Peter Schindler

Perpetuum mobile

The Codex Buranus, the famous collection of medieval poems and dramatic texts from Benediktbeuern Monastery, still contains many intriguing secrets today. Who wrote the texts, for which occasions, and above all, for whom? In his work Perpetuum mobile composer Peter Schindler has set 44 texts from the Codex to create a new 90-minute song cycle in 4 acts for soloists, chorus, jazz quartet and string ensemble (ad lib.).

The message
The title reflects the overall concept of the work: the Creation set in motion the formation of the world, which remains in motion for ever. All the events recur in ever-new variations.

The music
The music uses many different styles. Homophonic movements and fugues are found alongside pop and jazz-inspired pieces. Echoes of the Notre Dame style can also be heard, with influences from organum and writing in parallel fifths. The songs are for four-part mixed choir, soprano and baritone soloists, and a jazz quartet. A string ensemble can be added to this line-up.

The texts
The 315 songs and dramatic texts from the 13th century were published completely for the first time in 1847 in an edition entitled “Lieder aus Benediktbeuern” – in Latin: Carmina burana. The contents include moral-satirical songs, spring and love songs, medieval courtly songs, and sacred dramas. The Codex Buranus is recognized as an international cultural treasure. Its importance lies in the international range of the collection, which extends beyond linguistic and cultural boundaries. It continues to impress today as an invaluable testimony to medieval culture and European history, for the texts remain breathtakingly true to the present day.
Since its rediscovery the multi-faceted texts have continually been set anew: The Allgemeines Deutsches Kommersbuch of 1895 included the drinking song “Ecce gratum et optatum”. Carl Orff came across the texts in 1935 and reworked them into his choral work of the same name. Other ensembles working in the historical performance practice tradition have endeavored to make reconstructions of the original melodies from the fragmentary surviving neumatic notation. Peter Schindler’s composition is a new musical approach to the multi-layered Latin poems in a 21st century musical language.

The audio samples below are excerpts from the world premiere of the work on 14 November 2021 in the Mozartsaal of the Liederhalle in Stuttgart. The performers are Jochen Woll (conductor), Giorgia Cappello (soprano), Felix Rumpf (baritone), Peter Lehel (saxophone), Markus Faller (percussion), Dirk Blümlein (bass), the Kammerchor Baden-Württemberg and the Kurpfalzphilharmonie.