- published: 17 Apr 2013
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"O Fortuna" is a medieval Latin Goliardic poem written early in the 13th century, part of the collection known as the Carmina Burana. It is a complaint about Fortuna, the inexorable fate that rules both gods and men 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 9 bars. A performance takes a little over two and a half minutes.
Orff's setting of the poem has become immensely popular and has been performed by countless classical music ensembles and popular artists. It can be heard in numerous movies and television commercials and has become a staple in popular culture, setting the mood for dramatic or cataclysmic situations. "O Fortuna" topped a list of the most-played classical music of the past 75 years in the United Kingdom.
Carl Heinrich Maria Orff (German: [ˈkaɐ̯l ˈɔɐ̯f]; (1895-07-10)July 10, 1895 – March 29, 1982(1982-03-29)) was a German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana (1937). In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential approach toward music education for children.
Carl Orff was born in Munich on July 10, 1895. His family was Bavarian and was active in the Army of the German Empire. His paternal grandfather was a Jew who converted to Catholicism.
Orff started studying the piano at the age of five, and he also took organ and cello lessons. He soon found that he was more interested in composing original music than in studying to be a performer. Orff wrote and staged puppet shows for his family, composing music for piano, violin, zither, and glockenspiel to accompany them. He had a short story published in a children's magazine in 1905 and started to write a book about nature. In his spare time, he enjoyed collecting insects.
By the time he was a teenager, having studied neither harmony nor composition, Orff was writing songs; his mother helped him set down his first works in musical notation. Orff wrote his own texts and, without a teacher, learned the art of composing by studying classical masterworks on his own.
Carl Orff - O Fortuna ~ Carmina Burana Irudiak: Joseph Mallord William Turner
André Rieu performing 'O Fortuna' live in Maastricht 2012. Taken from the DVD "HAPPY BIRTHDAY! A celebration of 25 years of the Johann Strauss Orchestra". Available at: http://www.andrerieu.com/en/webshop/dvds For tour dates visit: http://www.andrerieu.com/en/calendar/all-events
André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra performing O Fortuna from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. For tour dates visit: http://www.andrerieu.com Recorded live in the Amsterdam ArenA where André Rieu builed the biggest stage ever: a replica of the Viennese palace 'Schönbrunn'. Clip from the DVD Andre Rieu - Gala - Live In De Arena. http://www.facebook.com/andrerieu http://www.twitter.com/andrerieu https://plus.google.com/+andrerieu Lyrics: O Fortuna velut luna statu variabilis, semper crescis aut decrescis; vita detestabilis nunc obdurat et tunc curat ludo mentis aciem, egestatem, potestatem dissolvit ut glaciem. Sors immanis et inanis, rota tu volubilis, status malus, vana salus semper dissolubilis, obumbrata et velata michi quoque niteris; nunc per ludum dorsum nudum fero tui sceler...
banned 1991 O Fortuna Techno VERSION https://youtu.be/xdXnZJ6JQOs?t=50s The cacophonic masterpiece that is O Fortuna was written by German composer Carl Orff in 1935 and is the opening and closing movements to Orf's Carmina Burana. It premiered at Frankfurt in Nazi Germany in 1937. Originally designed by Orff as a concert with dancers and staging Carmina Burana later morphed into the concert hall cantata we know today. Carl Orff permitted commercial use of the piece where it reached mainstream audiences on TV and Cinema throughout the 60's & 70's in particular the UK 'Old Spice' ocean surfer adverts. This fantastic American orchestra & choir's rendition of O Fortuna seems to have blasted all other contenders out of the water. Bravo! Carl Orff died in 1982 aged 87 and is buried in Ande...
The opening movement of Carl Orff's masterpiece "Carmina Burana". Carl Orff (1895-1982) The London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Richard Hickox
Director: Jean-Pierre Ponnelle Stars: Lucia Popp, John van Kesteren and Hermann Prey Carmina Burana - Carl Orff http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298787/ O Fortuna O how Fortune, inopportune, apes the moon's inconstancy: waxing, waning, losing, gaining, life treats us detestably: first oppressing then caressing shifts us like pawns in her play: destitution, restitution, mixes and melts them away. Fate, as vicious as capricious, whirling your merry-go-round: evil doings, worthless wooings, crumble away to the ground: darkly stealing, unrevealing, working against me you go: for your measure of foul pleasure I bare my back to your blow. Noble actions, true transactions, no longer fall to my lot: powers to make me then to break me all play their part ...
The theme music used for the 1981 John Boorman film "Excalibur" with Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Cherie Lunghi, Nicol Williamson & Liam Neeson. "O Fortuna" is part of the scenic cantata "Carmina Burana." I am not making any money off of this channel and all videos/edits are in accordance with copyright/fair use.
O Fortuna,
velut luna
statu variabilis,
semper crescis
aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis
nunc obdurat
et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem,
egestatem,
potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem.
Sors immanis
et inansi,
rota tu volubilis,
status malus,
vana salus
semper dissolubilis,
obumbrata
et velata
michi quoque niteris;
nunc per ludum
dorsum nudum
fero tui sceleris.
Sors salutis
et virtutis
michi nunc contraria,
est affectus
et defectus
semper in angaria.
Hac in hora
sine mora
corde pulsum tangite;
quod per sortem
sternit fortem,