Tuesday 8 June 2021

cantiones profanæ cantoribus et choris cantandæ comitantibus instrumentis atque imaginibus magicis

With the above full Latin title, the cantata Carmina Burana (Songs of Beuren—a Benedictine abbey near Bad Tölz) of twelfth century meditative texts and poems orchestrally arranged by Carl Orff (*1895 - †1982) had its premier performance on this day in 1937 at the Oper Frankfurt. The opening and closing movements are named “Fortuna Impertrix Mundi” and contain the famous and stirring O Fortuna.