Carl Orff's O Fortuna in popular culture

In 1935–36, the 13th-century poem "O Fortuna" was set to music by the German composer Carl Orff for Carmina Burana, his twenty-five-movement cantata. The composition appears in numerous films and television commercials[1] and has become a staple in popular culture, setting the mood for dramatic or cataclysmic situations.[2] For instance, it is used to portray the torment of Jim Morrison's drug addiction in the film The Doors.[3] In 1983, Doors' keyboardist Ray Manzarek released his third solo album, Carmina Burana, which is an interpretation of the piece in a contemporary framework.

"O Fortuna" has been called "the most overused piece of music in film history",[4] and Harper's Magazine columnist Scott Horton has commented that "Orff’s setting may have been spoiled by its popularization" and its use "in movies and commercials often as a jingle, detached in any meaningful way from its powerful message."[5] Its contemporary usage is often joking or satirical in nature, owing to its oversaturation in popular culture.