July 10 is the birthday of German composer Carl Orff. His cantata “Carmina Burana” (1937) is based on 24 secular songs from a medieval collection, almost entirely in Latin. It deals with topics that include the fickleness of fortune and wealth and the pleasures and perils of drinking, gluttony, gambling and lust. The stirring "O Fortuna," with which the cantata begins and ends, has become a staple of popular culture and topped a list of the most-played classical music of the past 75 years in the UK.
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