Available digitally after the Ceremony: 00:15hrs Saturday 28 July
and released on all other formats from: 2 August
on DECCA RECORDS/UMC
Available from Itunes
London, 00:30hrs Saturday 28 July 2012: A stirring selection of the music created and curated for the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony is available digitally now, just moments after the Ceremony has ended.
From the moment the specially-commissioned 23-ton bell, the largest harmonically tuned bell in the world, chimed, the Olympic Stadium came to life with music. The emotional punch and strength of two brand new compositions from Music Directors Underworld provided two of the most stirring moments of the night. From the majestic beauty of the LSO’s On Track Orchestra’s performing Elgar’s ‘Nimrod’ to performances from Mike Oldfield, Frank Turner, Arctic Monkeys, Dizzee Rascal, Emeli Sandé and Sir Paul McCartney, the entire Opening Ceremony celebrated the global impact of British music.
The music for Danny Boyles Opening Ceremony was overseen by Music Director Rick Smith, of the electronic duo Underworld. Smith composed two original pieces of music for the Ceremony as well as producing all the music elements of the three-hour extravaganza.
The two new Underworld compositions were ‘And I Will Kiss’, which accompanied the sequence ‘Pandemonium’ celebrating the industrial revolution, lasting 15 minutes, and ‘Calibans Dream’ which announced the arrival of the Olympic Torch in the stadium, and the subsequent lighting of the cauldron.
Rick Smith said: “Music is Britain’s cultural heartbeat; it’s a perpetual act of revolutionary thought. From William Blake to the Beatles via The Clash and The Chemical brothers, the soundtrack to our lives fizzes and hums all around us like a stray signal from a radio dial that your internal antenna just can’t help but tune into”
The Opening Ceremony also featured performances from Emeli Sandé with ‘Abide With Me’, Dizzee Rascal performing ‘Bonkers’, Arctic Monkeys with ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ and a cover of The Beatles ‘Come Together’ and Sir Paul McCartney with ‘The End’ plus an inspired accompaniment to the army of NHS nurses and children from Great Ormond Street Hospital by Mike Oldfield. His live reworking of the classic ‘Tubular Bells’ and ‘In Dulci Jubilo’ was yet another uniquely British showstopper.
Danny Boyle, Artistic Director of the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, revealed in January that the Ceremony theme had been inspired by The Tempest’s ‘Isles of Wonder’ speech – from which the title of the album has been taken, and starred cast of more than 10,000 performers.
In December 2011 it was announced that LOCOG had appointed Underworld, the British electronic music duo, as Music Directors of the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. Underworld’s Rick Smith and Karl Hyde had previously worked with filmmaker Danny Boyle on film soundtracks such as ‘Trainspotting’, ‘The Beach’ and ‘Sunshine’, and most recently on the Olivier-nominated music for ‘Frankenstein’ at the National Theatre.
The Olympic Games is regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate. The celebration of the Games encompasses many protocols, symbols, such as the Olympic Flag and Flame, as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. As the Host City, London has showcased itself to the world, with an estimated viewing audience of up to 1 billion people.
Full Tracklisting:
CD1 Isles of Wonder
1) Frank Turner - I Still Believe
2) Four Nations Choirs - Jerusalem, Flower of Scotland, Danny Boy, Bread of Heaven
3) LSO On Track Orchestra & François-Xavier Roth – Nimrod
4) Underworld feat. Dame Evelyn Glennie and the Pandemonium Drummers - And I Will Kiss
5) Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells / In Dulci Jubilo
6) LSO - Chariots of Fire
7) Blanck Mass & LSO – Sundowner
8) Dizzee Rascal - Bonkers - Radio Edit
9) A.R. Rahman feat. Jaspreet Jasz - Nimma Nimma
10) Emeli Sandé – Heaven
11) Emeli Sandé - Abide With Me
12) Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor (Live)
13) Arctic Monkeys - Come Together (Live)
14) Underworld feat. Dockhead Choir, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Only Men Aloud, Elizabeth Roberts, Esme Smith and Alex Trimble - Caliban’s Dream
CD2 Welcome
1) Chemical Brothers – Galvanize
2) High Contrast - Moon Watcher
3) Underworld - Always Loved A Film – Instrumental
4) Underworld - Dark & Long (Dark Train) (Remix)
5) Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls
6) Underworld - Minneapolis (High Contrast Remix)
7) High Contrast – Reach
8) High Contrast - Ghost Dance
9) Underworld - Confusion The Waitress (Darren Price & High Contrast Remix)
10) Wretch 32 feat. L – Traktor
11) F Buttons - Olympians (High Contrast Remix)
12) High Contrast - Can’t Stop This Fire
13) Underworld - Moon In Water (Instrumental Remix)
14 )Underworld - Crocodile (High Contrast Remix)
15) U2 - Where the Streets Have No Name (High Contrast Remix)
16) High Contrast - For Years
17) Underworld - Dirty Epic (Darren Price & High Contrast Remix)
18) High Contrast - The Long Way Home
19) Underworld - Dark & Long (Darren Price & High Contrast Remix)
20) Underworld - Rez (High Contrast Remix)
21) David Bowie – Heroes
22) Chemical Brothers - Galvanize
‘Isles of Wonder - Music For The Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games’
Available digitally on: 28 July and released on all other formats from: 2 August
The album is released by Decca Records, one of Britain’s historic record labels housed within Universal Music (official music licensee for the London 2012 Olympic Games) with the support of The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG). ‘Isles of Wonder - Music For The Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games’ is released immediately, on the world’s foremost download and streaming platforms, after the ceremony post-midnight on Saturday 28 July prior to the physical release on 2 August.
