Olympic Hymn

Olympic Hymn

English: Olympic Anthem
Official anthem of Olympic Games
Also known as	Greek: Ολυμπιακός Ύμνος French: Hymne Olympique
Lyrics	Kostis Palamas
Music	Spyridon Samaras, 1896
Adopted	1958
Music sample
Olympic Hymn - Original Version

The Olympic Hymn (Greek: Ολυμπιακός Ύμνος, Olympiakós Ýmnos), also known informally as the Olympic Anthem, is a choral cantata by opera composer Spyridon Samaras, with lyrics by Greek poet Kostis Palamas. Both poet and composer were the choice of Demetrius Vikelas, a Greek Pro-European and the first President of the International Olympic Committee.

History

The anthem was performed for the first time for the ceremony of opening of the first edition at the 1896 Athens Olympic Games. In the following years every hosting nation commissioned to various musicians the composition of a specific Olympic hymn for their own edition of the games. This happened up to the edition at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.

The Anthem by Samaras and Palamas was declared the official Olympic Anthem by the International Olympic Committee in 1958 at the 55th Session of the IOC in Tokyo. Since 1960, it has been used at the Opening Ceremonies of each Olympic Games.^[1]

Lyrics

Original Greek	Transliterated into Latin alphabet
Αρχαίο Πνεύμα αθάνατο, αγνέ πατέρα του ωραίου, του μεγάλου και του αληθινού, Κατέβα, φανερώσου κι άστραψε εδώ πέρα στη δόξα της δικής σου γης και τ' ουρανού.   Στο δρόμο και στο πάλεμα και στο λιθάρι Στων ευγενών αγώνων λάμψε την ορμή Και με το αμάραντο στεφάνωσε κλωνάρι και σιδερένιο πλάσε και άξιο το κορμί. (δις)   Κάμποι, βουνά και θάλασσες φέγγουνε μαζί σου σαν ένας λευκοπόρφυρος μέγας ναός. Και τρέχει στο ναό εδώ προσκυνητής σου (δις) Αρχαίο Πνεύμα αθάνατο, κάθε λαός. (δις)	Arkhéo Pnévma athánato, aghné patéra tou oréou, tou meghálou ke tou alithinoú Katéva, fanerósou ki ástrapse edhó péra sti dhóksa tis dhikís sou ghis kai t'ouranoú.   Sto dhrómo ke sto pálema kai sto lithári Ston evghenón aghónon lámpse tin ormí. Ke me to amáranto stefánose klonári kai sidherénio pláse ke áksio to kormí. (twice)   Kámpi, vouná ke thálasses féngoune mazí sou san énas lefkopórfyros méghas naós Ke trékhi sto naó edhó proskynitís sou (twice) Arkhéo Pnévma athánato, káthe laós. (twice)
English translation (literal)	English translation (free)
O Ancient immortal Spirit, pure father Of beauty, of greatness and of truth, Descend, reveal yourself and flash like lightning here, within the glory of your own earth and sky.   At running and at wrestling and at throwing, Shine in the momentum of noble contests, And crown with the unfading branch And make the body worthy and ironlike. (twice)   Plains, mountains and seas glow with you Like a white-and-purple great temple, And hurries at the temple here, your pilgrim, (twice) O Ancient immortal Spirit, every nation. (twice)	Immortal spirit of antiquity Father of the true, beautiful and good Descend, appear, shed over us thy light Upon this ground and under this sky Which has first witnessed thy unperishable fame   Give life and animation to these noble games! Throw wreaths of fadeless flowers to the victors In the race and in the strife Create in our breasts, hearts of steel!   In thy light, plains, mountains and seas Shine in a roseate hue and form a vast temple To which all nations throng to adore thee Oh immortal spirit of antiquity!
English sung version
Olympian flame immortal Whose beacon lights our way Emblaze our hearts with the fires of hope On this momentous day   As now we come across the world To share these Games of old Let all the flags of every land In brotherhood unfold   Sing out each nation, voices strong Rise up in harmony All hail our brave Olympians With strains of victory   Olympic light burn on and on O'er seas and mountains and plains Unite, inspire, bring honor To these ascending games	May valor reign victorious Along the path of golden way   As tomorrow's new champions now come forth Rising to the fervent spirit of the game Let splendour pervade each noble deed Crowned with glory and fame   And let fraternity and fellowship Surround the soul of every nation   Oh flame, eternal in your firmament so bright Illuminate us with your everlasting light That grace and beauty and magnificence   Shine like the sun Blazing above Bestow on us your honor, truth and love
Note: This version, although often performed at opening/closing ceremonies, appears to enjoy far less exposure than the original. Hence its words may be determined only by listening to performances; correspondents will most probably disagree on the correct form. An alternate ending to the lyrics (used at the opening ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympics) was, "Bestow on us the wondrous prize of honor, truth and love."[2]

If the anthem is to be performed in English, then the English sung version is used, which has been usually in English-speaking countries. If it's to be performed in a language other than English or Greek, then the original version is translated to the language it is to be performed in. The only Olympics the English sung version was translated to other languages was in Vancouver. Dave Pierce, the music director during those games, had his associate, Donovan Seidle, arrange the anthem, translating some of the stanzas to French.^[3][4][5]

Languages in which anthem was performed

The anthem has been recorded and performed in many different languages, usually as a result of the hosting of either form of the Games in various countries. The IOC requires that the anthem be performed in either English or Greek.^[4]

Olympics	City	Language Performed	Notes
1960 Winter	Squaw Valley	English
1960 Summer	Rome	Italian
1964 Winter	Innsbruck	German
1964 Summer	Tokyo	Japanese	Sung in Japanese at the Closing Ceremony.[6]
1968 Winter	Grenoble	French
1968 Summer	Mexico City	Spanish
1972 Winter	Sapporo	Japanese
1972 Summer	Munich	Instrumental	An instrumental arrangement was used during the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.[7][8]
1976 Winter	Innsbruck	German
1976 Summer	Montreal	French
1980 Winter	Lake Placid	English
1980 Summer	Moscow	Russian & Greek	Anthem was performed in Russian at opening ceremony, but in Greek in closing ceremony.[9]
1984 Winter	Sarajevo	Serbo-Croatian
1984 Summer	Los Angeles	English
1988 Winter	Calgary	Greek	Decision was made to have it performed in Greek.[10][11]
1988 Summer	Seoul	Korean
1992 Winter	Albertville	French
1992 Summer	Barcelona	Spanish, Catalan, and French	At the opening ceremony, Alfredo Kraus sang the first two stanzas in Catalan and the rest of the hymn in Spanish and French.[12] At the closing ceremony, Plácido Domingo performed it entirely in Spanish.[13]
1994 Winter	Lillehammer	Norwegian	Performed at both the opening and closing ceremonies by Sissel Kyrkjebø
1996 Summer	Atlanta	English
1998 Winter	Nagano	Japanese	Performed by Nagano Festival Orchestra and sung by Nagano City Chidren's Chorus Group in Japanese.[14][15]
2000 Summer	Sydney	English & Greek	This was the only Olympics in which the anthem was performed in both of the languages the IOC requires the anthem to be performed in.[4] At the opening ceremony, the hymn was recorded and performed in Greek by the Millennium Choir of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in recognition of the substantial Greek population of Australia. At the closing ceremony, it was performed in English.
2002 Winter	Salt Lake City	English
2004 Summer	Athens	Greek	The rendition that was performed was arranged by John Psathas.[16]
2006 Winter	Torino	Instrumental/Abbreviated version	At these Olympics, an abbreviated version was performed at both the opening and closing ceremonies.[17]
2008 Summer	Beijing	Greek	Decision was made to have it performed in Greek at both the opening and closing ceremonies.[18]
2010 Winter	Vancouver	English & French	This was the only Olympics that the anthem was performed in both of the official languages of the Olympics. This was done to reflect Canada's languages.[4] Measha Brueggergosman at the opening ceremony and Ben Heppner at the closing ceremony sang the first two, the fourth, and sixth stanzas in English and the remainder in French.[3]
2010 Summer Youth	Singapore	Greek	Sung in Greek with French and English lyrics shown on screen as the Anthem was performed.[19]

See also

• Olympic symbols

References

1. ^ "Olympic Anthem Symbolism". LA84 Foundation. http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OlympicCurriculum/lang4.pdf. 
2. ^ Olympic Anthem Los Angeles 1984 Opening Ceremony on YouTube
3. ^ ^{a b} Measha Sings the Olympic Hymn.mp4 on YouTube
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Lederman, Marsha (February 17, 2010). "More French in closing ceremonies, executive producer says". The Globe and Mail: p. S1. 
5. ^ Dave Pierce, Donovan Seidle (2010). Sounds of Vancouver 2010: Opening Ceremony Commemorative Album (CD). 
6. ^ Tokyo Olympiad Closing Ceremony digest（the Hymn sung at 4:38-5:14） on YouTube
7. ^ Olympische Hymne 72 Olympic anthem 1972 on YouTube
8. ^ Olympische Spiele München 1972: Schlussfeier on YouTube
9. ^ 1980 Olympic Closing Ceremony - Part IV Olympic Anthem & Extinguishing of the Flame on YouTube
10. ^ 1988 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony Part 22 on YouTube
11. ^ 1988 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony Part 23 on YouTube
12. ^ Barcelona 1992 Opening Ceremony - Entrance of Olympic Flag - Olympic Anthem on YouTube
13. ^ Placido Domingo - Olimpic Closing Ceremony Barcelona 1992 on YouTube
14. ^ 1998 Olympics Opening Ceremony on YouTube
15. ^ Nagano 1998 Closing ceremony: the Olympic Hymn on YouTube
16. ^ Olympic Anthem Athens 2004 on YouTube
17. ^ Olympic Anthem and Torino 2006 Anthem Claudio Baglioni 2006 on YouTube
18. ^ Olympics Beijing 2008 - Hasteamento da bandeira olímpica - Pequim 2008 on YouTube
19. ^ Singapore Youth Olympic Games 2010 Opening Ceremony - Olympic Anthem on YouTube