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Columbus Indiana Philharmonia Bring Words Of "Rogue Monks" To Life

The Columbus Indiana Philharmonic's Artistic Director and Conductor David Bowden sums up Carl Orff's Carmina Burana with one word: "massive."

Highlights From The Interview



"It's huge!" Bowden exclaims. "The orchestra is very large, with lots of brass, extra percussion and two pianos. The adult chorus is large, and even the children's chorus has to be big to balance the demands of the score. Those demands extend to the soprano, tenor and baritone soloists as well."

Bowden goes on: "I'm very excited about our soloists for this performance. They combine great artistry with power and an ability to communicate the sense of the text even though the words are mostly in medieval Latin."

About The Music



"Those texts for Carmina Burana were written by what I call ‘rogue monks' and students. These were people who were rather critical of their lot in life and not very happy about it. About fifty minutes before the concerts, at 6:40 we usually have a session to talk about the upcoming concert and for this one I'll be focusing on the texts. I think that underlying the whole piece is a sense from Orff of what he thought was crucial and what he thought was trivial."

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