Carl Orff's O Fortuna in popular culture a direct version of it. Carl Orff's O Fortuna in popular culture In 1935–36, the 13th-century poem "O Fortuna" was set to music by the German composer Carl Orff for his twenty-five-movement cantata "Carmina Burana". The composition appears in numerous films and television commercials and has become a staple in popular culture, setting the mood for dramatic or cataclysmic situations. For instance, it is used to portray the torment of Jim Morrison's drug addiction in the film "The Doors." In 1983, Doors' keyboardist Ray Manzarek released his third solo album, "Carmina Burana", which is an interpretation of the piece in
Carmina Burana (Orff) ZDF; Orff collaborated in its production. Orff's style demonstrates a desire for directness of speech and of access. "Carmina Burana" contains little or no development in the classical sense, and polyphony is also conspicuously absent. "Carmina Burana" avoids overt harmonic complexities, a fact which many musicians and critics have pointed out, such as Ann Powers of "The New York Times". Orff was influenced melodically by late Renaissance and early Baroque models including William Byrd and Claudio Monteverdi. It is a common misconception that Orff based the melodies of "Carmina Burana" on neumeatic melodies; while many of the lyrics in the