"Ecce gratum" (English: "Behold, the pleasant") is a

medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...

Goliard The goliards were a group of generally young clergy in Europe who wrote satirical Latin poetry in the 12th and 13th centuries of the Middle Ages. They were chiefly clerics who served at or had studied at the universities of France, Germany, ...

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

written early in the 13th century, part of the collection known as the ''

Carmina Burana ''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent ...

''. It was set to music in 1935/36 by German composer

Carl Orff Carl Orff (; 10 July 1895 – 29 March 1982) was a German composer and music educator, best known for his cantata ''Carmina Burana'' (1937). The concepts of his Schulwerk were influential for children's music education. Life Early life Car ...

as part of his ''

'' which premiered at Frankfurt Opera on 8 June 1937. Within Orff's ''Carmina Burana'', this song is the 5th movement in section 1, ''Primo vere'' (In Spring).

Lyrics

Ecce gratum et optatum Ver reducit gaudia, purpuratum floret pratum, Sol serenat omnia. Iamiam cedant tristia! Estas redit, nunc recedit Hyemis sevitia. Ah! Iam liquescit et decrescit grando, nix et cetera; bruma fugit, et iam sugit Ver Estatis ubera; illi mens est misera, qui nec vivit, nec lascivit sub Estatis dextera. Ah! Gloriantur et letantur in melle dulcedinis, nessqui conantur, ut utantur premio Cupidinis: simus jussu Cypridis gloriantes et letantes pares esse Paridis. Ah! Behold, the pleasant and longed-for spring brings back joyfulness, violet flowers fill the meadows, the sun brightens everything, sadness is now at an end! Summer returns, now withdraw the rigours of winter. Ah! Now melts and disappears ice, snow and the rest, winter flees, and now spring sucks at summer's breast: a wretched soul is he who does not live or lust under summer's rule. Ah! They glory and rejoice in honeyed sweetness who strive to make use of Cupid's prize; at Venus' command let us glory and rejoice in being Paris' equals. Ah!.

References

External links

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London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

London Symphony Chorus The London Symphony Chorus (abbreviated to LSC) is a large symphonic concert choir based in London, UK, consisting of over 150 amateur singers, and is one of the major symphony choruses of the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1966 as the ''L ...

Richard Hickox Richard Sidney Hickox (5 March 1948 – 23 November 2008) was an English conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic music. Early life Hickox was born in Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire into a musical family. After attending the Royal Gram ...

{{Portal bar, Classical music Medieval Latin poetry Compositions by Carl Orff 1937 compositions Choral compositions