The others I mentioned are definitely easier, and like I said, they're still lots of fun, too! I think I might have made a bit of a blunder including the "Fortune plango vulnera" among those relatively easy sections of the work, because the second half of it is pretty demanding, both because of those big jumps involving chords and octaves, as well as the tempo, but it's true I found the first half easy enough, on the other hand (pun most definitely intended!).
When I first found out about it, I was only looking for a piano solo arrangement of the "O fortuna", not because it was the only section I cared about, since as you know, that entire work is a gold mine, but because I just didn't think it possible that anyone had actually taken the time to arrange the whole thing for piano, solo or otherwise. You can believe me when I tell you you won't regret spending those bucks on this arrangement, it's definitely worth it.
#DULCISSIME CARMINA BURANA SHEET MUSIC FULL#
But to be fair, that's a complaint I could make of dozens more pieces it's truly sad and disappointing, albeit understandable, that no piano firm, at least to my knowledge, has ever made pianos with keyboards especially designed to let people with small hands play 9ths and 10ths at least.īack to the Chumachenco arrangement, I love it because it's truly faithful to the original work and, in my most humble opinion, does full justice to it! Like Wagner is supposed to have said of Liszt's piano solo arrangement of his "Tannhäuser" Overture, it's "like a wonderful dream come true".Īnd while most of it (including the "O Fortuna", of course) is very difficult to play unless you possess a formidable technique, there's still a few sections that are relatively easy and lots of fun, too, like "Fortune plango vulnera", "Omnia sol temperat", "Chramer, gip die varwe mir", "Chume, chum, geselle min", "Amor volat undique" and "In trutina mentis dubia", one of my favorites. I hate it because it often does require some pretty large hand spans. But, as it always does, the piece brought the house down.Man, I both hate and love that arrangement!! Kudos to tenor John Tessier, who sang his high notes in the “Roasting Swan,” and to soprano Robin Johannsen, who nailed “Dulcissime,” even if her pitch jumped around in “Amor volat.”Īlsop continues to pace the iconic “O Fortuna” incorrectly, setting a tempo that leaves no room for Orff’s thrilling kick-start on the final “plangite.” Elsewhere, she seemed in too big a hurry between verses, causing unnecessary ensemble lapses as people scrambled to breathe. Solo baritone Brian Mulligan began superbly, with sophisticated coloring in “Omnia sol temperat.” But in the louder numbers, the stress showed, as he held the score in front of his face like a shield. For their part, the men were defeated by the rapid-fire Latin in “In taberna,” which almost fell apart. In the big washes of sound, such as “Ave formosissima” near the end, the youthful, lusty power was thrilling. The group sang with fairly good intonation, but the blend, particularly among the women, was problematic there were too many operatic voices sticking out. But “Carmina” is, in large measure, a showcase for the chorus, and the Morgan State University Choir could not fully carry its load.
Any decent traffic cop can hold things together on the podium few pieces are played as frequently, and orchestras know it backward. Orff’s visceral, pounding, secular cantata does “play itself,” as the saying goes, but it does not, unfortunately, sing itself. The full orchestra and Music Director Marin Alsop then rounded out the half with the Revueltas, a driving, Stravinsky-esque work in 7 / 8 time that was under-rehearsed. The two pieces were exercises in rhythmic layering over a steady pulse, played on exotic instruments, but the audience was transfixed. Thus the Rouse curtain raisers - the Hawaiian-inspired “Ku-Ka-Ilimoku” and the Haitian-inspired “Ogoun Badagris” - were an opportunity that the six musicians (only three are listed on the BSO’s official roster) devoured with relish, if not the last ounce of flamboyance. It is easy for symphonic percussionists to feel underappreciated the level of virtuosity and versatility they must demonstrate to win an orchestra position is far above what is required of them in 97 percent of the repertoire they end up playing. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra closed its season Wednesday at Strathmore with a somewhat shaky reading of Orff’s indestructible ear candy, “Carmina Burana,” preceded by two works for percussion ensemble by Christopher Rouse and “Sensemaya” by Silvestre Revueltas.