http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Fortuna
O Fortuna English Translation / Lyrics
Carl Orff – O Fortuna
O Fortuna – Latin and English lyrics (Carmina Burana – composed by Carl Orff)
Written in the 1930s, this is an incredibly powerful piece of music.
Latin and English translation.
| O Fortuna velut luna statu variabilis, semper crescis aut decrescis; vita detestabilis nunc obdurate et tunc curat ludo mentis aciem, egestatem, potestatem dissolvit ut glaciem. Sors immanis et inanis, rota tu volubilis, status malus, vana salus semper dissolubilis, obumbrata et velata michi quoque niteris; nunc per ludum dorsum nudum fero tui sceleris. Sors salutis et virtutis michi nunc contraria, est affectus et defectus semper in angaria. Hac in hora sine mora corde pulsum tangite; quod per sortem sternit fortem, mecum omnes plangite! | 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! |
The Carmina Burana (in German, "Lieder aus Beuern") is a collection of plays and songs found in a medieval German manuscript. All were apparently written by wandering poets known as "goliards." The songs and plays were written at the same time, but they have been separated into two different manuscripts: the songs (theCarmina Burana proper), and the six religious plays.
Also known as:
the Benediktbeuern manuscriptOrigins and History:
The songs and plays in the Carmina Burana were written down sometime in the 13th century, though many of them are probably much older in origin. The work of some of the few known goliards is evident in the style and content of many of the songs. The manuscript was discovered in 1803 at Benediktbeuern, a Benedictine monastery in Bavaria from which the term "burana" is derived.
The Songs:
The songs, which number more than 1,000, vary widely in style and subject matter and include religious poems, political satires, drinking songs, and both serious and bawdy love songs. They are composed of rhymed lyrics, primarily in Latin with a few in German. Some musical notation was included in the manuscript, but it has been difficult to decipher, and only about 40 melodies have been reconstructed.
The Plays:
The six plays are all in Latin and include the only two complete texts of medieval Passion dramas known to exist today -- one with music and one without. The other plays are an Easter play, a Christmas play, a play depicting Christ's first two appearances to the disciples, and a play of the king of Egypt.
Significance:
The Carmina Burana is the largest and greatest collection of secular lyrics from the Middle Ages. It has proved useful in understanding the goliards, and it has demonstrated that music flourished widely in medieval times beyond the confines of the Church.
Modern Version:
In 1937, the German composer Carl Orff wrote the secular cantata "Carmina Burana," which was based on the medieval poems but did not use the original melodies. Orff's work was very popular in Nazi Germany, and has since been used in numerous TV programs, advertisements and films, most notably John Boorman's Excalibur.
You can listen to MIDI versions of Orff's work at Bot Productions.
Suggested Reading:
- Carmina Burana: Cantiones Profane
by Carl Orff and Judith Lynn Sebesta; translated by Jeffrey M. Duban
Thirty Poems from Carmina Burana
by P.G. Walsh
Related Products:
- The Carmina Burana
Composed by Carl Orff
Click on to one of the merchant pages for sound samples.
Excalibur
Boorman's Arthurian masterwork is one of the best representations of the legend on film, and utilizes Orff's music in the soundtrack.
|
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder