M ost people will know it as the dramatic X Factor music, or as the song which helped to advertise Old Spice: O Fortuna's thumping drums and choir never fail to create a sense of impending doom.
The piece forms part of Carmina Burana which will be performed, along with Roman Carnival Overture and Cockaigne, by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, later this month.
More than 130 singers will perform on the Colston Hall stage, accompanied by 84 musicians and the sounds of the orchestra.
One of those, is soprano Ailish Tynan.
"There are some fantastic pieces in Carmina Burana," she tells me in her lovely Irish lilt.
"Everyone will know them from the Old Spice advert, and O Fortuna was also in the film The Omen. As well as the huge orchestra, with all the brass, there will be the symphony choir and a youth choir.
"It's hugely entertaining and very accessible. If people think they aren't sure about classical music this is a great way in. It's not some six-hour recital, Carmina Burana is only about an hour long but it's great."
Ailish, who often sings at the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden, trained at Trinity College, the Royal Irish Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and has performed all over the world.
Her many claims to fame include winning the Rosenblatt Recital Prize at the 2003 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition – but her career almost took a very different path.
She says: "I actually wanted to study law in Ireland but one of my brothers, who is a lawyer, told me I'd never stick at it. He made me go into his office for a day and he was right. I decided to compromise and did a degree in music instead. I planned to teach but after two weeks of that I realised that wasn't right for me either and I've been singing ever since. I'm very lucky that I've managed to stay in work."
She became involved with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra when she was part of the Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House.
She says: "We clicked brilliantly. I always feel they play incredibly sensitively and really feel the music. The first thing I ever did was a prom and it was a very challenging piece.
"It was very high and had a lot of coloratura," and she breaks off to demonstrate what she means, by singing a series of very high pitched, fast-paced notes, before breaking into laughter.
"It finishes in the top F, which is very, very high for a soprano," she adds.
Carmina Burana is the name given to a manuscript of poems and dramatic texts written in medieval Latin, exploring themes of drink, love, sex and the overbearing burden of fate. It has a reputation as a classical powerhouse which exhilarates and amazes and will be performed alongside Berlioz's Roman Carnival Overture and Elgar's affectionate portrait of old London town in Cockaigne.
"Carmina Burana is my party piece," says Ailish.
"I've performed it many times and, in fact, it was with the BSO that I did it the first time.
"I don't sing until a third of the way through, so I sit on stage for about 20 minutes first. It's always amazing to listen to the sound. The first time we performed it we were outside and there were fireworks to accompany the music. The problem was no-one had told me about that.
"The drums started and then the fireworks went off and I thought the IRA had found us. It was an amazing spectacle but I was nearly diving under my chair for cover."
With classical music being used more often nowadays for shows such as X Factor, Ailish says the music is now appealing to a far wider audience.
She says: "This is nice because there is a youth choir as part of the concert. But I perform a lot at the Royal Opera House and I am seeing a lot of young people in the audience. It's fantastic to see.
"The best way to listen to classical music is live. You can't beat it. To see it on stage and see the musicians with their instruments is far better than any recording. It adds so much and makes it a real event.
"People think classical music is just for posh people and you have to get dressed up but I don't think I'm terribly posh. I do like to get dressed up every now and then but I think it's quite nice to be able to do that every once in a while.
"I'd also go along in my trainers and my jeans, though, so there shouldn't be that stereotype there.
"This concert is so powerful and dramatic it really is for everyone.
"I'm also looking forward to being back in Bristol, too – my auntie Lily lives there, so I'll be in trouble if I don't pay her a visit."
The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra play Carmina Burana at Colston Hall, on Thursday, April 19, at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £15-£28. Tel 0117 922 3686
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