Carmina Burana

The first performance of Carl Orff's Cantata "CARMINA BURANA" took place at the Opera House in Frankfurt in June, 1937. This performance won recognition for a composer who today, ranks among the foremost of contemporary composers in Germany. Carmina Burana is named after the Bavarian Convent Benediktbeuren where the famous song manuscripts of the 13th century were found in 1803. These manuscripts are some of the most valuable examples of Mediaeval poetry in existence. Their anonymous poets can be looked for in the circles of the Vaganten or Galiarden, a chequered party of travelling scholars, students and run-away clerks, writers, singers and musicians, rejects of convents and universities.