Speaking of Latin experts

I need a bit of Latin translation help. I'll give you what I have so far:

Code:


Eram nive candidior,       I was whiter than the snow,
quavis ave formosior.
Modo sum corvo nigrior.    Now I am blacker than a crow.

Can anyone give me a decent translation of the middle line? It doesn't have to be a poetic translation. In fact I would prefer a literal translation. It's that pesky word quavis that's bugging me.

More beautiful than any bird.

Quavis is the ablative singular of the feminine form of quivis, quaevis, quidvis, 'anyone, any you please, anybody at all'.

Ha! I thought it was something like that. Gratias tibi, Navuncule.

The word that's giving you trouble is missing a letter. Quamvis (with the "m") means something like "ever so much" with a comparative. Ave quamvis formosior means "ever so much more beautiful (in form) than a bird." Where does the quote come from?

George Morris

I yield to the superior grammatical skills and vocabulary of "Old Hand." His translation makes more sense than my "typo" explanation.

George Morris

Welcome aBoard, George! The line is from the countertenor solo in Carmina Burana.

Quote:

from the countertenor solo in Carmina Burana.

Well, actually it's from one of the two verses that Orff left out. The other one is:

Code:


Mallem in aquis vivere     I would rather be living
semper nudo sub aere,      always under the blue sky,
quam in hoc mergi pipere   rather than swimming in this pepper sauce.

them's be nice verses, too. wonder why he left them out?

I think someone has confused:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmina_Burana_%28Orff%29
with its original source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmina_burana

Carl only borrowed 24 of over 1000 poems for his lyrics so he left out more than 2 verses. (^_^)

> left out more than 2 verses

> from the countertenor solo

Quote:

> left out more than 2 verses

> from the countertenor solo

which both etaoin and Faldage have sung in performance [proud]

When I find search for ("carmina burana" lyrics), I find many sites such as this http://www.classical.net/~music/comp.lst/works/orff-cb/carmlyr.html which lists lyrics for 25 songs/movements/whatever.

This lyric doesn't appear in any of them, and Googling the lyric itself leads mostly to an album by someone named Dave Soldier. I was able to determine that the lyrics may be in the poem numbered 76 out of the collection of over 1000 poems, but it seems to be not one of the 24 used by Orff unless classical.net is sadly incomplete.

If these words are used in Orff's version, where are they/where should they be? If I listened to it (on Napster), would I hear this part? Perhaps the countertenor is often left out? ("vive il cotello" and all that).

"Olim lacus colueram" is #12. somewhere I have a file uploaded of me singing it...

here it is:
dente

Quote:

If these words are used in Orff's version, where are they/where should they be? If I listened to it (on Napster), would I hear this part? Perhaps the countertenor is often left out? ("vive il cotello" and all that).

That's it. They're not used in Orff's version. He took verses 1, 3, and 5 of the original 5 verse poem in the collection of a hundred some odd wild and wooly love, drinking and generally rowdy songs and poems collected by medieval monks of the Benediktbeuren Monastery.

Anna's first comment implies the lyric is from the solo. She should have said it's from the same poem that the lyrics for the solo were taken. The later comments compounded my misunderstanding that meaning that you both had sung those words.

Etaoin, I enjoyed listening to your solo. Compares quite well with the verson I listened to on Napster (It's this one... http://www.amazon.com/Orff-Carmina-Burana-Jonathan-Summers/dp/B00001ZSXC) (the Latin is rather differently pronounced though).

Mea culpa. I was confused. Sorry to throw you off course, Myridon.

Quote:

"Olim lacus colueram" is #12. somewhere I have a file uploaded of me singing it...

here it is:
dente

Not bad, etaoin, in fact the singing was good...very good...maybe too good.
Are you sure that you weren't put on stage just for your good looks and lip-synched?

why thank you, Milo! two compliments in one post!