O Fortuna (1968)

Women’s Chorus – 3 mins.

Audio

Score (Free Download, Perusal Only)

Program Note

The text of O Fortuna (1968) is very familiar as the opening movement of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana.” Don’s setting, for unaccompanied women’s voices, is more intense, bordering on hysterical. In the main body of the piece, the fifteen syllables of each stanza are quickly articulated to create a 15/16 metrical backdrop drone behind an insistent melody, which eventually builds to a mad climax.