O Fortuna is the first movement of the cantata Carmina Burana written by Carl Orff in 1937. Timbre: O Fortuna is an incredibly compelling and passionate piece of music. It was originally written for flute, oboe, cor anglais, clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, timpani, cymbals, SATB chorus, piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass (which is shown in figure 1).