I remember years ago I think it was Channel 9 in Australia used Olympic Spirit in their coverage of rugby league matches. I remember noticing and liking the theme well before I knew it was a John Williams piece. It was a lovely "eureka" moment when I first played that track on the Summon The Heroes CD^. It's remained a favorite ever since.
I'm not sure it's my favorite Olympic theme though. The first piece is just so iconic. Summon the Heroes also has its moments. And sorry to those that like it, but I'd place the choral winter piece behind the first three. It's just a piece I never really warmed to... perhaps that was intentional^
ON WHAT CD CAN WE BUY THE ORIGINAL VERSION? THE ORIGINAL RECORDING OF THE 1984 OLYMPIC FANFARE & THEME??????????? PLEASE? -------------------------------------- It's on the old Boston Pops CD BY REQUEST.
ON WHAT CD CAN WE BUY THE ORIGINAL VERSION? THE ORIGINAL RECORDING OF THE 1984 OLYMPIC FANFARE & THEME??????????? PLEASE? -------------------------------------- It's on the old Boston Pops CD BY REQUEST.
Well, the original version was performed live in L.A at the opening ceremony, but this version, whenever it was done, sounds most like the live version and was the first time we heard it on LP and CD, so it will have to do. To be honest, it sounds so similar to the original version that I taped live off the telly, that I always wondered was it a pre-record and they mimed it at the live do?
To be honest, it sounds so similar to the original version that I taped live off the telly, that I always wondered was it a pre-record and they mimed it at the live do?
they did that for Salt Lake City in 2002.
Apart from the By request CD, the original version of the Olympic Fanfare and theme can be heard on the very rare japanese CD of the Official Music of the XXIIIrd Olympiad.
The Olympic Fanfare is my favorite olympic music but I also like his arrangements and new music for the NBC coverage of the 2004 games in Athens.
I played the '84 Columbia Records Summer Olympics album quite a lot. Even the stuff that wasn't John Williams. The Olympic Fanfare & Theme from that year is probably his best one.
I also liked the '88 NBC coverage theme The Olympic Spirit, though that was the ONLY track I played on that year's Olympic album.
I like them all greatly, but Summon the Heroes has to get the nod for nostalgic reasons as I heard it first at my first ever John Williams concert in 1996 and it was the world premier performance. Part of one of the most memorable nights for any young film music fan. It's a great piece in its own right although it's perhaps a bit more disjointed than the others but it's all relative.
Yeah Tom, I get what you're saying about the disjointed thing with Summon The Heroes, but I still love it. I actually dig that disjointedness, when the brass and percussion lose the plot somewhat and then he resumes the rhythm and takes it up some notches. That's why he's God to me I vaguely remember (maybe it was in an old FSM) a report that the piece got slaughtered by some 'serious' music critics for it's overall design or architecture.
Oh, and my fave is the first one (Los Angeles 84 Olympic Fanfare/Theme) but all the others are sublime too. Vote John Williams for Supreme Commander of Earth Defences.
