The "new song" that TSO has been performing at
concerts since 2002,  is the beginning piece of Carl
Orff's  Carmina Burana, called O Fortuna.

  "The  Carmina Burana  is a collection  of  poems,
songs,  and short plays found in Benediktbeuern, a
Benedictine abbey about 100 km south of Munich,
in  1803.  This  manuscript  was  of  13th  century
German  origin and  contained  approximately  250
poems,  and other  pieces.  When  Johann Andreas
Schmeller published the collection in 1847, he gave
it the title of "Carmina Burana."  This name means
'songs  of  Beuren,'  though  it  has  since been dis-
covered that the manuscript did not originate there,
and may  have come from  Seckau.  Although  the
manuscript dates from the thirteenth century, most
of it was written in the  twelfth.  This was a period
of  peace  and prosperity  in comparison  with  the
years of war which preceded it. The majority of the
Carmina Burana  is written in Latin, which was the
standard  language of  literacy  at  the  time.  There
are,  however, many pieces written in Middle High
German, which shows the blossoming influence of
vernacular  languages  on  literature  which  began
during this time.  This collection is the most import-
ant  and  comprehensive  source  for  both  early
German literature and goliardic verse.

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  A  few  of  the  poems  are  accompanied  by the
music they are to be set to. This music is written in
unheighted  neumes,  which  was at the time a rare
type of notation.  Since most of the work does not
include melodies, they have been inferred from the
texts through clues leading to well known medieval
melodies.  This type of  German medieval music is
called  Vagantenlieder. There  have been many re-
corded  performances  of  parts  of  the  Carmina
Burana  since  its  rediscovery.  These  range from
performances  close  to  that  of  a  modern  opera
based  on  a  selection  of  the  poems. This opera,
composed by Carl Orff, does not always follow the
music  given in  the  manuscript.  This work,  first
performed in 1937,  has become quite famous. As
with so many great pieces, the music this opera has
been used for TV commercials and movies."
-
http://www.auburn.edu/

O Fortuna also appears on the Shopko Bonus CD.
Carl Orff - Carmina Burana

Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi (Fortune, Empress of the World)

O Fortuna (Chorus) O Fortune
O Fortuna,
velut luna
statu variabilis,
semper crescis
aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis
nunc obdurat
et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem,
egestatem,
potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem.

Sors immanis
et inanis,
rota tu volubilis,
status malus,
vana salus
semper dissolubilis,
obumbrata
et velata
michi quoque niteris;
nunc per ludum
dorsum nudum
fero tui sceleris.

Sors salutis
et virtutis
michi nunc contraria,
est affectus
et defectus
semper in angaria.
Hac in hora
sine mora
corde pulsum tangite;
quod per sortem
sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite!
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!