Chorus sings riveting other ‘Carmina’
And you thought there was just one “Carmina” — Carl Orff’s popular cantata “Carmina Burana.” Think again. Orff also composed “Catulli Carmina.” The two are part of a triptych.
“The only one of these that has what you might call a reasonably standard orchestration is ‘Carmina Burana,’ the only one we have all come to know and love,” said Roger Melone, the music director of the New Mexico Symphonic Chorus.
The 82-voice chorus, plus two soloists, four pianists and 14 percussion parts, will present the rarely performed “Catulli Carmina” in concert Sunday, May 5 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.
The score calls for percussion that includes marimba, xylophone, crash cymbals, two sets of orchestra bells, bass drums, gong and three tambourines, Melone said.
He said he has two reasons for wanting to do this piece. One goes back to his youth when he got a record of “Catulli Carmina.”
“I listened to it and it’s absolutely contagious the same way that ‘Carmina Burana’ grabs you. Some things get in your blood and won’t leave,” Melone said.
“I’ve always thought that what makes ‘Carmina Burana’ so contagious is this repeating of rhythms. This does the same kind of thing. It’s very visceral, very primitive sounding. ... I think everyone will find the Orff riveting.”
The other reason has to do with the audience. “I want people to get excited to hear another Carmina,” he said.
It will be sung in medieval Latin. The third segment of Orff’s triptych is “The Triumph of Aphrodite.”
The program also will also have 25 choral members singing Johannes Brahms’s “Liebeslieder,” which are love songs. It opens the concert.
“Catulli Carmina,” Melone said, is in high contrast to the Brahms, which he described as “elegant and tuneful. ... And you go from that almost aristocratic kind of music to this kind of thing, which kind of hits you in the gut.”
The four pianists in the Orff are Daniel Cummings, Maribeth Gunning, Wojciech Milewski and Juiling Hsu. The soloists are soprano Dana Bowerstock and tenor Colin Burdge. Cummings and Gunning are also playing in the Brahms.