New Carmina, No. 1
Manus ferens munera is No. 1 from the cycle New Carmina - a project initiated by the Vocalforum Graz and their director Franz M. Herzog. Twelve internationally renowned European composers accepted the invitation and have each composed a setting of one of the chosen texts of the Carmina Burana. In this way, there arose a complex, well-knit, full-length choral work – an impressive symbiosis between the witty text inserts, the medieval texts and the completely innovative, original ways in which the choral music, with its diversity of contemporary musical languages, treated these.
In the text chosen by Vytautas Miškinis, the social reality is mercilessly exposed. It's all about money and status, both of which determine personal happiness in life.
