Orbe Rotundo – The Sisterwork of Carmina Burana

Orbe Rotundo – From Life, Magic and Death - for vocal solos, choir and orchestra is a scenic picture book on the liturgical year based on Latin and medieval texts. The 50-minute work has the same instrumentation as Orff's "Carmina Burana" and is conceived as its sister work and modern update. We spoke with the composer Enjott Schneider about his work.

Enjott Schneider studied in Freiburg, where he also obtained his doctorate. He was professor of music theory and composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich. As a composer, he wrote nine operas, including the much-acclaimed opera "Marco Polo" for Guangzhou and Beijing sung in Mandarin, numerous orchestral and chamber music works, sacred music including oratorios, and organ concertos and organ symphonies. For his music for more than 600 films (such as "Schlafes Bruder", "Herbstmilch", "Stalingrad", "Wunder von Leipzig", and "Stauffenberg") he received an Emmy, the Bavarian Film Award, the Film Ribbon in Gold at the German Film Awards, and the German Television Award, among others. Schneider was a member of the supervisory board of GEMA and president of the German Composers' Association.

More information: www.enjott.com

The Interview

The large-scale oratorio "Orbe Rotundo" is considered a sister work to Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana". How did it come about?

The initiative initially came from the "Schott boss" Dr Peter Hanser-Strecker, who made the idea palatable to me. As if by magic, Hayko Siemens soon asked me to write such a "sister work". Thanks to my preliminary textual work, things progressed quite quickly!

What is the work about?

The "Carmina Burana" collection is brimful of joie de vivre, with topics such as love, wine, dancing, food. On the one hand, I have arranged them in accord with the liturgical year, and on the other hand, I have also made the content more intense by including medieval poetry (such as Wolkenstein/Reuenthal), Bible texts and old magic spells. The result is, so to speak, a medieval "picture book" that even has what it takes to be put on stage - as a buoyant ballet opera.

The premiere of "Orbe Rotundo" took place in 2010 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Münchner Motettenchor. Do you have a special connection to this amateur choir?

Until then, the only thing I knew about this choir was that they went on a lot of top-level concert tours and always ventured on performing exciting choral literature. I have since tailor-made plenty for the choir; I am currently preparing a major composition, "The Creation", as a cosmological creation story for 2025: It's about an archaic exploration of the four elements, which are then elevated by the central element of "love" as the most important one. Really exciting at the moment, this search phase.

Your work encompasses the most diverse musical genres, such as film music, opera, chamber music, sacred music. Is there a genre that is near and dear to your heart?

That’s hard to say! I love large-scale choral symphonic and storytelling compositions very much (like symphonies and oratorios), but I have also hold dear chamber music and solo works. I am a "Gemini", and they don't like to commit themselves, they want to be able to do everything at the same time, they cannot get enough of contradictions!

You compose operas but also film music. How does the approach in composing them differ?

Both genres are narrative and thrive on the pictorial style. For my opera style (for which I also like to use sound design feeds, as in the cinema), I have adopted the concept of "opera as a film story beyond cinema and screen".

You were professor of music theory and composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich. What did you pass on to the budding composers?

Traditional musicianship following the expression-oriented lines of Monteverdi, Bach, Beethoven to Wagner, Strauss, Mahler forms the basis of musico-dramatic thinking. This included the teaching of New Music in particular, whose "lighthouse works" were always on my curriculum. As a composer, you need to have a knowledge of music literature and endless inspiration – by attending concerts, studying scores, CDs, DVDs, and YouTube ... And then you have to select from this infinite abundance the textures and techniques that suit your own temperament.

More Information

Orbe Rotundo - From Life, Magic and Death Enjott Schneider Expressly conceived as a “companion piece” to Carl Orff’s enduringly popular Carmina Burana, Enjott Schneider’s “Orbe Rotundo” received “exceptionally enthusiastic applause for a contemporary work” (Neue Musikzeitung) at its premiere. The composer describes the work (“a collection of pictures on Latin and medieval texts”) as a continuation and expansion of themes dealt with in Carmina Burana. Schneider also utilizes the exact vocal and instrumental forces of Orff’s composition, all of which were in top form for this live recording of the premiere performance. The Munich Motet Choir is the musical protagonist of the piece. Under the direction of Hayko Siemens, to whom the work is dedicated, the choir is by turns explosively dynamic, rhythmically supple, and expressively tender, while always maintaining an impressive and beautiful sonority. The work was clearly a labor of love for Schneider, an experienced composer of thrilling film music. How could it not be, since the sometimes earthy and extreme texts deal with the full range of human behavior? One critic even speculated about a cinematic realization of the music. Whatever the format, the work seems destined to achieve the success it so richly deserves, providing those who love Carmina Burana with a worthy successor and sequel: “Orbe Rotundo”. Live recording of the world premiere on 5 December 2010 by Bayerischer Rundfunk, Munich | Licensed by BRmedia Service GmbH view article

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