Carl Orff, taking himself very seriously.
I’m finishing the year with my nomination for the most entertaining classical music video that came my way in 2012. To be honest, I don’t how I first saw it. Did someone send me a link? Or post it on Facebook? Or did I find it on one of my random surfing expeditions? I can’t quite recall.
In any event, my nomination is a delightful mis-rendering of the text of “O Fortuna” from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. (It’s by someone called “Famished Mammal” – a name that I strongly suspect is fictitious.) As it turns out, there are quite a few of these “O Fortuna” videos on YouTube: it’s a thriving little sub-genre. But as good luck would have it, I first came upon the one I think is the best. I’ve posted it below.
In any event, my nomination is a delightful mis-rendering of the text of “O Fortuna” from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. (It’s by someone called “Famished Mammal” – a name that I strongly suspect is fictitious.) As it turns out, there are quite a few of these “O Fortuna” videos on YouTube: it’s a thriving little sub-genre. But as good luck would have it, I first came upon the one I think is the best. I’ve posted it below.
So what’s so hilariously clever about this video clip? Sure, it’s bizarre and goofy from end to end. But there’s more to it than that.
It’s irreverent, in the best sense of the word. It pokes fun at the urgent tone and grandiose seriousness of the piece. And it also exposes the piece as “sentimental.” That might seem like a strange word to describe Carmina Burana – but Mr./Ms. Mammal shows us that it fits James Joyce’s definition of the word: full of “unearned emotion.” Orff thrusts us directly into a high drama without any kind of musical explanation or argument as to why we are there. He has written music that self-consciously strives to be “important” simply by insisting on its own importance.
Furthermore, this video also skewers the audience – reminding us that however often we’ve heard this piece, we probably don’t really know what the Latin lyrics actually mean. For most listeners, the words could mean anything.
All of this is fertile ground for Famished Mammal, and the others who have had a little fun at the expense of Carmina Burana. By reducing the piece to utter nonsense, FM delivers a sucker-punch of music criticism: striking at something that looks imposing and powerful, but which is really quite vulnerable.
By the way, I still like Carmina Burana (in moderation). But thanks to FM, I’ll never listen to it again without a smile.
© Colin Eatock 2012
It’s irreverent, in the best sense of the word. It pokes fun at the urgent tone and grandiose seriousness of the piece. And it also exposes the piece as “sentimental.” That might seem like a strange word to describe Carmina Burana – but Mr./Ms. Mammal shows us that it fits James Joyce’s definition of the word: full of “unearned emotion.” Orff thrusts us directly into a high drama without any kind of musical explanation or argument as to why we are there. He has written music that self-consciously strives to be “important” simply by insisting on its own importance.
Furthermore, this video also skewers the audience – reminding us that however often we’ve heard this piece, we probably don’t really know what the Latin lyrics actually mean. For most listeners, the words could mean anything.
All of this is fertile ground for Famished Mammal, and the others who have had a little fun at the expense of Carmina Burana. By reducing the piece to utter nonsense, FM delivers a sucker-punch of music criticism: striking at something that looks imposing and powerful, but which is really quite vulnerable.
By the way, I still like Carmina Burana (in moderation). But thanks to FM, I’ll never listen to it again without a smile.
© Colin Eatock 2012
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