O Fortuna (Orff)

"O Fortuna" is a medieval Latin Goliardic poem written in the 13th century of uncertain authorship. It is a complaint against the goddess of fortune, contained in the collection known as the Carmina Burana. Carl Orff encountered the collection in 1934 and worked with a Latin and Greek enthusiast, Michel Hofmann, to select and organize 24 of the poems into a libretto. Orff composed his Carmina Burana, using the libretto, in 1935–36. It was first performed by the Frankfurt Opera on 8 June 1937. The cantata is composed of 25 movements in five sections, with "O Fortuna" providing a compositional frame, appearing as the first movement and reprised for the twenty-fifth, both in sections titled "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi". Scott Horton wrote in ''Harper's'' that the text of the poem highlights how few people, at the time it was written, "felt any control over their own destiny" while at the same time it "rings with a passion for life, a demand to seize and treasure the sweet moments that pitiful human existence affords." == Music ==

{{image frame|content= \header { tagline = ##f } \paper { paper-width = 150\mm left-margin = 5 right-margin = 5 } \layout { indent = 0 \context { \Score \remove "Bar_number_engraver" } } global = { \key f \major \time 3/1 } tenorVoice = \relative c'' { \global \omit Score.TimeSignature \tempo "Pesante" 2=60 \set Staff.midiInstrument = "alto sax" \repeat volta 2 { r2^\markup { "3/"\note {1} #1 } 1->\ff 2-> ^> ^> \breathe } r2 1-> 2->^"poco stringendo" -> -> | -> -> \breve-> \breathe \time 3/2 \tempo 2 = 120-132 \repeat volta 2 { r2^\markup { "3/"\note {2} #1 } f,_\pp f | e e r } } verse = \lyricmode { > } \score { \new Staff \tenorVoice \addlyrics \verse \layout { } } \score { \unfoldRepeats \tenorVoice \midi { } } }} Orff was inspired both by the poem and the medieval symbol of the Rota Fortunae, or Wheel of Fortune, which the goddess Fortuna spins at random, causing some people to suffer while others find wealth. The Rota Fortunae appears in a version of the poetry collection known as the Codex Buranas. The repetition of the musical accompaniment draws a comparison to the spinning of the wheel. "O Fortuna" opens at a slow pace, at 60 minims per minute (in , notated in Orff's notation as 3/), with thumping drums and energetic choir that drops quickly into a whisper, then doubling speed to 120 minims per minute (in ) and building slowly in a steady crescendo of drums and short string and horn notes peaking on one last long powerful note and ending abruptly. Conductor Marin Alsop wrote that it "begins with all forces at full throttle, then immediately scale[s] back in an ominous warning repetition that builds to a climactic close". The tone is modal, with melody built around a tonal center, until the last nine bars. The last syllable of the song shifts in both key and emotional valence, from D minor to D major. According to David Clem, "the music signifies the upturn of Fortune's wheel, while the text represents the downturn." == Reception and legacy ==

Carmina Burana was successful from its first staging by the Frankfurt Opera in 1937, propelling Orff's career and becoming his best known work. A Radio Netherlands documentary attributes its popular appeal to the combination of choruses, large orchestra, interesting instrument combinations, tight rhythm, and the extent to which it is singable and memorable. Horton calls it "a work of brilliance" that "may have been spoiled by its popularization", used "often as a jingle, detached in any meaningful way from its powerful message". It has been covered, remixed, and sampled by a wide variety of popular musical acts like Therion and Nas. In late 1991, the song was used by two independent Belgian electronic dance music acts. In a 24 February 1992 case in Dutch court, Orff's heirs successfully argued that they never authorised the use of the work for electronic dance music. Both Belgian releases as well as the 18th edition of Turn up the Bass were pulled from store shelves in the Netherlands because of the verdict. == References ==