Carl Orff and the medieval texts: what exactly is the choir singing?

You’ll recognize it instantly. Those rumbling opening notes, the choir washing over you like a wave. *O Fortuna* is one of the most recognizable compositions in the world—used in movies, trailers, and sports broadcasts. But what is the choir actually singing? And why does it sound so overwhelming?

The lyrics of Carmina Burana are older than the work itself. Much older.

A manuscript from a Bavarian monastery

The songs are known as Carmina Burana — Songs of Buran — and were first published in 1847. The manuscript itself, the Codex Buranus, was discovered at the Benediktbeuern monastery in Bavaria and dates from the period between 1220 and 1250.

Most of the poems are written in Latin, but about 40 of the love songs also contain stanzas in Middle High German, and a few songs include Old French and Occitan texts.

Who wrote them? Their knowledge of the classics, ancient mythology, and Latin suggests that the authors were not ragged vagabonds, but likely established clergymen, clerics, lawyers, doctors, and Latin teachers who used these texts to describe their memories of the pleasant aspects of student life. In other words, clergymen who knew their way around a bar.

What did Carl Orff choose, and what did he leave out?

From the more than 200 texts in the manuscript, Orff selected 24—on the transience of fate, springtime, and love, drinking, and satirical songs. He left the Latin and Middle High German texts intact and set them to entirely new music—not an attempt at historical reconstruction, but a contemporary composition.

The work covers three major themes: spring (love songs), the tavern (drinking and gambling songs), and the Court of Lovers (about sensual love). The first and last songs are about Fortuna, the goddess of fate.

That structure is intentional. *Carmina Burana* tells the story of the Wheel of Fortune: beginning at the bottom of the wheel, where fate is lamented, then spring and love blossom, until the climax at the top—after which the wheel inevitably turns on, and everything collapses again. *O Fortuna* both opens and closes the work. That is no coincidence.

O Fortuna: What Does It Really Say?

The most famous piece. "O Fortuna" is a lament about fate—the inevitable force that governs both gods and mortals in Roman mythology.

The text addresses Fortuna as a goddess:

O Fortuna, like the moon, you take on ever-changing forms — O Fortuna, like the moon, you take on ever-changing forms

The original manuscript contains a drawing of Fortuna turning the Wheel of Fortune. On the left is a climbing figure with the text "Regnabo " (I will reign); at the top is a seated king with "Regno" (I reign); on the right is a falling figure with "Regnavi" (I reigned); and at the bottom is a fallen figure with "Sum sine regno " (I am without a kingdom).

The chorus calls on the listener to mourn with them: since fate brings even the strong to their knees, let everyone wail aloud with me. No comfort. No solution. Only the acknowledgment that fate is uncontrollable—and that it has always been so.

The Bar and Love: The Less-Known Side

Many visitors know O Fortuna, but don't know what comes next. And that's exactly what makes it interesting.

After the dramatic opening, the piece takes a surprisingly human turn. The three middle movements are titled *Primo vere* (the first spring), *In taberna* (in the tavern), and *Cour d'amours* (the court of love).

"In taberna " is downright comical. A famous baritone solo describes the desire to die in the tavern, with a nod to the medieval "Dies Irae "—the song about the Last Judgment. The highlight of In taberna is the drinking song in which the Latin verb bibet (he drinks) is repeated 28 times over 16 measures—men, women, rich, poor, monks, and prostitutes, everyone drinks. The choir stomps on stage while the audience barely understands what is being sung. Nor do they need to.

"Cour d'amours " is the exact opposite: delicate, seductive, at times almost whispering. A soprano sings of a girl standing in a red tunic— *Stetit puella* —while the orchestra falls silent for a moment. From a thunderous mass to a single voice. That contrast is precisely what Orff intended.

Why does it sound so overwhelming?

The texts are medieval, but the music is not. The musical style draws heavily on Stravinsky’s *Les Noces* and *Oedipus Rex*, as evidenced by Orff’s use of the choir and the highly percussive orchestration. Musical facts

Orff composed for large choral ensembles that function as a single instrument. The harmonies are primitive in the best sense of the word: direct chords without any detours. No subtlety, no psychological nuance—just pure power and rhythm. A Radio Netherlands documentary attributes its popularity to the combination of choirs, a large orchestra, interesting instrumental combinations, tight rhythm, and the extent to which it is singable and memorable.

The lyrics do the rest. Fate, love, drink, longing—themes that were relevant in the 13th century and are just as relevant today.

What you hear live that you miss at home

On a recording, you hear the music. Live, you feel the physical presence of more than 200 performers on a single stage—the Flanders Boys Choir, the mixed choir Chorale, three soloists, and the symphony orchestra La Passione. When the entire ensemble launches into “O Fortuna,” the atmosphere in the hall is noticeably different.

That's something no speaker can reproduce.

Carmina Burana will be performed on April 12 at Capitole in Ghent, on May 3 at the Stadsschouwburg in Antwerp, and on May 17 at Bozar in Brussels.