Everything you need to know about 'Carmina Burana,' Hollywood's go-to music for epic movie moments

This Sunday, the Los Angeles Master Chorale volition capable the sails of Walt Disney Concert Hall with that stormy, earwormy cantata by Carl Orff: “Carmina Burana.” The chorale volition beryllium joined by an orchestra and 2 children’s choruses, and volition besides execute the satellite premiere of Reena Esmail’s “Jahaaṅ: Five Indian Folk Songs.”

“Carmina Burana” is simply a mainstay of the classical repertoire and 1 of the astir wide recognizable performance works of the 20th century. But what precisely is it — and wherefore bash choirs support returning to this “circle of fortune”?

Here is everything you request to cognize astir “Carmina Burana.”

Where person I heard this before?

Oh, possibly successful millions of movie trailers during the past 40 years (an exaggeration but barely). The matrimony of “Carmina” and cinema arguably started successful 1981 with the movie “Excalibur,” which indelibly utilized the opening question “O Fortuna” arsenic King Arthur rides into conflict with his knights. The medieval discourse was appropriate, but it besides robustly demonstrated however damned epic and cinematic this aged opus was — and the amusement world, which was opening an arms contention for epicness, started utilizing “O Fortuna” (the cantata’s astir celebrated movement, which bookends the hourlong work) successful thing and everything arsenic fundamentally a changeable of philharmonic steroids.

Oliver Stone needle-dropped it successful “The Doors,” successful a country wherever Jim Morrison drinks humor successful a pagan ritual. (Ironically, the Doors’ keyboard player, Ray Manzarek, did a bizarre stone screen of “Carmina Burana” successful 1983.) It was utilized successful countless trailers successful the ’80s and ’90s — from “Glory” to “Waterworld” to “The Nutty Professor.” The second was an illustration of however the overuse of this overwrought oratorio made it cleanable fodder for parody, and the wit of juicing thing comedic with its uber-seriousness. In that spirit, “O Fortuna” was utilized successful a immense assortment of commercials — from Old Spice to Carlton Draught brew — not to notation aggregate times successful “The Simpsons.”

But galore artists continued to instrumentality the portion earnestly and deployed it to transportation america to instrumentality them ace seriously. Michael Jackson utilized it successful a montage of his planetary concerts and the hysteria they produced; rappers and hip-hop artists person sampled it — see: “Hate Me Now” by Nas — and tons of sports teams person utilized it to hype up the location crowd.

These days, you’re astir apt to perceive “O Fortuna” utilized ironically successful a TikTok video.

Who wrote it: when, wherever and why?

Carl Orff composed “Carmina Burana” successful 1936, drafting upon a disparate postulation of poesy and songs, mostly successful Latin and mostly by anonymous writers. Dating arsenic acold backmost arsenic the 11th century, these pieces had been discovered successful a Bavarian monastery successful 1803. The German composer, whose enactment often plumbed the past past, came crossed them successful 1934. He was spellbound.

“Right erstwhile I opened it,” Orff reflected, “on the precise archetypal page, I recovered the long-famous illustration of ‘Fortune With the Wheel,’ and nether it the lines: ‘O Fortuna velut Luna statu variabilis…’ The representation and the words took clasp of me.

“A signifier enactment with choruses for singing and dancing, simply pursuing the pictures and text, sprang to beingness instantly successful my mind,” helium said, and helium feverishly produced a philharmonic communicative successful 25 chapters for monolithic choir, soloists and bombastic orchestras. Organized successful 3 parts — “Primo Vere” (Spring), “In Taberna” (In the Tavern) and “Cour d’Amours” (The Court of Love) — it is an alternately tempestuous, frolicking and romanticist circuit of life, musically recalling Bavarian people music, drinking songs and emotion ballads, but each framed with the pounding warfare cries of “O Fortuna.”

How was it received erstwhile it premiered?

It was a hit! The enactment was premiered by the Frankfurt Opera successful June 1937, with costumed performers and sets. (It yet morphed into a axenic performance piece.)

The reviews successful Germany were good, and it was soon fixed hundreds of performances successful Orff’s homeland. It took 2 decades to scope America — premiering astatine Carnegie Hall successful June 1954 — but it rapidly seized clasp successful the classical country here, precise rapidly becoming the astir performed, and astir recorded, choral compositions of the century.

Why was it controversial?

Orff wrote the portion successful Germany during the Nazi regime, and it was precise fashionable with the Nazis — harmonizing uncomfortably good with their testosterone-fueled propaganda. Orff was ne'er a subordinate of the Nazi enactment himself, but it’s unclear however cozy helium was with the radical who archetypal embraced his cantata.

Another crushed is that, if you tin construe Latin, immoderate of the lyrics are rather bawdy and politically retrograde. (Example: “My virginity makes maine frisky / My simplicity holds maine back.”)

So ... should I not bring my kids?

To each their own, but musically speaking, “Carmina Burana” is 1 of the much accessible and infectious performance works of the past century, and it has been a gateway cause for galore generations into the larger water of classical music. Your kids whitethorn person adjacent heard “O Fortuna” determination already, and they’ll astir apt archer you — happily — that it sounds similar movie music.

What has it influenced?

Not lone has “O Fortuna” been utilized successful tons of movies, but its power is evident successful truthful galore Hollywood movie scores, which person routinely utilized beefy choirs and elephantine orchestras to approximate a akin feeling. Think of the devilish “Ave Satani” successful Jerry Goldsmith’s “The Omen” people oregon John Williams’ “Duel of the Fates” from “The Phantom Menace.”

Fun fact: When Stanley Kubrick was deciding connected the philharmonic attack for “2001: A Space Odyssey,” helium gravitated toward “Carmina Burana” truthful overmuch that helium really rang Orff up and asked him to constitute the film’s score. Orff, past 71, turned him down.