Which choral work by Carl Orff begins with 'O Fortuna'?

The choral work by Carl Orff that begins with “O Fortuna” is Carmina Burana. Orff composed the cantata in 1935 and 1936, using 24 poems selected from a medieval manuscript collection also called Carmina Burana.

“O Fortuna” is the opening movement of the section “Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi,” or “Fortune, Empress of the World.” The movement returns at the end of the cantata, creating a circular frame around songs about fate, spring, drinking, gambling, love, and the instability of worldly fortune.

The medieval source material is associated with the Benediktbeuern manuscript, while Orff’s modern setting premiered in Frankfurt on 8 June 1937. A frequent mix-up is to identify “O Fortuna” as the entire work; it is actually one movement within Carmina Burana. Another is to confuse Carmina Burana with Orff’s later companion works, Catulli Carmina and Trionfo di Afrodite, which together form the triptych Trionfi.