Search - Clemencic Consort :: Carmina Burana 1 (Original Version)

Spirited music

FrKurt Messick | Bloomington, IN USA | 09/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"-- Carmina Burana --

Carmina Burana is a large German manuscript from which Carl Orff drew his famous modern setting.



The manuscript was discovered in a Benedictine monastery in the mid-19th century in Bavaria, and subsequently named Carmina Burana. It is very extensive, with lyrics from Occitania, France, England, Scotland, Catalonia, Castile, Germany and beyond. Many texts are in Latin. However, the majority of the texts do not include melodies (which is not uncommon for compositions of the time). These have to be recreated based on the structure of texts or other cues (such as pitch), or other markers alluding to well-known medieval melodies from other sources.



The include of Gregorian chant, and other musical styles such as the music of Troubadours, Trouveres, and Minnesingers can be heard distinctly. In that tradition, many of these songs are far from sacred texts, but rather can be ribald and scathing at times in their wit toward the world in which they were composed. Yet there are also graceful love songs and other wonderful pieces here, too.



-- This performance --

This performance features Hans Breitschopf (countertenor), René Clemencic (recorders, flute, cornet, shepherd's flute, organ), Richard Erig (shawm, bombarde), Andràs Kécskès (lute, rubebe, psaltery), Pedro Liendo (baritone), Anne Osnowycz (buche), Frantisek Pik (cornet, courbe, mandolin), Spiros Rantos (vielles, rabab), Walter Schiefer (percussion), Zeger Vandersteene (countertenor, percussion), and René Zosso (hurdy-gurdy, chant).



According to director Clemencic, this is not intended to be a definitive version of the Carmina Burana, but rather a faithful rendering of the text received. It is fun, lively, and full of spirit. Originally recorded for vinyl in 1974, the transfer to disc has been expertly achieved.



-- Clemencic Consort --

René Clemencic is the founding director of one of the best early music groups, the Clemencic Consort. Clemencic, a native of Vienna, was born in 1928. He studied philosophy and musicology in both Vienna and Paris. During this time he also studied early instruments such as the recorder and harpsichord; in addition, he learned early music performance, music theory and composition. Clemencic and the Clemencic Consort have won numerous international awards, such as the Diapason d'Or, Edison, Grand Prix du Disque, and Prix Cecilia.



One of the drawbacks of discs by the Clemencic Consort is that they rarely give any details about the performers, the group itself or the director. This is unfortunate, given the nature of the Consort, which can vary from as few as two to as many as fifty performers, depending upon the requirements of the music at hand.

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Carmina Burana (Original Version)

William B. Cornell | Dallas, TX United States | 09/11/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As the title implies, this is not the Orff work, but what he based it on: some of the oldest written Western music in existance. Sheets of these pieces were found to make up binders for old books discovered around two hundred years ago. If you like Medieval/Early music or are a fan of the Brit-folk Fairport/Steeleye/Pentangle/Richard Thompson school, this is great source material. Great source material for any rounded music collection, for that matter..... And played on antique instruments. There is a piece on the third disc played with an ensemble of hurdy-gurdys that makes Einsturzende Neubauten sound like Ricky Martin--and this is from about 1000 years ago!
Docked one star for limited liner notes--I want to know what the instruments are--en Anglais si vous play! And it'd be nice to know who played what, cut by cut."