From Seoul to Paris: the 36-year journey of CBC's Olympic theme song
CBC Music | Posted: July 5, 2024 1:07 PM | Last Updated: July 5
Created in 1988, the memorable piece of music has undergone some big transformations
Written by Alex Whorms
The 2024 Summer Olympic Games will begin in Paris on July 26, and millions of viewers across the country will be tuning in to cheer for Team Canada from home.
The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, broadcast by CBC, were watched by three out of every four Canadians — and that doesn't include the 17 million hours of Olympic content consumed on CBC digital platforms that year.
Many factors come together to shape these broadcasts into memorable and immersive experiences, drawing so many of us into the world of the Olympics — and one crucial element is the music.
Though we may not always be aware of it, the soundtrack that accompanies these broadcasts plays a crucial role in our perception of Olympic coverage, setting the scene for the intense competition and once-in-a-lifetime memories we are about to witness.
The original CBC Olympic theme was composed by Canadian songwriters Marc Cholette, John Doerr and Marcel Aymar through their production company Majoma Music. It debuted during CBC's broadcast of the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul.
LISTEN | The CBC Olympic theme from 1988:
The orchestral fanfare of soaring trumpets, strings and steady drums conveys strength and endurance. At a bold forte, the melody climbs steadily higher to build excitement for the upcoming competition and concludes with a victorious tonic chord.
This tune has become iconic and continues to appear, recorded in a new musical style, every Olympics. One early reinterpretation was created for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
LISTEN | The CBC Olympic theme from 2004:
In this version, we hear traditional Greek bouzouki, a plucked, steel-stringed instrument similar to the mandolin. Additional percussion and voices also appear — at a sprint, compared to the original tempo.
Composers Igor Correia and Tom Westin collaborated on the theme for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. The lively samba adaptation contains new arrangements for horns, strings and drums, inspired by the celebratory music of Brazil's Carnival.
LISTEN: The CBC Olympic theme from 2016:
The 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games theme incorporates traditional Korean instruments like janggu, an hourglass-shaped drum with two heads, and gayageum, a 12-stringed, plucked zither instrument.
LISTEN: The CBC Olympic theme from 2018:
The 2024 Olympic theme was recently unveiled, and was composed by award-winning Canadian music producer Orin Isaacs.
LISTEN: The CBC Olympic theme for 2024:
In this slick EDM track, drum machines set up energy and groove. Majoma Music's legendary motif returns once more, played in octaves by vivid synths and a bright stage piano. Echoing vocals singing the French words "Vas-y!" ("Let's go!") invite viewers to join the thrill of another Olympics.