Babcock
Babcock
Babcock
CARMINA
BURANA
An Analysis of the Works Performance
Practice on Commercial Recordings
Jonathan Babcock
48
Tempo
Each movement of every recording in
the study was timed with a Tempowatch,
both at the beginning of the movement, and
at various tempo changes indicated in the
score.These timings were then compared to
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50
Movement Movement
14
11
In Taberna
Estuans
scatenato
Interius
Movement
15
Amor Volat
undique
m. 1
Movement
17
Stetit Puella
m. 1
Movement
18
Circa mea
pectora
anocora
piu mosso
Movement
24
Ave
formosissima
Orff
= 60
= 152
= 160
= 96
= 84
na
= 72
Tilson Thomas
= 57
= 157
= 136
= 64
= 61
= 106
= 50
De Burgos
= 52
= 158
= 190
= 72
= 56
= 92
= 62
Ozawa
= 72
= 162
= 144
= 74
= 70
= 94
= 62
Jochum
= 60
= 170
= 190
= 80
= 61
= 78
= 66
Mahler
= 60
= 154
= 180
= 74
= 58
= 90
= 60
Sawallisch
= 61
= 154
= 180
= 74
= 58
= 90
= 60
Slatkin
= 57
= 162
= 144
= 64
= 70
= 170
= 51
Thiellemann
= 53
= 156
= 168
= 70
= 55
= 84
= 51
Text Pronunciation
One of the greatest concerns in Orff s
Carmina Burana should be how to approach
the obscure text. Should the Latin be pro-
Latin Text
Of the sixteen recordings in this study,
only four used Ecclesiastical/Italianate Latin
pronunciation (Muti, Ormandy, Shaw, and
Stokowskis). The other twelve followed
Germanic diction rules.
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52
53
Conductor:
54
55
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French Text
The French text found in movement
16 (Dies, nox et omnia) contained the
most discrepancies among all the studied
recordings. Several recordings seemed to
completely ignore the
change in text and applied
Latin pronunciation to the
entire movement. The
most notable examples of
this were the Stokowski,
Ormandy, and Penderecki
recordings. It may also
be possible, due to the
archaic French spelling,
that the conductors and
soloists were unaware
that the text was indeed
French, rather than Latin.
Others seemed to mix
diction rules for Latin
and French, using French
consonant sounds, but
Latin vowel sounds. This
is heard most strikingly in
the Ozawa recording.
Robert Taylor states
there is no standard
phonology of Medieval
French, and there were
only the beginnings of
scientific accuracy of
phonetic description by
the sixteenth century.21
Sawallisch, Slatkin, Muti,
Musical Interpretation
In analyzing the musical decisions of these
sixteen conductors, the author took into
consideration three principal matters:
Luftpause
The Luftpause is indicated by a comma,
written above the staff. Orff uses this marking several times in virtually every movement
of Carmina Burana. The dilemma is that the
marking is a rather vague indication with no
quantifiable temporal value. An example of
this conundrum comes in the first four bars
of the piece (Figure 1).
In the surveyed recordings, the particular
markings in the example above were interpreted in one of the following ways:
A complete break in rhythmical time;
A quarter rest on the last beat of the measure, while still maintaining a tempo;
A fermata on the last half note of each
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Attacca Markings
Orff worked within
a concept he titled Theatrum Mundi, in which
music, movement, and
speech were inseparable. 22 There is an
extreme element of
drama inherent in all
of Orff s later works.
With this in mind, Orff
divided the twenty-five
separate movements
of Carmina Burana into
five scenes. To keep
these scenes intact, each
movement within a
scene was marked attacca to the subsequent
movement.
Of the sur veyed
recordings, Mahler, Muti,
Sawallisch, Shaw and
Slatkin offered a strong
sense of scenic structure and integrity. It
is wor th noting that
Shaw is the only con58
throughout movement 5.
There also seems to be very little, if any,
recognition of scenic unity on the Penderecki
recording. Attacca markings are sporadically
recognized, creating no cohesion between
each scene.
The single movement in which most
conductors took some sort of artistic license
was in movement 14 (In taberna). Orff s
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Summary
Many conductors use commercial recordings
as a resource at some point in their score
preparation. Most of them agree that the
most effective way of listening is to select a
number of divergent recordings to gain different insights on interpretation. Although
this study found the Eugen Jochum recording to be closest to Orff s markings, many
of the recordings in the study are valuable
resources in gaining knowledge of Orff s
desired interpretation.
The 1980 recording of Robert Shaw
conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
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Concluding Remarks
Carl Orff s Carmina Burana has established itself as a cornerstone of the
twentieth-century choral repertoire. Its
combination of medieval and modern elements, along with Orff s distinctive compositional style, creates a thrilling experience
for both the audience and the performer.
Although the elements of strong adherence
to score markings and principles of diction
seem highly restrictive in this study, the freedom of scenic conception allows every new
performance to be as innovative and fresh
as the very first.
Many critics of Carmina Burana find it
vulgar, devoid of the standard techniques
and elaborations that made music an art
and a spiritual force.24 However, the reason for this opinion may be that too many
performers indulge in its excesses rather
than adhere to its strong sense of form and
symmetry. When performed with all Orff s
intentions accounted for, Carmina Burana
becomes a pulsing, visceral, and cathartic
musical experience.
NOTES
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
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63