Music Notes for New Year's Eve with the Seattle Choral Company
Carmina Burana
By Carl Orff (1895-1982)
Composed in 1936, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana can be heard on stages
and screens across the globe. The song's text was discovered in 1803 at the Monastery
of Benediktbeuren near Munich as part of a collection of Latin poetry written by
the Goliards dating back to the 12th century. Written exclusively for entertainment,
Carmina Burana confronts topics universal to all eras: love, sex,
drinking, gambling, fate, and fortune. The text was written in vernacular Latin,
medieval French, and German so as to be easily understood and accessible. When composing
Carmina Burana, Carl Orff selected 24 of the poems and arranged them
by thematic content:
- Fortuna, Imperatrix Mundi (Fortune, Empress of the World)
- Primo vere (Springtime)
- In taberna (In the tavern)
- Cours d’amour (The Court of Love)
Who Was Carl Orff?
Carl Orff is most remembered for his popular cantata Carmina Burana.
Among learners of music he is also known for his influential teaching method.
The German composer and teacher was born in Munich on July 10, 1895. Although his
father was a soldier, his family was musical. As a boy he studied piano, organ and
cello. His first works, all vocal, were published when he was 16 years old.
He enrolled at the local Munich Academy of Music and graduated in 1914, aged 19.
Three years later, however, he was called by the German army to fight in World War
I.
He married Alice Solscher in 1920, the first of his four wives. With Dorothee Günther
in 1924, he co-founded the Günther Schule of Gymnastic Dancing, a school for gymnastics,
music and dance, which was a turning point in his life. Out this came his later
activity in providing materials for young children to make music, using their voices
and simple percussion instruments. Orff became interested in musical education,
passionate with primitive and evocative rhythms, and with Renaissance music.
Orff was appointed conductor of the Bach Society of Munich, leading to staging of
J.S. Bach and Heinrich Schütz, much influential to the creation of his masterpiece
Carmina Burana.
All his major works, including the phenomenally successful Carmina Burana
and the opera Antigone(1949), were designed as pageants for the stage;
they include several versions of Greek tragedies and Bavarian comedies. Carmina
Burana was first performed in Frankfurt. It brought Orff overnight fame.
Orff was known for his simple melodies and harmonies. His music was mostly written
for the stage and with strong mass appeal. Although his contemporary composers either
left Germany or died during the Nazi Germany period in the 1930s to 1945, Orff remained
in Munich through the years, dying at the age of 87. His music was generally approved
by the authorities, because it was conservative and uplifting to people’s spirits.
His most significant role may be in music education and physical recreation. Orff
always believed that music should be healthy and should please.
Featured Guest Artists
“VENTIDITA” Duo Pianists: Lisa Bergman and Deborah Dewey
Lisa Bergman has collaborated in performances with many of today’s most esteemed
artists. She made her highly successful joint recital debut in Carnegie Recital
Hall in 1983. She is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, the State University
of New York at Stony Brook, and the University of Washington, cum laude. Bergman
served as an artist in residence on the University of Washington music faculty (1989-1999)
and is a nationally certified teacher of music. As a recording artist she has released
five CDs in collaboration with such artists as violinist Linda Rosenthal, baritone
Anthony Brown, violinist Ann Christensen, and bassoonist Arthur Grossman. Bergman
is executive director of NOISE (Northwest Opera in Schools, Etc.) and serves as
artistic director for the Mostly Nordic Chamber Music Series in Seattle, Washington.
Deborah Dewey & Lisa BergmanShe is the newly appointed general director
of the Icicle Creek Music Center and is also a classical music host on KOHO Radio
in Leavenworth, Washington.
Deborah Dewey has earned a reputation throughout the United States for her
pianistic talent. Critics have praised the "sparkling passage work," "warm
operatic lyricism," "thoughtful interpretation," and "sense
of dramatic urgency" in her playing. Dewey has performed extensively as recitalist,
chamber musician, and soloist with orchestras across the country. National Public
Radio stations in Connecticut, Michigan, and throughout the West Coast have broadcast
many of her performances. Acclaimed for her sensitive musicianship and technical
mastery, Dewey won numerous competitions, including the KMS Resident Artist Competition,
the William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition, the Yale Philharmonia Concerto Competition,
and the Northeastern United States MTNA Collegiate Competition during her years
of study with Margaret Ott, Theodore Lettvin, and Donald Currier. She received a
Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from Wellesley College and a Master of Music
degree in piano performance from the Yale School of Music. Devoted to the development
of young musicians, she has been a member of the piano faculties at the University
of Washington, Whitworth College, the Cornish Institute and Yale University. She
is currently in great demand as a competition judge, lecturer, piano instructor,
and performer, and teaches privately in Seattle.
Jennifer Ceresa, soprano
Soprano Jennifer Ceresa is pleased to return for her sixth season as assistant
director and resident soprano with the Seattle Choral Company. A native of Boise,
Idaho, Ms. Ceresa obtained most of her education and developed her professional
career in the greater Seattle area.
On the concert stage, Ms. Ceresa has appeared as a soloist in performances of Mozart's
Mass in C minor, Handel's Messiah, Bach's St.
Matthew Passion and St. John Passion, Brahms’s Requiem,
Haydn's Creation, and Dvorak's Stabat Mater, as well
as numerous other works by Fauré, Poulenc, Duruflé, Rutter, Britten, Stravinsky,
and Honegger. Ms. Ceresa is a member of the Seattle Opera Chorus, and has sung in
recent productions of The Pearl Fishers, La Traviata, Il Trovatore,
Falstaff, Lucia di Lammermoor, and Don Quixote. She has also
appeared in concert performances of various operas, singing the roles of Baby in
The Ballad of Baby Doe, Laurie in The Tender Land, Leila in The Pearl
Fishers, the Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel, and Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus.
Ms. Ceresa studied voice, piano, and choral conducting with Richard Asher. During
the course of her studies in Music Education, Ms. Ceresa was also retained as a
teacher of piano courses at Edmonds Community College. She then went on to serve
as assistant conductor and interim conductor of the symphonic and concert choirs
at the college. In addition to her current work with the Seattle Choral Company
and Seattle Opera, Ms. Ceresa operates a large voice and piano studio in the Puyallup
area, teaches voice at Pierce Community College, and conducts her church choir.
Benjamin Harris, baritone
Baritone Benjamin Harris has been seen all across the Pacific Northwest on
both opera and concert stages. Most recently he appeared with NOISE as Ben
in Menotti's The Telephone. Future engagements include Miller in Luisa
Miller with Puget Sound Opera and Germont in La Traviata with Rogue
Opera. Benjamin has been seen frequently with Tacoma Opera, where his credits include
Biscroma in Viva la Mamma, Baron Douphol in La Traviata, Marullo in
Rigoletto, Antonio in Le Nozze di Figaro, the Bonze and Yamadori in
Madama Butterfly, and the Jailor in Tosca.
Other opera roles include the Cold Genius in King Arthur with Seattle Academy
of Baroque Opera, Grandpa Moss in the Tender Land with Sun Valley Center
for the Arts, Giorgio Germont in La Traviata with Oberlin in Italy, Sam in
Trouble in Tahiti with Prague Music Festival, Sarastro in Die Zauberflote
with Bayview Music Festival, and Angelotti in Tosca and Marullo in Rigoletto
with Ardamore Chamber Orchestra. While pursuing his music degree at Pacific Lutheran
University, Benjamin was seen performing Caronte in L'Orfeo, Betto in Gianni
Schicchi, Papageno in Die Zauberflote, and the Sergeant of Police
in Pirates of Penzance, and was heard in concert with PLU Symphony Orchestra
in Orff's Carmina Burana and Verdi's Requiem. Other concert work includes
Handel's Messiah and Orff Carmina Burana with Rogue Valley Symphony.
Benjamin is currently a resident of Poulsbo, Washington, and is continuing his studies
with Jane Eaglen.
Paul Karaitis, tenor
Seattle tenor Paul Karaitis has international credits in opera, oratorio,
and the concert stage. He has been a part of the Seattle Choral Company’s productions
of Carmina Burana since 1989 and recorded the work with the Company in 1999.
He has appeared as a guest artist with major performing organizations throughout
the US and Canada, including Seattle Opera, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pittsburgh
Ballet, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and the International Arts Festival
in Melbourne, Australia. He is in demand for his role as the roasting swan in Carmina
Burana, as well as for other oratorio works such as Mozart’s Requiem
and Handel’s Messiah.