Ego sum abbas Cucaniensis,
[...]
et qui mane me quesierit in taberna
post vesperam nu dus egredietur,
et sic denudatus veste clamabit:
Wafna! Wafna!

--

I am the abbot of Cockaigne
[...]
and whoever searches me out at the tavern in the morning
after Vespers he will leave naked,
and thus stripped of his clothes he will call out:
Woe! Woe!

The abbot of Cockaigne in Carl Orff's masterpiece has definitely had one too many. However, he is not the only one in the Carmina Burana: numerous texts celebrating alcohol and other pleasures stir the imagination.

Some gamble, some drink,
some behave loosely.
But of those who gamble,
some are stripped bare.

Carmina Burana is Latin for 'songs from Benediktbeuern,' referring to the Bavarian abbey where the texts were found. The original collection consists of hundreds of poems and songs in Latin, Middle High German, and old Arpitan. They celebrate life and death, fate and love, as well as the pleasures of lust and drunkenness. Beer flows abundantly!

Speaking of beer culture, we Belgians know it all too well. Also our capital shines with numerous young and vibrant breweries that breathe new life into our beer heritage. Immerse yourself in the Carmina Burana atmosphere, and combine your concert experience with a visit to a Brussels brewery: check out the list of breweries in Brussels.