CARMINA BURANA

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Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana is one of the most frequently performed and recorded twentieth - century works in the choral repertoire. Nearly every major orchestral conductor has recorded the work at least once: Seiji Ozawa has fi ve different recordings to his credit. The recording technology has created a great resource for musicians: it has documented performance practice and performance tradition dating back to the early 1900s. In his book, Early Recordings and Musical Style, Robert Philip states that “[R]ecordings shed light on the limitations of documentary evidence in any period.” 1 Although the time span of Carmina Burana recordings is not extensive, there is still a great deal of interpretive information to be gained in an analysis of these sound documents. Sixteen separate recordings were chosen for this study. 2
CARL ORFF'S <strong>CARMINA</strong> <strong>BURANA</strong> The conductors represented are considered to be among the most esteemed of their time. In addition, three of the recordings in the study were prepared with Carl Orff present at rehearsals and at the actual recording session. 3 These recordings are quite informative of what may have been Orff’s original intentions. This analysis hopes to guide artistic decisions for future performances of the work. The sixteen recordings were selected according to issue date and nationality of conductor and performers. The recordings were analyzed based upon three principal categories: Outstanding Performance Opportunities Designed for Undergraduates Yearly fully-staged undergraduate opera and opera scenes Recital series and master classes Choral tours and major works for choir and orchestra Vocal Faculty includes: Robert Barefield Edward Bolkovac Cherie Caluda Kevin Jones Doris Lang Kosloff Michael Kutner Joanna Levy Michele McBride Marjorie Melnick Korby Myrick Wayne Rivera Kyle Swann Stuart Younse Audition Dates for Fall 2011 Entrance December 11 (early notification), January 28 & 30, February 18 & 19 50 CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 51 Number 4 • Tempo (tempos of the recordings were compared to Orff’s tempo indications); • Text (pronunciation, and articulation); • Musical interpretation (rubato, stringendo, portamento, phrasing, articulation, and elision). 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 www.hartford.edu/hartt The Hartt School | University of Hartford | 200 Bloomfield Avenue | West Hartford, CT 06117 | 860.768.4465 | harttadm@hartford.edu Orff’s metronome markings in the published score. In total, fi fty-one timings were taken from each recording. The studied recordings were also compared and contrasted with each other. Of all sixteen recordings, the Deutschen Oper Berlin recording, with Eugen Jochum conducting, was the closest to Orff’s indicated tempo markings. Twenty-three of the fi fty-one-timed sections were within plus or minus fi ve clicks of the metronome markings given in the score. Of these twentythree, ten of the timed sections on the Jochum recording were exactly the tempos indicated in Orff’s score. Second closest to Orff’s tempo indications was the Hartford Symphony performance, conducted by Fritz Mahler. Twenty-two of the fi fty-one timings taken were within fi ve metronome markings of Orff’s. Of these twenty-two, nine were exactly the tempos indicated in Orff’s score. Orff was in attendance at both these recording sessions. The Jochum recording is marked as “authorized by Orff.” The fact that Orff was in attendance at the two recordings most resembling his tempo markings creates a compelling argument that Orff’s markings were to be taken literally and followed as closely as possible. The recording that deviated most radically from Orff’s markings was the Berlin Philharmonic recording, with Seiji Ozawa conducting. Only fi ve of Ozawa’s tempos fell within fi ve clicks of Orff’s metronome markings. The one section in which most recordings came closest to Orff’s markings was the fi rst four bars of the opening movement. Of the sixteen recordings, twelve were within fi ve clicks of Orff’s marking. The movements in which all conductors were furthest from Orff’s markings were the scatenato section at the end of movement 14 (In Taberna); the opening of movement 15 (Amor volat undique); movement 17 (Stetit puella); the ancora piu mosso in movement 18 (Circa mea pectora); and movement 24 (Ave formosissima). None of the conductors was within fi ve clicks of Orff’s metronome markings in these movements or sections. The recording with the overall fastest tempos was the Michael Tilson Thomas recording with the Cleveland Orchestra. Twelve of the selected timed sections were
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CARMINA BURANA

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