Trionfi

SYNOPSIS

Das Triptychon verbindet die drei folgenden Werke in der angegebenen Reihenfolge / The triptych links the three following works in the following sequence:
I. Carmina Burana · Cantiones profanae
II. Catulli Carmina · Ludi scaenici
III. Trionfo di Afrodite · Concerto scenico

Alle Teile sind auch einzeln aufführbar. Handlung und Besetzung der Stücke siehe unter den einzelnen Werken / All sections can be performed separately. For plots and cast of these pieces, please refer below to the individual works.

COMMENTARY

The title of the triptych refers to the so-called “trionfi”, the magnificent masque processions held in the Italian republics and principalities of the Renaissance: traditionally, these processions displayed heroes and gods of the ancient world with their retinue. In Orff‘s Trionfi however, it is not a mythical figure which is at the centre of the plot, but instead the universal driving force of love itself in its many facets. This driving force is examined as it were in retrograde form back to the beginnings of Western history, beginning in medieval times, progressing via Roman antiquity and subsequently going right back to the Ancient Greek period. The tripartite structure of the entire sequence of works in Trionfi corresponds not only to the three types of poetry utilised (Ancient Greek nuptial poetry, Latin love poems and Medieval Latin / Middle high German love and troubadour poetry) but also to the three different historical periods (Greek and Roman antiquity and the Middle Ages). The number three also characterises the individual works: Carmina Burana is divided into prelude, principle section and postlude and the principle section is subdivided into the three parts Uf dem anger, In taberna and Cour d’amour; Catulli Carmina is again made up of the three sections prelude, principle section and postlude and Trionfo di Afrodite also displays a tripartite structure with the expectation of the bridal couple, nuptial traditions and arrival of the goddess of love. This last-mentioned section is also considered as the central allegory of the entire cycle as the apotheistic closing song of the triptych.