I've always wondered what the name of this composition was, the one that they use for all of the major battle scenes in old war films, and for those of you who watch brainiac, the tune they play each time the guy in the suit of armour comes on. It has singing in the background, which I believe to be Latin, and drums and trumpets are the main instruments, any names would be helpful.

Thanks :D

My money's on it being Verdi's Requiem, Dies Irae. Plenty drums, plenty trumpets, plenty Latin. Blows your speakers if you play it at volume.

It's more likely to be Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. That's been used in many films over the years - especially when a big, dramatic scene is happening.

I agree, its much more likely to be from Orff's scenic cantata (as he described it) Carmina Burana - i.e. from the opening chorus 'O Fortuna' sung in Latin.

By coincidence, it is used in the film 13th Warrior being shown on ITV as I type this. It has been used in so many film scores now that it has become a movie cliche. I think it was probably used to best effect (along with some music by Wagner) in Excalibur.

It was written in Nazi Germany in 1936 and Orff never quite lived down the fact that he was writing music within (although not directly for) this regime. It is his most famous piece, which is in many ways a pity, because he wrote some other interesting stuff - in particular I like his Schulwerk.

It was because the music was being written during the Nazi period that Orff looked for a non modern German text.
He actually set some Latin and early German texts found in the monastery at Benediktbeuren in Bavaria, a small village nearly at the end of the railway line. (It's roughly South West of Munich and when I visited it was only a small place - the railway station was about the size of one of the typical tram stops in Sheffield).
There have been occasions in Germany when Carmina Burana has been staged as an opera. (I hear that something similar is planned for another collection of songs - not by Orff, I hasten to add).
Orff's music has been used in a few TV adverts over the years; part was used to sell Vitbe bread in the 70s, in more recent times some has been used for Volkswagen Golf adverts and also the BBC "Amazing what you can learn" trailer.
If you want to buy a CD of Carmina Burana, it should be on the shelves of any independent Classical CD retailer.

Orff was never a member of the Nazi party (unlike Karajan) but he did receive exemption from military service because of his status as a composer from the Nazi government, which in general took a favourable view of his works. Unlike, for example, Shostakovich, Prokofiev and many other Soviet composers, he never composed eulogies to the regime or to its dictator. At the end of the war, Orff was classified as 'grey-acceptable' by the Denazification commission, which meant that he was free to compose and publish again.

In my opinion, Orff was far more interested in affairs of the spirit rather and political affairs (he is on record as saying that his music is spiritual rather than anything else). His case might be rather similar to that of P.G.Wodehouse, who was also accused of political complicity with Fascism - whereas it is now widely accepted that his only real 'crime;' was that of other-worldliness and (perhaps) naivety. Thank goodness for this, as otherwise we would be probably deprived of the pleasures of reading his marvellous (and wonderfully written) stories about the escapades of Wooster and Jeeves.

Thanks guys, It was indeed Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. As mentioned before I have been looking for the name of the song for a very long time!

In my days as a chorister I took part in a performance of Carmina Burana at the Royal Albert Hall. As I recall the 'lyrics' are actually quite racy!

Word is that the escafeld chorale will be performing excerpts from carmina Burana 9th july at Central United Reform Church.