O Fortuna is a classical opera song composed by Carl Orff. The lyrics are actually 13th century Latin poem lines that were put together by Orff in 1936. The song, to me, portrays a powerful struggle of man. The art in this song is the language and the way it’s sung. Many opera songs (that I listen to anyways) are compiled of many words sung fast and almost seemingly slurred together—it probably just seems this way because I don’t understand the language to begin with—but O Fortuna has little words that actually translate into many fragments. Before I looked up the lyrics I just assumed each syllable was a different word because of the way the break them up. It’s amazing how much they’re saying with just one line. And with those lines they sing them unbelievably powerful. The most beautiful moment of the song to me is at 1:42. It’s toward the end and it picks up the song and the power of it altogether. I’m constantly listening to it on my iPod and I feel like it could be a piece of art that belongs in my life’s soundtrack. Although I don’t feel the lyrics go with me so much, I feel like the intensity of it could’ve definitely been played at certain moments of my life. O Fortuna stands out from a lot of opera because it’s sung in Latin. Not many popular opera songs are sung in Latin—most are sung in French or Italian. I would assume, not just because that was the language the writer spoke, but also because those are two of the more romantic languages, and most operas (in some way, shape, or form) is about love; whereas this one is about the struggle of life under power. All-in-all this is one of the most beautiful opera songs I’ve ever heard and it will forever be part of my life’s soundtrack.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
O Fortuna
O Fortuna is a classical opera song composed by Carl Orff. The lyrics are actually 13th century Latin poem lines that were put together by Orff in 1936. The song, to me, portrays a powerful struggle of man. The art in this song is the language and the way it’s sung. Many opera songs (that I listen to anyways) are compiled of many words sung fast and almost seemingly slurred together—it probably just seems this way because I don’t understand the language to begin with—but O Fortuna has little words that actually translate into many fragments. Before I looked up the lyrics I just assumed each syllable was a different word because of the way the break them up. It’s amazing how much they’re saying with just one line. And with those lines they sing them unbelievably powerful. The most beautiful moment of the song to me is at 1:42. It’s toward the end and it picks up the song and the power of it altogether. I’m constantly listening to it on my iPod and I feel like it could be a piece of art that belongs in my life’s soundtrack. Although I don’t feel the lyrics go with me so much, I feel like the intensity of it could’ve definitely been played at certain moments of my life. O Fortuna stands out from a lot of opera because it’s sung in Latin. Not many popular opera songs are sung in Latin—most are sung in French or Italian. I would assume, not just because that was the language the writer spoke, but also because those are two of the more romantic languages, and most operas (in some way, shape, or form) is about love; whereas this one is about the struggle of life under power. All-in-all this is one of the most beautiful opera songs I’ve ever heard and it will forever be part of my life’s soundtrack.
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