Path 25
Choral masterpieces
Choirs from Handel's coronation anthem to Ligeti's cloud of voices: masses, requiems and psalms, 1727 to 1966.
Handel → Mozart → Brahms → Verdi → Fauré → Orff → Messiaen → Bernstein → Ligeti
Carmina Burana: O Fortuna
This guide follows Orff’s Carmina Burana: O Fortuna (1936) in one part.
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Follow all 4 sections as they play
O Fortuna0:38–3:09
Listen for three of the same music (A, A′ and A″), matching the three stanzas of the poem. Under the chorus the four-note figure D, C, A, D keeps turning like the wheel of Fortune. The opening is slow and thunderous, with drums and chorus that quickly drop to a whisper, and then drums and short string and horn notes build steadily to one long note. The is the last nine : the modal sound gives way, the final syllable moves from D minor to D major, and the music stops abruptly.
- A
- A′
Section boundaries in music are not always sharp; a transition may be felt over a pause or a held chord.
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