Carl Orff: Circa Mea Pectora
Circa Mea Pectora (“In My Heart”) is a dramatic love song in Latin and Middle High German, and the singing is put in the mouth of a man whose intentions are made to seem clearly not honorable. It is relatable to the drama of an unworthy candidate’s ambitious and selfish intentions in their aspirations to unveil the mysteries of spiritual nature.
Circa mea pectora
multa sunt suspiria
de tua pulchritudine,
quae me laedunt misere.
Manda liet, manda liet,
min geselle
chumet niet.
Tui lucent oculi
sicut solis radii,
sicut splendor fulguris
lucem donat tenebris.
Manda liet, manda liet,
min geselle
chumet niet.
Vellet Deus,
vellent dii,
quod mente proposui,
ut eius virginea
reserassem vincula.
Manda liet,
manda liet,
min geselle
chumet niet.
In my heart
there are many sighs
for your beauty,
which wound me sorely.
Ah!
Mandaliet (Send a message),
mandaliet (Send a message),
my beloved
does not come.
Your eyes shine
like the rays of the sun,
like the flashing of lightening
which brightens the darkness.
Ah!
Mandaliet (Send a message),
mandaliet (Send a message),
my beloved
does not come.
May God grant, may the gods grant
what I have in mind:
that I may loose
the chains of her virginity.
Ah!
Mandaliet (Send a message),
mandaliet (Send a message)
my beloved
does not come.
The American Minervan 