Fortuna desperata is a secular Italian song, possibly originally by Busnois (but others credit Antoine Brumel). It was used by many other authors in the following 75 years,[ clarification needed] for both variations and cantus firmus masses, and over 30 such reworkings are known. Words in the original Italian and in English and German are available at Choral Wiki [1].
The first verse is
translated as
Amongst the more well-known versions of the song are the three-voice version by Busnois, its reworking for six voices by Alexander Agricola, a three-part instrumental version possibly by Josquin, three-voice version by Heinrich Isaac, and seven settings (including quodlibets) by Ludwig Senfl. See [2] (archive from 29 December 2014, accessed 26 February 2016) for several others.
Amongst the mass-settings are those by Josquin and Obrecht and Pierquin de Thérache. [1]