O Fortuna

This composition is nothing new...in fact its quite often heard in the movies or on TV. Usually has to do with some dramatic warrior sequence or some epic battle.

The thing about it is... all my life...up to this point when I am 29 going on 30...I never knew what it was called! Everytime I hear it...I feel this stirring in my heart. Its really quite an inspired composition. Gets you in the mood. Like you could join the Roman army or stand with the Elves in Lord of the Rings...

You have to hear it to understand...and you'd probably go..."oooooh...chey"

So here's "O Fortuna" and its translation.
(There's another one called "Ride of the Valkyries" by Wagner. But I think this one here...is the really bad ass one.)



O Fortune,
like the moon
you are changeable,
ever waxing
and waning;
hateful life
first oppresses
and then soothes
as fancy takes it;
poverty
and power
it melts them like ice.
Fate – monstrous
and empty,
you whirling wheel,
you are malevolent,
well-being is vain
and always fades to nothing,
shadowed
and veiled
you plague me too;
now through the game
I bring my bare back
to your villainy.
Fate is against me
in health
and virtue,
driven on
and weighted down,
always enslaved.
So at this hour
without delay
pluck the vibrating strings;
since Fate
strikes down the string man,
everyone weep with me!


Now...allow me and the wonders of Youtube to illustrate what I mean.
I loved the comic "300" and subsequently the movie too. For those of you who dished it as pop-corn fodder...yea it is.
But it was never meant to be anything else! Its not historically correct...its not supposed to be!
Its just suppose to be a good yarn...something you hear over a campfire. And Frank Miller(the writer) was merely inspired by the storytellers of old who would carry such tales of bravery and valour from generation to generation.
And to really understand the scope and scale of it...one has to read the coffee table comic. It is an incredible work of art and a damn good tale.
Here it is...a trailer of 300 set to O Fortuna. Some fella did a really good job for a music video competition. Watch it...and turn the volume up!
Enjoy.