QC Choral Society
69th Annual Winter Concert
James John, Music Director
Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana
Saturday, December 19, 2009
8 pm, Colden Auditorium
The Queens College Choral Society will be presenting Orff's popular work in collaboration with dancers from the Queens College Department of Drama, Theater and Dance as well as student artworks to highlight Orff's original dramatic concept (which he called "Theatrum Mundi"), combining music with movement and stage action.
Orff selected texts from Carmina Burana, a collection of over two hundred poems preserved in a 13th century manuscript, and organized them to paint five scenes: "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi" (Fortune, Empress of the World), "Primo vere" (In Spring), "In Taberna" (In the Tavern), "Cour d'amours" (Court of Love) and "Blanziflor et Helena" (Blanchefleur and Helen). The overall structure is based on the idea of the turning Wheel of Fortune. The original manuscripts feature a drawing of the wheel with four phrases: "Regnabo" (I shall reign), "Regno" (I reign/I am reigning), "Regnavi" (I have reigned), "Sum sine regno" (I am without a kingdom). Thus the dramatic impact of Orff's exceptionally famous opening movement ("O Fortuna") is the perfect frame for a work moving through the pathways of life from joy to bitterness, hope to grief, and finally to love.
Tickets:$20; $18 seniors, students, alumni; $5 for students with valid QCID at box office only (does not include $1 online ticket surcharge)
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