Program Notes: Carmina Burana
Notes on our May 11 program by Ken Meltzer
Violin Concerto in E minor, Opus 64 (1844)
Felix Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg, Germany, on February 3, 1809, and died in Leipzig, Germany, on November 4, 1847. The first performance of the E-minor Concerto took place at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig on March 13, 1845, with Ferdinand David as soloist and Niels W. Gade conducting. Approximate performance time is twenty-six minutes.
Felix Mendelssohn composed his Violin Concerto for his dear friend, Ferdinand David (1810-1873). David, an eminent violinist, was concertmaster of Mendelssohn’s Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. In a letter of July 30, 1838, Mendelssohn informed David: “I would also like to write you a violin concerto for next winter as well; I have one in E minor in my head, the opening leaves me no peace...”
David was, of course, thrilled by Mendelssohn’s news. However, progress on the Concerto was slow, as Mendelssohn tended to other obligations. But David continued to encourage Mendelssohn. The composition of the Violin Concerto proved to be a truly collaborative effort. David repeatedly offered constructive suggestions for modifications to the score-in-progress. In fact, it is generally believed that David was essentially responsible for the beautiful first-movement cadenza.
Mendelssohn dedicated the Concerto to David, who appeared at the March 13, 1845 Gewandhaus premiere. Mendelssohn was recuperating from an illness at the time, and so, Niels W. Gade served as the conductor for that highly successful first performance. The Concerto was repeated during the subsequent Gewandhaus season. David was again the soloist at the October 20, 1845 concert, this time with Mendelssohn on the podium.
The Mendelssohn E-minor is one of the most beloved of violin concertos. The Austro-Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim proclaimed that among the great German violin concertos: the dearest of them all, the heart’s jewel, is Mendelssohn’s.” The Concerto’s seamless, inevitable flow belies the years of struggle invested by Mendelssohn and his worthy collaborator, Ferdinand David. The genial lyricism also tends to obscure the several innovative, even revolutionary, touches in the magnificent score. The E-minor Concerto, along with such works as the Octet for Strings (1825), and the Overture to the Incidental Music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1826), represent Mendelssohn at his zenith, a composer demonstrating the capacity to approach, and perhaps even achieve, perfection.
The Violin Concerto is in three movements. In the first (Allegro molto appassionato), Mendelssohn dispenses with the traditional orchestral introduction of the principal themes. Instead, the soloist plays the haunting melody that Mendelssohn confessed left him “no peace.” Another departure from the conventions of the time is the placement of the solo cadenza immediately before the recapitulation of the principal themes, rather than toward the close of the entire movement. The tempestuous closing measures lead without pause to the slow-tempo second movement (Andante), fashioned along the lines of an opera aria without words, with the presentation and ultimate reprise of the principal melody separated by a contrasting, dramatic interlude. Once again, the final movement (Allegretto non troppo; Allegro molto vivace) follows without pause. The mood of the finale is joyous throughout, concluding in triumphant fashion, with brilliant solo writing.
Carmina burana (1937)
Carl Orff was born in Munich, Germany, on July 10, 1895, and died there on March 29, 1982. The first performance of Carmina burana took place in Frankfurt, Germany, on June 8, 1937 with Bertil Wetzelsberger conducting the Frankfurt Opera. Approximate performance time is sixty-five minutes.
The 20th-century German composer Carl Orff was born into a family of army officers who demonstrated a keen interest in science, history, and music. Orff began his own music studies (piano, organ, and cello) at the age of five. While pursuing further studies in Munich, Orff became interested in the music of French Impressionist composer Claude Debussy and the Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg, a pioneer in atonal music expression.
Orff was drafted into the army in 1917. After being wounded at the front, he was discharged from service. Upon his return to Munich in 1919, Orff began an intensive study of music from the 16th and 17th centuries, and in particular, the works of the great Italian Baroque composer, Claudio Monteverdi. Orff also co-founded the Güntherschule, an educational center that explored the synthesis body movement, poetry, and music.
On June 8, 1937, Carl Orff’s “scenic cantata,” Carmina burana, premiered in Frankfurt. Carmina burana (Songs of Benediktbeuern) is Orff’s setting of texts discovered in the monastery of Benediktbeuern, located south of Munich. The texts are taken from the songs of the goliards—medieval students, monks, and seminarians who seem to have spent as much time carousing as they did studying. The songs of the goliards celebrate (sometimes in the most explicit terms) the pleasures of food, wine, and lovemaking.
Orff scored Carmina burana for soprano, tenor, and baritone soloists, as well as huge choral (large chorus, small chorus, and boy chorus) and orchestral forces. Orff also envisioned dance as an integral part of his “scenic cantata.”
In the early 20th century, many composers attempted to stretch the traditional concepts of tonality as far as possible. Some 20th-century composers, such as Schoenberg, even abandoned conventional tonality altogether. Their atonal compositions inspired heated reactions, both by critics and audiences. To this day, the subject of atonality is guaranteed to inspire lively exchanges among music lovers.
In that context, Carl Orff’s Carmina burana represents a stunning departure from the course of much of the concert music of the time. From the opening chorus, “O Fortuna”—a hymn to the inexorable power of Fate—it is clear that Orff’s Carmina burana marks an emphatic return to the forces of melody and rhythm in their most elemental form. 20th–century atonality is nowhere to be found. Instead, Orff’s infectious and decidedly tonal melodies are repeated over and over, with variety supplied by contrasts in dynamics, and vocal and instrumental colors. Throughout, Carmina burana’s raucous celebration of the philosophy of carpe diem creates an irresistible force of energy guaranteed to leave the audience breathless at the conclusion.
To this day, Orff’s Carmina burana remains one of the most popular of all classical works, a constant presence in the concert hall and on recordings. Carmina burana may also be heard in numerous movies, television shows, and advertisements. More than eighty years after its premiere, Orff’s Carmina burana remains as irresistible as ever.