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BRITTEN, Tony – Champions League Theme Music (Concert piece) – 8 CELLOS or CELLO ORCHESTRA

Other Identification:
The UEFA Champions League Anthem, officially titled simply as “Champions League”, is the official anthem of the UEFA Champions League, written by English composer Tony Britten in 1992. It was adapted from George Frideric Händel’s anthem Zadok the Priest, which is traditionally performed at the coronation of British monarchs.

In a 2013 newspaper interview, Britten stated that “I had a commercials agent and they approached me to write something anthemic and because it was just after The Three Tenors at the World Cup in Italy so classical music was all the rage. Hooliganism was a major, major problem and UEFA wanted to take the game into a completely different area altogether. There’s a rising string phase which I pinched from Handel and then I wrote my own tune. It has a kind of Handelian feel to it but I like to think it’s not a total rip-off.”

Britten also mentioned that he does not own the rights to the anthem, which are retained by UEFA, but he receives royalties when it is used. It should be mentioned that David Johnstone, in his reworking of this music for Eight Cellos or Cello Orchestra, has in no place registered this music in his own name – any royalties would go to the rightful owners.

Instrumentation: OCTET OF EIGHT CELLOS, OR CELLO ORCHESTRA
Arranged by David Johnstone

This music is in 3 PDFs:
[1 – General Score
[2 – Cellos 1 to 4
[3 – Cellos 5 to 8

Approximate difficulty:
MEDIUM for the top parts (however most parts are Easy-Medium!)

There is a fair degree of orchestration in this presentation, so as to be suitable for all moderate cellists; although thumb position is occasionally required in the uppermost parts this will always be comfortable, usually with the thumb resting on the octave harmonic. In the lower parts there are occasional double-stoppings; not especially hard but they might be played ‘divisi’ when larger groups of more than eight cellists play the piece.

Dedicatee of this presentation (if applicable):
This musical creation was prepared for Noelia Pepita Jimenez & ‘Freaky Cellos’ – in Priego (Cordoba), Andalucia, Spain

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Who plays Johnstone-Music?

Johnstone Music has been performed by orchestras and conservatories worldwide, earning international recognition in cello repertoire.

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