THE OLYMPIC COMPOSITION MUSIC OF THE OLYMPICS By: Bayla Gottesman
Music of the past always finds a way back to the present, but music dedicated to the Olympics has the opportunity to make a comeback every few years. So what types of fanfares and tributes have been written, and by whom? To start it off, “Bugler’s Dream” by Leo Arnaud was the theme music for ABC's Olympic coverage beginning in the late 1960s. The French-born American composer studied with Maurice Ravel, had a knack for moving scoring, and was nominated for an Oscar due to his arrangement of the 1964 film, The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Later, composer John Williams coopted the music, and attached it to his own “Olympic Fanfare and Theme,” which was composed for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Going back a bit further, we find the Olympic Hymn, composed by the Greek Spyridon Samaras with text by poet Kostis Palamas, which was also played at this year’s London Olympics Opening Ceremony. Greece continued to reign Olympic musical pride when Mikis Theodorakis composed for the 1992 Barcelona games.
24!
UPTEMPOMAGAZINE.COM
It soon became a tradition to commission music in dedication to the Olympics. In 1932, Czech composer and son of Antonin Dvorak, Josef Suk, composed “Toward A New Life,” for the Los Angeles games. When Atlanta hosted the games in 1966, Michael Torke composed Javelin. However, Phillip Glass’ compositional skill reigned high, when he was commissioned to write “The Olympian” for the torch lighting of the 1984 Los Angeles games. In 2004, Glass was back in for the Greek Olympics, where he composed “Orion” in collaboration with composers Ravi Shankar and Foday Musa Suso. While on the topic of 20th Century composers, Leonard Bernstein composed a piece in 1981 for the International Olympic Congress in Baden-Baden. In 1991, Freddie Mercury was to pair up with Montserrat Caballé, for “Barcelona,” the Olympic theme song. Today, we’ve come far enough in technology to release the music of the opening and closing ceremonies online post the live showing. The 2012 soundtrack was coordinated by artistic director and filmmaker Danny Boyle and DJ duo Underoworld, and featured more contemporary songs like “Blue Monday,” “Back To Life,” and even “Relax. The closing ceremony is back by the London Symphony Orchestra, and will present, “A Symphony of British Music.” On top of that, rumor has it that the Spice Girls will reunite for a special closing ceremony performance. We’re all for it!