Lyrics and their origin
The poems include the freshness of medieval love lyrics, exuberance of
the drinking song, the zest of the sinner's 'confessions', the wild
humour of the hymns to gambling and gluttony, the stoic litany to Lady
Luck ('Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi') which Orff chose to open and close
his score. Sex is also a dominant theme in many of the songs. The
Richard Hickox production has further details in the
cover notes.
Who were these richly gifted poets? They called themselves 'goliards'
(defrocked monks and minstrels). Traditionally they have been
identified as 'vagantes' (vagrant students, vagabond monks and minor
clerics), said to have been 'better known for their rioting, gambling
and intemperance than for their scholarship'. Yet whatever their
social status, their artistic and technical skill seem to place them
among the clerical and academic elite of the age.
Last updated: 23rd June 1995
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