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
Carmina Burana (Orff) disciple Wilhelm Killmayer in 1956 and authorized by Orff himself, to allow smaller ensembles the opportunity to perform the piece. See also Subsequent arrangements below. "Carmina Burana" was first staged in Frankfurt by the Frankfurt Opera on 8 June 1937 under conductor (1892–1967) with the , staging by and sets and costumes by Ludwig Sievert. Shortly after the greatly successful premiere, Orff said the following to his publisher, Schott Music: Several performances were repeated elsewhere in Germany. The Nazi regime was at first nervous about the erotic tone of some of the poems, but eventually embraced the piece. It became