Composers & Works
Carmina Burana von Carl Orff Genesis – Reception – Text Edited by Franz Willnauer 320 pages – paperback 40 illustrations 12,0 x 19,0 cm € 14.95 ISBN 978-3-254-08220-6 · SEM 8220 What music it must be, that it was always played when Henry Maske entered the boxing ring, music played at Michael Jackson’s stage shows, music still used for charity events and commercials? Understood and tolerated as a work of coded subversive character at the time of creation, misunderstood and met with hostility as musical evidence of the composer’s concurring beliefs seventy years later – nothing can prove the topicality of this seemingly ahistorical piece better than the unique phenomenon of its history of reception. Although the Latin texts make it difficult to understand Carmina Burana, they are among the most frequently played works in the world of music. Taking account of documentation by the composer, this book traces the genesis and reception of the work and discusses the growing popularity of Carmina Burana. Franz Willnauer, born in Enns/Austria in 1933, studied psychology, theatre studies and German studies before working in the publishing business and at several German theatres. From 1999 to 2003 he was director of the International Beethoven Festival in Bonn; before he held comparable positions at the Salzburg Festival (1985–1991) and at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival (1995–1998).
All Rights Available Scandalously popular! Target group: People generally interested in music, musicologists, students, choir masters and singers
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