Geeking out on Carmina Burana and classical music.

I'm back in the process of ripping the rest of my CD collection to FLAC format, and I just finished ripping my handful of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana recordings.  Combined with the digital MP3 recordings that I had bought when I was a member of eMusic, I've got 6 variations of O Fortuna:

• Andre Previn / London Symphony Orchestra
• Herbert Blomstedt / San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
• Leonard Slatkin / St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
• Johannes Davis / Lubeck Festival Choir and Orchestra (digital download)
• Rafael Fruhbeck De Burgos / New Philharmonia Orchestra
• Peabody Conservatory Wind Ensemble (digital download)

Why all the variations?  Because for a time (well over a decade ago), I had been searching for a recording that captured the concert bass drum correctly in the last 5 lines of chorus of O Fortuna:

"sine mora
corde pulsum tangite;
quod per sortem
sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite!"

 Most of the recordings out there either place too much influence on the timpani's sound, therefore drowning out the concert bass drum, or perhaps the conductor chose to minimize or eliminate the concert bass drum's roll.  When you hear it in a performance, it stands out because it feels like an explosion that shocks you.

The one recording I have that clearly articulates the concert bass drum, is the New Philharmonia Orchestra under Rafael Fruhbeck De Burgos.  It's not perfect, but it's probably my favorite of all the recordings I have.

And while I'm on the topic of O Fortuna, no, it is not a spooky song, though it has been popularized by Hollywood as such.  If you read the lyrics (translated), it is an enormous lamentation that, despite what one does, Fate intervenes and controls.    If you want spooky -- I mean really freaky -- music, listen to Kronos Quartet's Black Angels album, with emphasis on George Crumb's Black Angels.  No surprise, but some of the most disturbing music is either atonal or polytonal.  On the other hand, Lincolnshire Posy weaves through a lot of polytonal sections, and yet is quite spectacular in imagery.

So yeah..geeked out.