an unusually large and diverse percussion section. (The score lists 14 percussion instruments — from timpani and three types of cymbals to ratchets and sleigh bells.) Orff’s music often relied on driving, complex rhythms that managed to sound at once primitive and sophisticated, and that achieve an irresistible, elemental power.

“Carmina Burana” is Latin for “Songs from Beuren,” and refers to a collection of 15th century lyrics that ultimately came to reside in a Benedictine monastery in the German town of Beuren.

Orff used 24 of these lyrics in his “Carmina Burana,” which are divided into four sections: “Spring,” “On the Green,” “In the Tavern” and “The Court of Love.”

The thunderous opening “O Fortuna,” which serves as prologue and epilogue, is about the role of fate in human affairs.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectID=272&articleID=20100520_272_ES10_ByJame62397

In case you don't speak latin or if you've just ever wondered what "O Fortuna" is really about, here is an interesting video clip that shows the original latin text along with the English translation.



You can also read the entire translation here: http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/orff-cb/carmlyr.php. You might even want to print off a copy to take with you to the theater this weekend so you can follow along (something that I plan to do).

Read even more about the music and lyrics of Carmina Burana: http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/orff-cb/carmina.php

For tickets to CARMINA BURANA this weekend which is paired with the Oklahoma Premiere of the VERTIGINOUS THRILL OF EXACTITUDE by William Forsythe: http://www.tulsaballet.org/events.asp?id=11&pid=55&task=display