Fantasia for Piano, Chorus, and Orchestra ("Choral Fantasy"), Op. 80
Ludwig von Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

The termination of Beethoven’s intensive operatic labors that had so far produced mixed results gave rise to a flood of instrumental works. The period from 1806 through December 1808 became one of the most prolific compositional phases of his life. Along with other works, the Piano concerto in G, the three string quartets, completion of the “Appassionata” sonata, two overtures, the Mass in C, and three symphonies were all completed during this period. To culminate this stage he tossed off, almost on a whimsy, the Choral Fantasy. Many of these works were preformed in a massive concert on December 22, 1808 as a means to earn income. The traditional manner of utilizing the largesse of a princely patron was just about exhausted during Beethoven‘s life. At that performance he premiered the symphony No. 5 in C minor, the symphony No. 6 in F, excerpts from the C-major mass, the piano concerto in G, some improvisations, and, for good measure, he threw in the “Choral Fantasy”.

You could almost imagine the patrons’ chagrin when after four hours of music he began the Choral Fantasy. He improvised the introduction, as he did not have time to write it down until much later, owing to the length of rehearsal time for the other selections. It fell apart during the performance due to that lack of rehearsal time and he had to start over. In addition the theater was dreadfully cold. With the expense of rehearsing so much music he had no money left to heat the hall. It is not known if Beethoven made any profit on the entire venture.

Stylistically there is nothing advanced for that time. It tends to have a atmosphere of being a magnificent grandiose piece of a closing musical era as opposed to a triumphant summons for the new Romantic era he was instrumental in creating. The key tune, from his lieder "Gegenliebe", was written thirteen years earlier. He commissioned the poet Christoph Kuffner to fit new words to it. The alterations of orchestra and chorale gave the impression the Beethoven was evolving towards issues that would culminate in the last symphony. This is apparent in the initial instrumental introduction in which the piano’s flourishing dialogue with the orchestra is cut short by the orchestra so the poems’ melody can be exposed. This will be echoed in the Ninth Symphony when the orchestra stops all playfulness at the beginning of the last movement so the Basses can introduce the final choral melody. The choral transition just before the Turkish March in the Ninth has a corollary in the Choral Fantasy’s final presto when the choir rowdily exclaims "Wenn sich lieb’ und Kraft vermählen" ("When love and power unite"). Even the poetry, an exuberant praise of music, has a similar ring to it in the ‘Ode to Joy’.

The music was originally composed to end a concert, and does seem to capture a sense of culmination and celebration. Today, it makes an excellent choice to close, or in this case open, a program of a particularly festive nature.

"Carmina Burana" (Scenic Cantata)
Carl Orff (1895-1982)

Carl Orff could be considered the most modern sounding of primitive composers. His music exhibits a starkly contemporary sound but uses open harmonies and ancient Gregorian tonalities harkening back to the earliest fruition of Western music. To the world he is known as the composer of Carmina Burana but he would probably rather be known as the father of contemporary music education. It was his collaboration with Dorothy Gunther that created the Orff Schulwerk method of music. They replaced rote learning with simple instruments that anyone could easily learn creating sounds of joy sounding not unlike Carmina. It was this contribution to the furtherance of music that gave Mr. Orff his greatest joy.

Carmina was initially flailed by Nazi Germany on its premier in Frankfurt in 1937. After realizing that the rest of the world loved it they changed their mind and announced it as the penultimate expression of the Third Reich’s’ creativity. It has never been determined if Carl Orff was a Nazi collaborator. It certainly can be supposed he could not have worked or even lived in Nazi Germany if he did not have some sympathy for the Third Reich. After the war was over he claimed he was part of a resistance movement called the “White Rose”. He never wrote any paper praising the regime: all he did during those years was to compose music the way he wanted, never devolving into any of the bombastic late romantic German sounds so much loved by powers in control.

Carmina is the first section of a quasi mythological trilogy. The music is driven by rhythm. Repetition takes the place of development and modulation is the chief form of variation. Open declamatory harmonies with very few accidentals over uncomplicated melodies help in creating a sound unheard of in western music for over a thousand years. The sound is not simple but just does not reflect the millennium of western musical development that relies on harmony to give it meaning. The core of Carmina addresses the elemental feeling of the force of rhythm leaving harmony to punctuate what has been driven into your soul.

The text comes from a manuscript of 200 Medieval poems and songs from the thirteenth century. The poets called themselves goliards and troubadours, which sounds quaint, but in actuality they were just defrocked priests. In contemporary society you could think of them simply as college dropouts. It is written in Medieval Latin and high Middle German. Although the music drives with a pulsing rhythm, with points of plain barbaric power, and might seem to have allusions to a Wagnerian opera, the manuscript itself might almost be an ancient allegory of contemporary life. You can almost see the echoes of Rock and Roll in many of the texts. His music is tuneful, powerful, driving, unrelenting, primitive, and compelling to everyone from the most cultured music historian to the beer drinking Hells Angel, which he relates to in ‘The Tavern‘. From its initial barbaric shout to the most enchanting soprano solo in modern music, it will not let you go. The success of this work certainly was the reason he said at the age of 42, after composing for close to 20 years, “With Carmina Burana, my collected works begin.”

Bruce Katz 05/20/2005