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O Fortuna
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O Fortuna

work by Orff
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"O Fortuna" is the most famous song from Carl Orff's 1937 cantata, Carmina Burana. Orff based the work on a 13th-century manuscript of songs and plays discovered in Bavaria. The manuscript, titled Carmina Burana ("Songs of Beuern"), contains a variety of medieval texts, including religious verses, satires, and drinking songs.1

"O Fortuna" serves as both the prologue and epilogue to the cantata. It warns of the unpredictable power of luck and fate, using the metaphor of a wheel of fortune. The song's powerful opening is considered one of the grandest in choral music. The Roman goddess Fortuna represented chance and was often depicted with a cornucopia or standing on a ball to symbolize the uncertainty of fortune. The Latin phrase "fortes fortuna juvat" means "fortune favors the brave".123

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4 Britannica Sources
  1. Carmina Burana
  2. Carl Orff
  3. Fortuna
  4. fortes fortuna juvat

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