As the first of a trilogy of cantatas, Orff’s irreverent Carmina Burana draws from a 13th century compilation of vagabond songs and poems detailing fate’s fickleness, pagan delights, and corruption, with hypnotic sensuality and powerful rhythms. Hindemith’s reworked Symphonic Dances emerged from a discarded ballet collaboration.

As the first of a trilogy of cantatas, Orff’s irreverent Carmina Burana draws from a 13th century compilation of vagabond songs and poems detailing fate’s fickleness, pagan delights, and corruption, with hypnotic sensuality and powerful rhythms. Hindemith’s reworked Symphonic Dances emerged from a discarded ballet collaboration.