Carmina Burana by Carl Orff , Jean Pierre Ponnelle (1975)

This was the dramatic rendition of Carl Orff's most famous piece of music, how he wanted it to look but seldom performed as such nowadays. It was finally filmed by West German TV in 1975 with the close co-operation of Orff in honour of his 80th birthday. The various stories of young lust and gluttony are playfully and skillfully brought to life. This version of Orff's masterpiece of the sacred and profane was hard to find in Germany. Not so strange, it was banned there for decades, most likely because of its almost literal interpretation of the texts Orff put music to. I first saw this when I was 12-13 years old at the Goethe Institute in Bergen, Norway, with my father, sister and mother. Someone had managed to get hold of an 8mm film roll with it and had a secret screening. This was in the 1980s and, believe it or not, there were strong forces opposed to what they considered blasphemous content in films. The mixture of Christian and pagan imagery is completely consistent with the lyrics, which were found in a monastery, and are a mixture of sacred and profane songs, but were obviously too tough to swallow. Copies of the film were destroyed, but luckily, art prevailed.

Cantata: Carmina Burana
"Canciones de Beuern" (Codex Buranus)
Música: Carl Orff
Texto: Manuscrito anónimo encontrado en el
monasterio bávaro de Benediktbeuern
Estreno: el 8 de junio de 1937 en la Alte Oper de
Fráncfort del Meno
In trutina
(Entre los dos)
Parte 3ª III "Cour d'amours" Número 21
Soprano...Lucia Popp
Director de Orquesta..........Kurt Eichhorn

Pelicula dirigida por...........Jean Pierre Ponnelle

Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Tölzer Knabenchor
Münchner Rundfunkorchester

Bavaria Film GmbH, Munich, 1975

Song List:

Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi

1. O Fortuna
2. Fortune plango vulnera

I -- Primo vere

3. Veris leta facies
4. Omnia sol temperat
5. Ecce gratum

Uf dem Anger

6. Tanz
7. Floret silva
8. Chramer, gip die varwe mir
9. a) Reie
9. b) Swaz hie gat umbe
9. c) Chume, chum, geselle min
9. d) Swaz hie gat umbe
10. Were diu werlt alle min

II -- In Taberna

11. Estuans interius
12. Olim lacus colueram
13. Ego sum abbas
14. In taberna quando sumus

III -- Cour d'amours

15. Amor volat undique
16. Dies, nox et omnia
17. Stetit puella
18. Circa mea pectora
19. Si puer cum puellula
20. Veni, veni, venias
21. In trutina
22. Tempus est iocundum
23. Dulcissime

Blanziflor et Helena

24. Ave formosissima

Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi

25. O Fortuna (reprise)

O Fortune,

like the moon

you are changeable,

ever waxing and waning;

hateful life

first oppresses and then soothes

as fancy takes it;

poverty and power

it melts them like ice.

Fate - monstrous and empty,

you whirling wheel,

you are malevolent, well-being is vain

and always fades to nothing,

shadowed and veiled

you plague me too;

now through the game

I bring my bare back to your villainy.

Fate is against me

in health and virtue,

driven on and weighted down

always enslaved.

So at this hour without delay

pluck the vibrating strings;

since Fate strikes down the strong man,

everyone weep with me!

I bemoan the wounds of Fortune

with weeping eyes,

for the gifts she made me

she perversely takes away.

It is written in truth,

that she has a fine head of hair,

but, when it comes to seizing an opportunity

she is bald.

It is written in truth,

that she has a fine head of hair,

but, when it comes to seizing an opportunity

she is bald.

On Fortune's throne

I used to sit raised up,

crowned with

the many-coloured flowers of prosperity;

though I may have flourished

happy and blessed,

now I fall from the peak

deprived of glory.

though I may have flourished

happy and blessed,

now I fall from the peak

deprived of glory.

The wheel of Fortune turns;

I go down, demeaned;

another is raised up;

far too high up

sits the king at the summit -

let him fear ruin!

for under the axis is written

Queen Hecuba.

sits the king at the summit -

let him fear ruin!

for under the axis is written

Queen Hecuba.

The merry face of spring

turns to the world,

sharp winter

now flees, vanquished;

bedecked in various colours

Flora reigns,

the harmony of the woods

praises her in song. Ah!

Ah!

Lying in Flora's lap

Phoebus once more

smiles, now covered

in many-coloured flowers,

Zephyr breathes nectar-

scented breezes.

Let us rush to compete

for love's prize.

Ah!

In harp-like tones sings

the sweet nightingale,

with many flowers

the joyous meadows are laughing,

a flock of birds rises up

through the pleasant forests,

the chorus of maidens

already promises a thousand joys.

Ah!

The sun warms everything,|pure and gentle,

once again it reveals to the world|April's face,

the soul of man|is urged towards love

and joys are governed|by the boy-god.

All this rebirth|in spring's festivity

and spring's power|bids us to rejoice;

it shows us paths we know well,|and in your springtime

it is true and right|to keep what is yours.

Love me faithfully!|See how I am faithful:

with all my heart|and with all my soul,

I am with you|even when I am far away.

Whosoever loves this much|turns on the wheel.

Behold, the pleasant

and longed-for

spring brings back joyfulness,

and longed-for

spring brings back joyfulness,

violet flowers fill the meadows,

the sun brightens everything,

sadness is now at an end!

sadness is now at an end!

Summer returns, now withdraw

the rigours of winter.

Ah!

Now melts

and disappears

ice, snow and the rest,

Now melts and disappears

ice, snow and the rest,

winter flees, and now spring sucks

at summer's breast

a wretched soul is he who|does not live or lust

a wretched soul is he who|does not live or lust

who does not live or lust

under summer's rule.

Ah!

They glory

They glory and rejoice

in honeyed sweetness

They glory and rejoice

in honeyed sweetness

who strive to make use of

Cupid's prize;

at Venus' command let us glory and rejoice|in being Paris' equals.

at Venus' command let us glory and rejoice|in being Paris' equals.

at Venus' command let us glory and rejoice

in being Paris' equals.

Ah!

The noble woods are burgeoning

The noble woods are burgeoning

with flowers and leaves.

with �

with flowers and leaves.

with flowers and leaves.

Where is the lover

I knew?

Where is the lover

I knew?

Ah!

He has ridden off!

He has ridden off!

Eia!

Eia!

Oh! Who will love me?

Ah!

The woods are burgeoning all over,

The woods are burgeoning all over,

I am pining for my lover.|I am pining for my lover.

I am pining for my lover

I am

I am pining.

The woods are turning green

all over,

why is my lover away

so long?

Ah!

He has ridden off,

ridden off, ridden off

Oh woe, Oh woe,

who will love me?

Ah!

Shopkeeper, give me colour

to make my cheeks red,

so that I can make the young men

love me, against their will.

Look at me, young men!

Let me please you!

Look at me, young men!

Let me please you!

Good men, love

women worthy of love!

Love ennobles your spirit

and gives you honour.

Look at me, young men!

Let me please you!

Look at me, young men!

Let me please you!

Hail, world,

so rich in joys!

I will be obedient to you

because of the pleasures you afford.

Look at me, young men!

Let me please you!

Look at me, young men!

Let me please you!

Those who go round and round,|those who go round and round

are all maidens,|are all maidens

they want to do without a man|they want to do without a man

all summer, all summer, all summer

all summer long.

Ah! Sla!

Come, come, my love,

I long for you,

I long for you,

come, come, my love.

Sweet rose-red lips,

come and make me better,

come and make me better,

sweet rose-red lips.

Those who go round and round,|those who go round and round

are all maidens,|are all maidens

they want to do without a man|they want to do without a man

all summer, all summer, all summer

all summer long.

Ah! Sla!

Were all the world mine

from the sea to the Rhine,

I would starve myself of it

I would starve myself of it

so that the queen

of England

might lie

in my arms.

Hei!

Burning inside with violent anger,|bitterly I speak to my heart:

created from matter,|of the ashes of the elements,

I am like a leaf played with by the winds.

If it is the way of the wise man|to build foundations on stone,

the I am a fool, like a flowing stream,|which in its course never changes.

I am carried along like a ship without a steersman,

and in the paths of the air like a light,|hovering bird;

chains cannot hold me,

keys cannot imprison me,

I look for people like me

and join the wretches.

The heaviness of my heart seems like|a burden to me;

it is pleasant to joke and sweeter|than honeycomb;

whatever Venus commands

is a sweet duty,

she never dwells

in a lazy heart.

I travel the broad path as is the way of youth,

I give myself to vice, unmindful of virtue,

I am eager for the pleasures of the flesh

more than for salvation,

my soul is dead,

so I shall look after the flesh.

Once

I lived on lakes,

once

I looked beautiful

when I

was a

Swan.

Misery me!

Now black

and roasting fiercely!

The servant is turning me

on the spit;

I am burning fiercely

on the pyre:

the steward now

serves me up.

Misery me!

Now black

and roasting fiercely!

Now I lie on a plate,

and

cannot fly

anymore,

I see bared

teeth:

Misery me!

Now black

and roasting fiercely!

I

I,

I am the abbot, the abbot

I am the abbot of Cockaigne

and my assembly is one of drinkers,

and I wish to be in the order of Decius,

and whoever searches me out|at the tavern in the morning,

after Vespers he will leave naked,

and thus stripped of his clothes

and thus stripped of his clothes|he will call out:

Woe!

Woe!

Woe!

Woe!

what have you done, vilest Fate?

Woe! Woe! Woe!

the joys of my life

you have taken all away!

Woe! Woe! Woe!

Haha!

When we are in the tavern,|we do not think how we will go to dust,

but we hurry to gamble,|which always makes us sweat.

What happens in the tavern,|where money is host,

you may well ask,|and hear what I say.

you may well ask,|and hear what I say.

Some gamble, some drink,|some behave loosely.

But of those who gamble,|some are stripped bare,

some win their clothes here,|some are dressed in sacks.

Here no-one fears death, but they throw|the dice in the name of Bacchus.

Here no-one fears death, but they throw|the dice in the name of Bacchus.

First of all it is to the wine-merchant

the the libertines drink,

one for the prisoners,|three for the living,

four for all Christians,|five for the faithful dead,

six for the loose sisters,

seven for the footpads in the wood,

Eight for the errant brethren,

nine for the dispersed monks,

ten for the seamen,|eleven for the squabblers,

twelve for the penitent,|thirteen for the wayfarers.

To the Pope as to the king

they all drink without restraint.

The mistress drinks, the master drinks,|the soldier drinks, the priest drinks,

the man drinks, the woman drinks,|the servant drinks with the maid,

the swift man drinks, the lazy man drinks,|the white man drinks, the black man drinks,

the settled man drinks, the wanderer drinks,|the stupid man drinks, the wise man drinks,

The poor man drinks, the sick man drinks,|the exile drinks, and the stranger,

the boy drinks, the old man drinks,|the bishop drinks, and the deacon,

the sister drinks, the brother drinks,|the old lady drinks, the mother drinks,

this man drinks, that man drinks|a hundred drink, a thousand drink.,

Six hundred pennies would hardly

suffice, if everyone

drinks immoderately and immeasurably.

However much they cheerfully drink

we are the ones whom everyone scolds,

and thus we are destitute.

May those who slander us be cursed

and may their names not be written|in the book of the righteous.

Io, io, io...!

Io!

Cupid flies everywhere

seized by desire.

Young men and women

are rightly coupled.

The girl without a lover

misses out on all pleasures,

she keeps the dark night

hidden

in the depth of her heart;

it is a most bitter fate.

Day, night and everything

is against me,

the chattering of maidens

makes me weep,

and often sigh,

and, most of all,

scares me.

O friends, you are making fun of me,

you do not know what you are saying,

spare me, sorrowful as I am,

great is

my grief,

advise me at least,

by your

honour.

Your beautiful face,

makes me weep a thousand times,

your heart is of ice.

As a cure,

I would be revived

by a kiss.

A girl stood

in a red tunic;

if anyone touched it,

the tunic rustled.

Eia!

Eia! Eia!

Eia!

A girl stood

like a little rose:

her face was radiant

and her mouth in bloom.

Eia!

Eia! Eia!

Eia!

In my heart

there are many sighs

for your beauty, which wound me sorely.

Ah!

Mandaliet, Mandaliet|my lover does not come.

Mandaliet, Mandaliet|my lover does not come.

my lover does not come.|My lover does not come.

does not come, does not come, does not come, �

Your eyes shine

like the rays of the sun,

like the flashing of lightening|which brightens the darkness.

Ah!

Mandaliet, Mandaliet|my lover does not come.

Mandaliet, Mandaliet|my lover does not come.

my lover does not come.|My lover does not come.

does not come, does not come, does not come, �

May God grant, may the gods grant

what I have in mind:

that I may loose the chains of her virginity.

Ah!

Mandaliet, Mandaliet|my lover does not come.

Mandaliet, Mandaliet|my lover does not come.

my lover does not come.|My lover does not come.

does not come, does not come, does not come, �

If a boy with a girl tarries in a little room,

happy is their coupling.

If a boy with a girl tarries in a little room,

happy is their coupling.

Love rises up,

Love rises up,

and between them prudery is driven away,

an ineffable game begins in their limbs,|arms and lips.

If a boy with a girl tarries in a little room,

happy is their coupling.

Come, come, O come|Come, come, O come

Come, come, O come|Come, come, O come

Do not let me do not let me die!|Do not let me do not let me die!

Do not let me do not let me die!

hyrca, hyrce, hyrca, hyrce|nazaza, trillirivos!

Beautiful is your face, nazaza!|the gleam of your eye, nazaza!

your braided hair, nazaza!|what a glorious creature, nazaza!

redder than the rose, nazaza!|whiter than the lily, nazaza!

lovelier than all others, nazaza!|I shall always

glory in you! Nazaza!|Nazaza! Nazaza!

In the wavering balance

of my feelings

set against

each other

lascivious

love

and modesty.

But I choose

what I see,

and submit my

neck to the yoke;

I yield.

to the sweet

sweet yoke

This is the joyful time, O maidens,

rejoice with them, young men!

Oh! Oh! Oh! I am bursting out all over!

I am burning all over with first love!

New, new love is what I am dying of

I am heartened by my promise,

I am downcast by my refusal

Oh! Oh! Oh! I am bursting out all over!

I am burning all over with first love!

New, new love is what I am dying of!

In the winter man is patient,

the breath of spring makes him lust.

Oh! Oh! Oh! I am bursting out all over!

I am burning all over with first love!

New, new love is what I am dying of!

My virginity makes me frisky,

my simplicity holds me back.

Oh! Oh! Oh! I am bursting out all over!

I am burning all over with first love!

New, new love is what I am dying of!

Come, my mistress, with joy,

come, come, my pretty, I am dying!

Oh! Oh! Oh! I am bursting out all over!

I am burning all over with first love!

New, new love is what I am dying of!

Sweetest one!

Ah!

I give myself

to you totally!

Hail, most beautiful one,

precious jewel,

Hail, pride among virgins,

glorious virgin,

Hail. light of the world,

Hail, rose of the world,

Blanchefleur and Helen,

Blanchefleur and Helen,

noble Venus!

Generous Venus!

O Fortune,

like the moon

you are changeable,

ever waxing and waning;

hateful life

first oppresses and then soothes

as fancy takes it;

poverty and power

it melts them like ice.

Fate - monstrous and empty,

you whirling wheel,

you are malevolent, well-being is in vain

and always fades to nothing,

shadowed and veiled

you plague me too;

now through the game

I bring my bare back to your villainy.

Fate is against me

in health and virtue,

driven on

and weighted down, always enslaved.

So at this hour without delay

pluck the vibrating strings;

since Fate strikes down the strong man,

everybody weep with me!