# Music like Carmina Burana



## Illumine1983

Hi I have found I really like some film scores with classical choir music (I apologise if that's not the right term but I mean pieces with lots of chanting voices), and managed to track down Carmina Burana as one example. I particularly like Carmina because it sounds almost crusading or warlike, it's about as aggressive as I've heard a classical piece, and I wondered if anyone knows of similar pieces out there I could listen to?


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## Sebastien Melmoth

Orff's *Carmina Catulli* is similar but different.
http://www.amazon.com/Trionfi-Tritt...=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1281652360&sr=1-3


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## Bix

I like Carmina Burana - espescially the 'Ecce gratum'.

But there is many more like it.....

- 'Dies Irae' from The Requiem Mass in D minor (K. 626) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- 'Dies Irae' from The Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi
- 'Anvil Chorus' from Il Trovatore by Guiseppe Verdi (once it gets going)

there are others without the voices but they are in the multitude - I will think of some more but its late here and I'm not concentrating.


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## Nix

Hello, 
I used to listen to a lot of film scores, including those big epic choral types as you've mentioned. 
These aren't necessarily choral pieces, but if you like action film scores you might enjoy these: 

Beethoven- Symphony #8 4th movement 
Shostakovich- Symphony #10 2nd movement
Dvorak- New World Symphony 
Vaughan Williams- Tallis Fantasia 

to name a few.


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## Art Rock

Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky.


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## Sid James

Try out Australian composer Arthur Benjamin's _Storm Cloud Cantata_ (although this clip has made it "politicised" unfortunately). It was originally used in Hitchock's _The Man Who Knew Too Much_ (the second film version)...


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## Huilunsoittaja

Poulenc's Gloria. It's modern, but not unpleasantly, the same way Carmina Burana is.


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## StlukesguildOhio

Check out Granville Bantock's _Omar Khayyám_ 
Benjamin Britten's _War Requiem_
Rachmaninoff's _Vespers_ 
Verdi's _Requiem_
Delius' _Sea Drift_
Herbert Howells- _Missa Sabrinensis/Stabat Mater, Hymnus Paradisi_
Martinu- _Gilgamesh_
Janacek- _Glagolitic Mass_
Grechaninov- _Passion Week_
Morten Lauridsen- _Lux Aeterna_
James Whitbourn- _Luminosity (And Other Works)_

If you really want something more... "aggressive"... look to Krzysztof Penderecki's _Utrenja_, _St. Lukes Passion_, and _A Polish Requiem_.


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## Conor71

Wagner: Ride of the Valkyries
Lizst: Les Preludes


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## graaf

Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" ends with great chorus part (link below starts at 1min45sec - to get to the chorus immediately)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrIYT-MrVaI#t=1m45s


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## bassClef

Orff's operettas Der Mond and Die Kluge are very much like Carmina Burana, definitely worth checking out.


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## Norse

Illumine1983 said:


> I particularly like Carmina because it sounds almost crusading or warlike, it's about as aggressive as I've heard a classical piece, and I wondered if anyone knows of similar pieces out there I could listen to?


You might try Mars, the Bringer of War, from Gustav Holst's The Planets. It has (surprise!) that "warlike" quality, although no choir. It could be mistaken for a film score, almost like something out of Star Wars.


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## Ian Elliott

Also Orff's Il Trionfo di Afrodite and his Antigone.


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## PeterPowerPop

I agree completely with Art Rock (for _Alexander Nevsky_), Norse (for _Mars_ from _The Planets_), and Conor71 (for _Ride of the Valkyries_):

*Richard Wagner: Ride of the Valkyries*
Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra], conducted by Daniel Barenboim





*Gustav Holst: The Planets, Op. 32 - I. Mars, the Bringer of War*
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal [Montreal Symphony Orchestra], conducted by Charles Dutoit





*Sergei Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky (cantata), Op. 78*
Ewa Podles, contralto
Orquestra simfònica de Barcelona i nacional de Catalunya (OBC) [Barcelona Symphony Orchestra], conducted by Pablo González





And I'll add another one:

*Leoš Janáček: Sinfonietta*
Wiener Philharmoniker [Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra], conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras


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## techniquest

You may also like:
Shostakovich - The Execution of Stepan Razin
Prokofiev - Cantata on the 20th Anniversary of the Russian Revolution (both are big pieces for orchestra, choir, soloists)
Stravinsky - Les Noces (which sounds very much like Orff)


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## sharik

Illumine1983 said:


> Music like Carmina Burana


*Rimsky-Korsakov* The Snow Maiden, _Shrovetide_


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## Guest

techniquest said:


> You may also like:
> Shostakovich - The Execution of Stepan Razin
> Prokofiev - Cantata on the 20th Anniversary of the Russian Revolution (both are big pieces for orchestra, choir, soloists)
> Stravinsky - Les Noces (which sounds very much like Orff)


Ahem. Orff's piece sounds very much like Stravinsky's _Les Noces._

_Les Noces,_ 1923.

_Carmina Burana,_ 1936.

_Les Noces_ is indeed the primary musical inspiration for _Carmina Burana._


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## techniquest

> Ahem. Orff's piece sounds very much like Stravinsky's Les Noces.
> 
> Les Noces, 1923.
> 
> Carmina Burana, 1936.
> 
> Les Noces is indeed the primary musical inspiration for Carmina Burana.


Point taken; though if your starting point is Carmina Burana, then Les Noces sounds like it, thus rendering the year of composition moot (though personally I think that the second part of Trionfo di Aphrodite and Les Noces have more similarity than Carmina Burana).


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## Marschallin Blair

William Stromberg's score to the documentary on the Manhattan Project: _Trinity and Beyond_

(0:52+)






Basil Poledouris' score to _Conan the Barbarian._

In fact, I love this section of Poledouris' score _more than _Orff's "Fortune: Empress of the World."

(02:10+)


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## ptr

Most Hans Zimmer film score's are quite indebted to Carmina Burana!

/ptr


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## Loge

> Basil Poledouris' score to _Conan the Barbarian._
> 
> In fact, I love this section of Poledouris' score _more than _Orff's "Fortune: Empress of the World."
> 
> (02:10+)


Totally agree with Basil Poledouris' score to Conan the Barbarian. He wrote that piece because O Fortuna had already been used in Excalibur. I like to get pumped up on the Battle of the Mounds.


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## Loge

And let's not forget Jerry Goldsmiths score to the Omen.


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## PeterPowerPop

Sid James said:


> Try out Australian composer Arthur Benjamin's _Storm Cloud Cantata_ (although this clip has made it "politicised" unfortunately). It was originally used in Hitchock's _The Man Who Knew Too Much_ (the second film version)...


Try this one instead:

*Arthur Benjamin - Storm Clouds Cantata* (1934)


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## PeterPowerPop

some guy said:


> Ahem. Orff's piece sounds very much like Stravinsky's _Les Noces._
> 
> _Les Noces,_ 1923.
> 
> _Carmina Burana,_ 1936.
> 
> _Les Noces_ is indeed the primary musical inspiration for _Carmina Burana._


*Igor Stravinsky - Les Noces (The Wedding)* (1923)


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## George B

Try these ones! :
Two Steps from Hell - Heart of Courage
Liszt - Totentanz
Durufle - Requiem: Libera me
Bach - St John Passion: Herr, unser Herrscher


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## PeterPowerPop

*Modest Mussorgsky - Night On Bald Mountain* (1867)
(New York Philharmonic, conducted by Leonard Bernstein)


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## Steve Hand

Has anyone noticed the similarity between the "Oh, Oh, Oh, totus floreo" phrase in movement 22 (Tempus est iocundum) and the theme riff in "Shakedown Street" by the Grateful Dead?


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## Guest002

For something that has the choral punch and drive of Carmina Burana, I'd like to suggest Jean Sibelius' _Snöfrid_.

One of my favourite choral pieces by him, anyway. It also has that strong percussive aspect that characterises the Orff.


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## DHE

Great question. I am definitely going to be listening to some of the works listed by others before me that I haven't heard. But, I have listened to some and none of the ones I am familiar with compare favorably with Orff's Carmina Burana, in my opinion, of course, except the 4th movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. I doubt there's another in that class out there that has been recorded or it would probably be more renowned. But, learn new things all the time.


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## Rogerx

Steve Hand said:


> Has anyone noticed the similarity between the "Oh, Oh, Oh, totus floreo" phrase in movement 22 (Tempus est iocundum) and the theme riff in "Shakedown Street" by the Grateful Dead?


Not yet, will give it try though .


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## FastkeinBrahms

AbsolutelyBaching said:


> For something that has the choral punch and drive of Carmina Burana, I'd like to suggest Jean Sibelius' _Snöfrid_.
> 
> One of my favourite choral pieces by him, anyway. It also has that strong percussive aspect that characterises the Orff.


What a stunning piece! I don't care for Orff at all, but this unabashed revelling in lush orchestration and hymnic choral singing really makes great listening. Certainly looking more back at the 19th century than forward into the 20th. I read that he wrote this piece for a concert to raise money for a trip of the Helsinki orchestra to France and it surely is a crowd pleaser. No idea what the female speaker recites in Swedish but that part is mercifully short.


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## adriesba

Sebastien Melmoth said:


> Orff's *Carmina Catulli* is similar but different.
> [...]





Art Rock said:


> Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky.





techniquest said:


> [...]
> Stravinsky - Les Noces (which sounds very much like Orff)





bassClef said:


> Orff's operettas Der Mond and Die Kluge are very much like Carmina Burana, definitely worth checking out.





Ian Elliott said:


> Also Orff's Il Trionfo di Afrodite [...]


I agree with these, all exciting pieces!

If you are feeling adventurous, you could try Orff's _De temporum fine comoedia_. It's not as easily appreciated as _Carmina Burana _though it does have similar attractions. It differs in that it demonstrates Orff's fully developed style of combining music with rhythmic speach. Not a piece for everyone, but I like it.



AbsolutelyBaching said:


> For something that has the choral punch and drive of Carmina Burana, I'd like to suggest Jean Sibelius' _Snöfrid_.
> 
> One of my favourite choral pieces by him, anyway. It also has that strong percussive aspect that characterises the Orff. [...]


I've never heard this, but I'm eager to give it a listen!


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## erki

*Veljo Tormis - Raua needmine (Curse Upon Iron) (1985)*






or this version:


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## Doctor Fuse

techniquest said:


> Stravinsky - Les Noces (which sounds very much like Orff)


+1 on Les Noces. Fantastic piece, as original a creation as Le Sacre (I would have worded it "The Orff piece sounds very much like Les Noces").

From Les Noces, we get Bartok's Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, and Carmina Burana. From the Bartok Sonata, we get Ligeti, and arguably Boulez' Le Marteau Sans Maitre, and from there we get the plethora of non-concert hall music that spews out of academia. So in a way, Les Noces is more influential on how contemporary difficult music turned out, than even Le Sacre.

I hope you give it a few listens, if it isn't your immediate cup of tea. It is certainly not Hollywood music, like Carmina Burana!


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