O Fortuna topped a 2009 list of the most-played classical music of the previous 75 years in the United Kingdom. O Fortuna "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 mortals in Roman and Greek mythology. In 1935–36, "O Fortuna" was set to music by German composer Carl Orff as a part of "", the opening and closing movement of his cantata "Carmina Burana". It was first staged by the Frankfurt Opera on
Carl Orff these earlier works were released (some even with Orff's approval). As an historical aside, "Carmina Burana" is probably the most famous piece of music composed and premiered in Nazi Germany. "Carmina Burana" was in fact so popular that Orff received a commission in Frankfurt to compose incidental music for "A Midsummer Night's Dream", which was supposed to replace the banned music by Mendelssohn. After several performances of this music, he claimed not to be satisfied with it, and reworked it into the final version that was first performed in 1964. Orff was reluctant to term any of his works simply