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| Written by | Carl Orff |
| Date | 1936 |
Carmina Burana is a cantata based on 24 poems from the medieval collection of the same name. Written by German composer Carl Orff in the 1930s, the libretto consists mostly of Latin with small amounts of Middle High German and Old French.
The most famous of its 25 movements is its first, "O Fortuna," which has been used in many movie trailers and commercials to evoke a sense of epic grandeur. It has featured in such movies as Excalibur (with Helen Mirren and Patrick Stewart), Oliver Stone's The Doors (with Kyle MacLachlan), Natural Born Killers (written by Quentin Tarantino), Cheaper by the Dozen (with Steve Martin), and the TV shows The Simpsons, That '70s Show, and Glee, among others.
Sesame Street Music Magazine Vol. 3, No. 8 featured an excerpt from Carmina Burana performed by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a section focused on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The Muppets Mayhem used the piece in the episode "Virtual Insanity" when The Electric Mayhem plays a concert in Minecraft. Following the band's social media misunderstanding where superfans of pop stars thought they were insulting other musicians, a player in the audience tosses a brick of dynamite onto the stage. As Janice warns, "Wow, like I'm totally sensing a blanket of digital darkness descending upon us!," the sky fills with clouds as the chorus begins, "O Fortuna!" Lips cries, "We're all gonna die!" as they are descended upon by the Swifties, the Beliebers, the Beyhive, Gaga's Little Monsters, the BTS Army, Rihanna's Navy, and the Natalie Merchant Marines. The piece continues to underscore the scene until Nora urges the band to "wing it" and Janice cuts through the attack with a rainbow blast from her guitar.