Carmina Burana and From the Bavarian Highlands | Hertfordshire Chorus

Carmina Burana is probably the most frequently performed choral work of the 21st century. In this ‘scenic cantata’ Carl Orff sets to music a selection of 24 songs from a collection of early 13th-century songs and poems from Seckau Abbey, Austria, discovered in the Bavarian monastery of Benediktbeuren in 1803. The songs were written in a mix of Latin, German and medieval French and celebrate with earthy humour the joys of the tavern, nature, love and lust.
We will be performing Carl Orff’s 1956 arrangement of this piece for two pianos and percussion.
From the Bavarian Highlands is a set of six choral songs Elgar wrote as a remembrance of holidays the Elgars had enjoyed in Upper Bavaria in the 1890s. On returning from their 1894 holiday, Elgar began work setting to music six poems his wife Alice had written in the style of Bavarian folksongs. Alice gave the songs sub-titles in recollection of favourite places visited during the holiday.