Carl Orff's Carmina Burana performed by the Worcester Chorus, Christopher Shepard, Artistic Director

Overview

Sometimes called a "dramatic cantata," the Carmina Burana is based upon a group of 13th century poems that were discovered in the Benedictine monastery of Beuren in Bavaria. Despite being written in medieval Latin and middle high German, this is one of the most recognizable of choral works because the "O Fortuna" section has been used in countless movies, television, and commercial productions over the years. The collection of music is full of humor and intensity, both ribald and romantic, celebrating wine, women, song, Spring, and the fickleness of fate!  This work will be performed with two pianos and percussion.

Additonal works to be performed at this concert:  Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, Sir Edward Elgar's Lux Aeterna, and Henryk Gorecki's Totus Tuus.

Guest Soloists: Gina Beck, Soprano; Michael Steiger, Tenor; and Aaron Engebreth, Baritone.

Watch this video of The Worcester Children's Chorus performing at Assumption College in 2009

Related Sites

• Worcester Children's Chorus
• The Worcester Chorus - video

Program

Carmina Burana 
Latin for "Songs from Beuern", is the name given to a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century.  The pieces were written principally in medieval Latin, a few in middle high German, and some with traces of Old French or Provencal.  Some are macaronic - a mixture of Latin and German or French vernacular.  They were written by students and clergy when the Latin idiom was the "lingua franca" across Italy and Western Europ for travelling scholars, universities and theologians.  Most of the poems and songs appear to be the work of Goliards (clergy and mostly students who satirized the Catholic Church).  The collection was found in 1803 in the Benedictine monastery of Benediktbeuern in Bavaria.  The Carmina Burana is the most important collection of Goliard and vagabond songs.

Twenty-four poems in the Carmina Burana were set to music by composer Carl Orff in 1936.  The opening and closing movement, "O Fortuna", has been used in countless films and has become a symbol of the epic song in popular culture.  Carmina Burana remains one of the most popular pieces of music ever written.

Lux Aeterna  by Sir Edward Elgar, was written in 1899, the text being the Communion antiphon from the Mass for the Dead, and is a choral arrangement from the Nimrod of the "Enigma" Variations.  "May everlasting light shine upon them, O Lord, with thy saints in eternity, for thou art merciful. Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and may everlasting light shine upon them."

Totus Tuus (Totally Yours) was written for unaccompanied choir by the Polish composer Henryk Górecki in 1987.  The piece was composed to celebrate Pope John Paul II's third pilgrimage to his native Poland that summer.  The work was first performed in 1987 at a High Mass held in Victory Square in Warsaw.  The text is taken from a poem addressed to the Virgin Mary, the patron saint of Poland.

About the Artists

The Worcester Chorus is under the sponsorship of Music Worcester, Inc., and has the unique distinction of being one of the most outstanding ongoing choral groups in the United States, having been founded in 1858 to sing in the first annual Worcester Music Festival in the newly-built Mechanics Hall. The 120-member chorus includes singers from Worcester County, northern Connecticut, and the Boston area. Its repertoire includes, not only the Western world's finest choral masterpieces, but also contemporary literature and arrangements of American folk songs and classics from the musical theater, as well as commissioned works. Each year the chorus performs with orchestra and soloists in Mechanics Hall as part of The Worcester Music Festival, including an annual performance of Handel's Messiah, a Spring Choral Concert, and in guest appearances throughout the Northeast and overseas.

The Worcester Chorus is a major community chorus that includes both amateur singers and professional musicians. It endeavors to foster the choral arts and to enhance the cultural life of Worcester and the surrounding area through the highest level of musicianship and artistry, resulting in enriching and emotional experiences for audience and singer alike.

The mission of the Worcester Children's Chorus is to enrich the lives of children throughout Worcester County by providing a quality musical experience through training in choral singing.  Membership offers a professional-level instruction in vocal technique, music theory, sight singing, ear training, and presentation, as well as an exposure to a variety of choral styles.  Involvement also enhances young people's lives, helping them to develop qualities of self-reliance, personal integrity, responsibility, compassion, and confidence in their abilities.

Soprano Gina Beck holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from the University of Saskatchewan and a Master's Degree in Opera Performance from the Boston Conservatory of Music. Ms. Beck was a performer with the Brown Bag Opera Company in Boston for the past six years, and performs as a freelance soloist throughout New England. She has participated in the Spoleto Vocal Arts Symposium in Spoleto, Italy, the Phyllis Curtin Vocal Seminar at the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, and the Aspen Summer Music Festival in Colorado. She has also performed as a soloist with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Master Singers of Worcester, The Worcester Chorus, Melrose Symphony Orchestra, Cambridge Lieder and Opera Society, Operafest of New Hampshire, and the Fine Arts Chorale. She has performed leading operatic roles in Mozart's The Impresario, Britten's Albert Herring and Menotti's The Telephone and has won numerous awards and scholarships in the United States and Canada. Ms. Beck has been an Artist in Residence at Wachusett Regional High School and Wellesley High School, and is currently on the Voice Faculty of Emerson College in Boston. She teaches privately in Shrewsbury.

AARON ENGEBRETH (baritone), acclaimed for his "exemplary diction and rich baritone voice," maintains an active solo career in opera, oratorio, and recital, and has devoted considerable energy and time to the performance of new music, often collaborating with composers. Mr. Engebreth has recently been featured with groups and venues such as the American Bach Soloists, Tanglewood Music Festival, Boston Baroque, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Miami Bach Society, the Boston Early Music Festival, Musicians of the Old Post Road, the Providence Singers, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Opera Aperta, the Melrose Symphony, the Back Bay Chorale, the Orchestra of St. Peter's, and the Boston Academy of Music. He has received significant recognition for his interpretation of early music, most recently as a national finalist and place-winner in the 2002 American Bach Society/Bethlehem Bach Competition.

As a 2000 fellow with the Pacific Music festival in Sapporo, Japan, Mr. Engebreth was featured in their performances of Handel's Alexander's Feast and Bach's Magnificat. He regularly appears with Emmanuel Music on their famed Bach Cantata series. Other notable solo engagements include Haydn's Creation under the baton of the late Robert Shaw and recently, the role of Lidio in Cavalli's L'Egisto under the musical direction of Martin Pearlman. Mr. Engebreth has performed extensively as a recitalist on the concert series of the Longy School of Music, Marsh Chapel at Boston University, the Boston Public Library, King's Chapel, the Old South Church of Boston where he took part in an acclaimed performance of the rarely heard AIDS Quilt Songbook, and recently with WCRB's Concerts at Copley Square, at which he appeared with Keith Lockhart, conductor of the Boston Pops performing works of Richard Rogers with Mr. Lockhart at the piano. A committed interpreter of contemporary music, Mr. Engebreth collaborates frequently with composers, most recently working in preparation with Ned Rorem on the Boston premiere of his evening-length song cycle Evidence of Things Not Seen with the Florestan Recital Project. The critically acclaimed performance, noting Mr. Engebreth's "beauty of voice and eloquence,"(Boston Globe) was repeated in June 2003 in Providence, Rhode Island as part of the Red House Festival.

On the operatic stage, Mr. Engebreth has performed a variety of roles ranging from Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro to Schaunard in La Boheme. His performance of Sid in the Red House Opera Group's 2002 performances of Britten's Albert Herring was described by the Boston Globe as, "nearly perfect in voice, characterization and appearance," and Opera News hailed his recent performance as Masetto in Opera Aperta's Don Giovanni as "consistently strong." Mr. Engebreth's other 2002-03 engagements include performances with the Tanglewood Music Festival, Opera Aperta, Red House Opera Group, Boston Cecilia, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Miami Bach Society, Opera Unlimited (Boston Academy of Music/Boston Modern Orchestra Project), the Providence Singers, the Rhode Island Civic Orchestra and Chorus, Back Bay Chorale, and the American Bach Soloists.

He also appeared as a vocal fellow at the Ravinia Music Festival's Steans Institute for Singers in August 2003. In September of 2003, Mr. Engebreth made his debut with the Handel and Haydn Society as a soloist in their production of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 and will also perform Ned Rorem's Santa Fe Songs with the composer at the piano with the Terezin Chamber Music Society that will culminate in the world-premiere recording of the work. Mr. Engebreth is on the music faculties of Tufts University and the Community Music Center of Boston and is a founding member and co-artistic director of the Florestan Recital Project. He is an alumnus of Viterbo College and received a Master's Degree from Boston University. He can be heard on the upcoming releases of Conrad Susa's Carols and Lullabies on Arsis Records and on Lukas Foss' Griffelkin with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project on the Chandos label.