On 20 November, the World Cup kicks off in Doha, Qatar. Among the many 32 nations participating, aspirations will vary from hoping to scrape an unlikely draw within the opening group stage to lifting the trophy on the last on 18 December.
We don’t dare to foretell who can be in that last, and even how far Gareth Southgate’s England will get, however we’re pretty positive that, after the month-long soccer fest, the theme tune for the BBC’s protection can be lodged in individuals’s minds for some time to come back.
Whereas we do not know what this yr’s theme tune can be (watch this house) for some World Cups, the BBC has commissioned a specifically written new theme tune for its protection – Mexico in 1986 and Japan/South Korea in 2002 spring to thoughts. However in others, Auntie has turned to well-known current works, typically given a little bit tweak for added influence. Listed here are 5 such examples…
Finest World Cup theme tunes
1982: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats
4 years earlier, in 1978, for the World Cup in Argentina, Andrew Lloyd-Webber had written the catchy Latin American-sounding Argentine Medley. Now, the BBC turned to him once more, however this time used the ‘Jellicle Ball’ tune from his musical Cats, which had hit the stage the earlier yr.
A curious alternative, some may say, provided that it sounded not remotely Spanish and in addition started in a minor key. Within the match itself, Scotland briefly confirmed their claws in opposition to Brazil, whereas England and Northern Eire purred their manner via the group stage, solely to be put out for the evening by Germany and France within the subsequent spherical.
1990: Puccini’s Turandot
Undoubtedly essentially the most well-known BBC World Cup theme of all time, and a alternative that gave classical music itself an enormous increase in reputation.
Although it’s not solely true that Luciano Pavarotti’s rendition of ‘Nessun Dorma’ from Puccini’s Turandot was largely unfamiliar earlier than the Italia 90 match started – its inclusion in a latest Pirelli advert had already pricked the ears of tens of millions of TV viewers – it definitely embedded it in individuals’s consciousness, not least when related to the dramatic photographs of Gazza’s tears and Stuart Pearce’s penalty miss as England reached the semi-final in opposition to Germany.
Cue the Three Tenors phenomenon and booming CD gross sales.
1994: Bernstein’s West Aspect Story
After the stirring opera aria of 1990, the Beeb opted for sheer excessive spirits for the 1994 World Cup within the US – Bernstein’s vivacious ‘I wish to be in America’ from West Aspect Story greeted viewers tuning in to observe a match that included crazed aim celebrations by Maradona, a well-known German exit to Bulgaria and an infamously boring last between Brazil and Italy.
Fairly sensibly, BBC producers selected an orchestral second from Bernstein’s tune for the theme tune relatively than embody any of the phrases – provided that England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Eire had all did not qualify, ‘liking to be in America’ was however a distant dream.
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1998: Fauré’s Pavane
On the reverse finish of the emotional spectrum from ‘I wish to be in America’ was the restrained, nearly elegiac Fauré’s Pavane, the BBC’s alternative for the 1998 World Cup in France.
Organized for choir by British composer Elizabeth Parker, the work was reckoned by some to provide an air of sophistication – an ideal accompaniment to pictures of the Parisian skyline and the debonair manner of presenter Des Lynam – whereas others discovered it dispiritingly boring.
Sadly, it impressed neither Scotland nor England to nice issues, as France went on to win its personal match. Zut alors!
2006: Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus
How greatest to introduce a World Cup in Germany wherein England’s ‘golden era’ have been anticipated to be one of many favourites? The German-born, naturalised Englishman George Frederic Handel was an apparent alternative, particularly as a beefed-up model of the refrain ‘See the conquering hero comes’ from the oratorio Judas Maccabaeus struck simply the precise form of optimistic be aware.
Provided that the music was initially written to rejoice a victory over the largely Scottish Jacobite military on the notoriously bloody Battle of Culloden in 1746, it was, admittedly, maybe not essentially the most diplomatic alternative for pan-UK TV protection. Nonetheless, if any Scots feared it would encourage England to greatness they needn’t have feared, as Sven-Göran Eriksson’s crew wobbled out within the quarter-finals.
Essential picture by Matthias Hangst/Getty Photographs
