The Carmina Burana manuscript is a testament to the dynamism of the Middle Ages!  Begun in the 13th century and continued through the 14th century, it is an exquisite and unparalleled anthology of songs and poems from the 11th and 12th centuries. Recorded in this manuscript are some 300 + texts, most of them in Latin, but with some in Old French and a good number in Middle High German. Many of the songs and poems are unique to this manuscript, and some of the vernacular songs are the oldest which survive to us. The songs and poems are playful—songs about love, songs about fortune and chance, drinking songs, gambling songs, moralizing satires, and songs that we might deem silly (as with the “Roasted Swan Sings” below). Perhaps to add balance, there are also a few sacred plays. The songs have been attributed to the Goliards, young clergy who found their vocation in satirizing the church in poems and songs. Yet scholars have been able to ascribe some of the entries to a few famous poets. The name of the manuscript is derived from the Latin word for the monastery of Benediktbeuern (in Upper Bavaria) where it was discovered, uncatalogued, in 1803. 

Fast-forward just over 100 years, when this impressive but little-known manuscript got its big break…

In 1934, the German composer Carl Orff came across a published edition of these songs, and the rest, as they say, is history. From the medieval collection, Orff selected 24 songs (in Latin, Middle High German, and Old French) for a composition which he titled, Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae cantoribus et choris cantandae comitantibus instrumentis atque imaginibus magicis (Songs of Beuern: Secular songs for singers and choruses to be sung together with instruments and magical images). 

The work is structured in five major sections. The prologue bemoans the eternal influence of the goddess Fortune on the fate of every man. The first part tells of the joys of Spring. Next, we move to the tavern, with much drinking and gambling. In this movement there is the curious song of the roasted swan, who recalls his former beauty and laments his current state (“Woe, Woe! Now charred and severely roasted”). Courtly love is the theme of the third part, and the epilogue is a reprise of the first song, and we meditate once again on the nature of Fortune.

His Carmina was—and is—a musical tour de force. Even Orff recognized his achievement, stating to his publisher, “Everything I have written to date, and which you have, unfortunately, printed, can be destroyed. With Carmina Burana, my collected works begin.” 

Having found the lyrics to inspire him, Orff’s music, of course, leaves the medieval music behind. But the fame of manuscript has risen on the coat-tails of the composer, and it is, we would argue, most worthy of this ascension.