For the Rhydian Roberts album, see O Fortuna (album).
"O Fortuna" in the Carmina Burana manuscript (Bavarian State Library; the poem occupies the last six lines on the page, along with the overrun at bottom right.
"O Fortuna" is a medieval Latin Goliardic poem which is part of the collection known as the Carmina Burana, written in the early 13th century. It is a complaint about Fortuna, the inexorable fate that rules both gods and mortals in Roman and Greek mythology.
In 1935–36, "O Fortuna" was set to music by German composer Carl Orff as a part of "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi", the opening and closing movement of his cantata Carmina Burana. It was first staged by the Frankfurt Opera on 8 June 1937. It opens at a slow pace with thumping drums and choir that drops quickly into a whisper, building slowly in a steady crescendo of drums and short string and horn notes peaking on one last long powerful note and ending abruptly. The tone is modal, until the last nine bars. A performance takes a little over two and a half minutes.
Orff's setting of the poem has influenced and been used in many other works and has been performed by numerous classical music ensembles and popular artists. It can be heard in numerous films and television commercials, and has become a staple in western popular culture, setting the mood for dramatic or cataclysmic situations. "O Fortuna" topped The People's Classical Chart in 2009 as the most-played classical music of the previous 75 years in the United Kingdom.[1]
^"Most played classical music of the past 75 years". BBC News. 28 December 2009.
"OFortuna" is a medieval Latin Goliardic poem which is part of the collection known as the Carmina Burana, written in the early 13th century. It is a...
of the classical music repertoire. The opening and closing movement "OFortuna" has been used in numerous films, becoming one of the most recognizable...
Fortuna (Latin: Fortūna, equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Roman religion who, largely...
Morbid Visions featured the first movement of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana ("OFortuna") as an unnamed introduction. This composition was left off the CD re-release...
Op. 9 Johann Pachelbel – Canon in D Major Carl Orff – Carmina Burana: Ofortuna Johann Sebastian Bach – Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068: Air...
are titled "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi", i.e., "Fortune, Ruler of the World"). The chorus that opens and concludes Carmina Burana, "OFortuna", is often...
Yourself" (video introduction) (contains elements of "Carmina Burana: I. OFortuna" and "Great Gates Of Kiev") "Jam" "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" "Human...
Red Army Choir MVD Ensemble and Vincent Niclo carry on with the album OFortuna produced by Thierry Wolf which proposed Universal Manager to release it...
(except "OFortuna") Hansi Kürsch – lead vocals on "Flesh of the Gods" Jan Kazda – acoustic guitar Waldemar Sorychta – acoustic guitar on "OFortuna" Alexander...
Nacho Libre, Iris, Dark Shadows, The Girl on the Train). Evoking the "OFortuna" from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, he set made-up, Latin-sounding text...
Valkyries" "The Twelve Days of Christmas" "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" "OFortuna" "Christmas Wrapping" "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" "Don't...
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