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
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