Music Man

So the most heard classical piece of music over the last 75 years is "O Fortuna" from Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana". I say "heard" rather than "listened to" because its position as No. 1 is down almost entirely to its use in various advertisements and other commercial situations over the years, and particularly in recent times to its use on X Factor. In other words, people are finding themselves listening to it, rather than choosing to do so. Not that it is not a stirring piece of music but I would imagine that it would come rather further down the list of classical music listened to by choice. Orff is one of those "one-shot wonder" composers who is known almost exclusively for this one work. The words come from a collection of medieval poems mainly about love and gambling and "O Fortuna" is a complaint against the vagaries of Lady Luck.