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In customary tradition, the Prague Symphony Orchestra and the Coro di Praga give a guest performance at the Laeiszhalle to round off the year. On the programme are two of the most monumental works in music history: Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Carl Orff’s choral masterpiece »Carmina Burana«, which brought the composer fame overnight in 1937.
Carmina Burana, Carl Orff's masterpiece, is a captivating concert performance. Its rhythms and melodies captivate audiences worldwide. The texts, dating back to 1300, express the joys of life, mockery, drinking, celebration, and love. Orff's music mirrors that vitality.
Carl Orff became famous overnight in 1937 with his large-scale Carmina Burana. Contemporary harmonies and expressive melodies are combined here with elements of medieval music, powerful rhythms and an artful simplicity. Orff composed this work to Latin, Middle and Old High German songs that were found in 1803 in the Benediktbeuren monastery in Bavaria and are today among the most important literary testimonies of the Middle Ages. In three parts, the songs of Carmina Burana tell of love and courtship, of romance and mysticism, but above all of the cycle of life. To this day, the work is one of the most popular pieces of serious music of the 20th century. At this concert, it will be performed by the Festival Sinfonieorchester Berlin and the Junges Ensemble Berlin choir under the direction of Knut Andreas.
Bam! – »Oooooo Fortuuuna!« – Boom! That’s how the »Carmina Burana« begins. These are the »Songs from Beuern«, song texts from a medieval manuscript that was discovered in 1803 in the Benediktbeuern monastery. They contain cheerful, humorous, but also coarse texts: Monks take out good German citizens in a game of dice, there is drinking, feasting, banter and ... making love. Strong stuff, then. But the aforementioned Fortuna – fate – played these very texts into Carl Orff’s hands in 1934 when he discovered an edition of them by chance in a second-hand bookshop – and was immediately electrified. Orff was inspired by the medieval aura of the »Carmina« and found ways to evoke the feeling of the Middle Ages. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
The Vienna Boys' Choir is the world's most famous boys' choir. Its roots trace back to 1498 (!), and among the choir's former members, you'll find classical giants like Joseph Haydn and Franz Schubert. Now, the choir is making a rare guest appearance at the Concert Hall, featuring Swedish music!The diverse programme showcases many facets of the choir, with much of the music specially arranged for this occasion. Before the interval, the classical dominates with music by Purcell, Mozart, Schubert, Verdi, and Orff, among others. And, of course, there's the quintessential Viennese with both Strauss waltzes and a polka.After the interval, there are also some Swedish elements, such as Gabriella's Song from the film As It Is in Heaven, and ABBA's Mamma Mia and Thank You for the Music. Perhaps not what one might expect from the Vienna Boys' Choir! This part also includes jazz, musicals, and even Italian crooning – Volare (actually titled Nel blu dipinto di blu) and O Sole Mio!
The universal language of music: it can be heard in Beethoven’s »Ode to Joy« as well as in Orff’s »Carmina Burana«. Both works utilise impressive, sometimes magical imagery. In the juxtaposition, we experience values such as freedom, peace and solidarity, but also the ups and downs of human life with the alternation of happiness and prosperity, the fleeting nature of life, the joy of the return of spring and the dangers of drinking, gluttony, gambling and lust.
»Could you give your orchestra a little longing for spring when you play it, because I had that with me when I wrote it. I would like the very first trumpet blast to sound as if from on high, like a call to awakening,« wrote Robert Schumann to the conductor Wilhelm Taubert about his First Symphony in B flat major, of which he once proudly proclaimed: »It was born in a fiery hour.« It was written in a true creative frenzy: the 31-year-old composer sketched it in just four days at the end of January 1841 and finished the entire score a good three weeks later, on 20 February. This early spring symphony by Robert Schumann forms the opening of this intoxicating evening, the second half of which features the famous Carmina Burana. Carl Orff became famous overnight in 1937 with the large-scale Carmina Burana. Contemporary harmonies and expressive melodies are combined here with elements of medieval music, powerful rhythms and an artful simplicity. Orff composed this work to Latin, Middle and Old High German songs that were found in 1803 in the Benediktbeuren monastery in Bavaria and are today among the most important literary testimonies of the Middle Ages. In three parts, the songs of Carmina Burana tell of love and courtship, of romance and mysticism, but above all of the cycle of life. To this day, the work is one of the most popular pieces of serious music of the 20th century.
The Hamburg Police is brought closer to its citizens with its 60-strong choir, the Polizeichor Hamburg, founded in 1901. Germany’s oldest police choir is made up of employees from all sectors of policing, administration as well as other professional groups. Their repertoire ranges from classical music to folk music and sea shanties. Alongside harbour birthdays, family celebrations and other events throughout Germany, highlights of the season include the annual spring and Christmas concerts at the Laeiszhalle.