O Fortuna
For the Rhydian Roberts album, see O Fortuna (album).
"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 whis-
per, building slowly in a steady crescendo of drums and
short string and horn notes peaking on one last long pow-
erful 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 popu-
lar and has been performed by countless classical music
ensembles and popular artists. It can be heard in numer-
ous movies and television commercials and has become
a staple in popular culture, setting the mood for dramatic
or cataclysmic situations.[1] “O Fortuna” topped a list of
the most-played classical music of the past 75 years in the
United Kingdom.[2] “O Fortuna” in the Carmina Burana manuscript (Bavarian State
Library Clm 4660, f. 1r). The poem occupies the last six lines on
the page, along with the overrun at bottom right.
1 Poem
• “O Fortuna”, at David Parlett’s translation of the
Carmina Burana
2 See also
• Carl Orff’s “O Fortuna” in popular culture
3 References
[1] “O Fortuna” in popular culture.
[2] Most played classical music of the past 75 years
4 External links
• Latin Wikisource has original text related to this ar-
ticle: Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi
1
2 5 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES
5 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses
5.1 Text
• O Fortuna Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Fortuna?oldid=699577060 Contributors: Schutz, Alan Liefting, Golbez, Rich Farm-
brough, Dbachmann, Ardric47, Zeborah, Guthrie, BillC, Pol098, BD2412, Edison, Darthoctopus, Matt Deres, FlaBot, GreenLocust,
Str1977, Design, Hairy Dude, RussBot, Matt Fitzpatrick, ToddC4176, Wknight94, Superluser, Newagelink, Nikkimaria, JQF, Viper-
Snake151, SmackBot, FClef, Deadmaker7, Franny Wentzel, Davewild, Mdd4696, Srnec, Hmains, FordPrefect42, DHN-bot~enwiki,
Colonies Chris, Salamurai, Soap, Michael Bednarek, BoosterBronze, Stefan2, Kevicool, A. Parrot, Meco, KJS77, TJ Spyke, Black-
hawk charlie2003, Polypipe Wrangler, Ghaly, CRGreathouse, Cydebot, Future Perfect at Sunrise, Erasmussen, Palaeologos, Alaibot,
Thijs!bot, Mojo Hand, Hugo.arg, Akradecki, Medinoc, JAnDbot, Magioladitis, Jerome Kohl, Lord khadgar05, ZackTheJack, Sanket
ar, Mokgamen, Tschareck~enwiki, Greenguy1090, Conquerist, InnocuousPseudonym, TomCat4680, It Is Me Here, Garret Beaumain,
Lyngstad, Jonay81687, Griffinn, Tambora1815, Equazcion, Athomic69, Idioma-bot, ACSE, Malik Shabazz, Deor, Ericdn, Jacob Lund-
berg, Bentley4, Blurpeace, Feudonym, Centerone, Burntsauce, Seresin, Flyingostrich, GavinTing, Keilana, Klippdass, Baseball Bugs,
HamadaFanFFSM, Nikkislayer7, Altzinn, TFCforever, Boso, Upol007, Piledhigheranddeeper, Trivialist, Excirial, Rvn1966, Rembrandt13,
Manco Capac, Thingg, RachelSummers77, XLinkBot, Aaron north, Uzdzislaw, Winkinblinkinnod, Addbot, Vatrena ptica, Anonymous345,
RTG, IrishFlyer, XRK, Spacedude360, Lightbot, GurlyArcher, Captain, Luckas-bot, Yobot, TaBOT-zerem, Amirobot, Mmxx, KeelNar,
Anaphalis, Anonymous from the 21th century, EgbertMcDunk, AnomieBOT, Captain Quirk, Try79, Freshfighter9, ArthurBot, Fiktionary,
Ched, Ellipi, Omnipaedista, Beebles6969, MLauba, Pensivedraco, Stolengood, Foffo 93, JiveTalkinChoirBoy, DrilBot, Dzninca, Wool-
wich, Onyou45, SmartyBoots, Jfmantis, Beteskiller, EmausBot, SteveM123, JoeSperrazza, Atcold, Brandmeister, Nourex, ClueBot NG,
Gniob, Arabslabab, Nitpicking polisher, Hmainsbot1, Horseless Headman, RSEN007, AndroidDoctorr, Lucasdealmeidasm, Bvansanten08,
Cjh007, Joe!1627 and Anonymous: 214
5.2 Images
• File:'A'_(PSF).png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/%27A%27_%28PSF%29.png License: Public do-
main Contributors: Archives of Pearson Scott Foresman, donated to the Wikimedia Foundation Original artist: Pearson Scott Foresman
• File:Carl_Orff-Carmina_Burana-O_Fortuna.ogg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4e/Carl_Orff-Carmina_
Burana-O_Fortuna.ogg License: Fair use Contributors:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – Antal Dorati (1976 – The Decca Record Co. Ltd.)
Original artist: ?
• File:CarminaBurana_wheel.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/CarminaBurana_wheel.jpg License:
Public domain Contributors: http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00085130/image_5 Original artist: Anonymous
• File:Gnome-mime-audio-openclipart.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/
Gnome-mime-audio-openclipart.svg License: CC0 Contributors: OpenClipart Original artist: Andy at OpenClipart
5.3 Content license
• Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
