The Games of the XXVII Olympiad 2000: Music from the Opening Ceremony
Compilation album by
various artists
Released18 September 2000
RecordedSummer 1999
GenreClassical, electronic, folk, world, country, funk/soul, pop, rock
LabelSony Music BMG
ProducerSOCOG, Ross Fraser

The Games of the XXVII Olympiad 2000: Music from the Opening Ceremony is a compilation album of music from the 2000 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, released in 2000.

Theme

The program celebrated a wide collection of exclusively Australian artists and composers from many different backgrounds. There was a focus on contemporary classical composers, such as Elena Kats-Chernin and Chong Lim, film composers such as Bruce Rowland and David Hirschfelder, Jazz artists such as James Morrison, Indigenous songlines arranged by David Page, House music from Peewee Ferris and pop from John Foreman, Paul Begaud, John Gillard, Trevor White, Vanessa Corish & Wayne Tester.[1][2] The opening piece to the artistic section, Deep Sea Dreaming, is still regularly performed by Kats-Chernin and by treble choirs in Australia.[3]

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra was the orchestra at the ceremony[1] and performed most of the works in the program, although some pieces performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra was noted in the program and CD.[2] It came to light in August 2008 that the Sydney Symphony mimed its performance during the opening ceremony to tracks prerecorded by both orchestras, after an incident at the 2008 Opening Ceremony revealed that a girl lip-synched a song and used another girl's voice.[4] Morrison's Fanfare performance was also mimed on the night.[5] All performances were recorded in either the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall or Studios 301 in Sydney.[2] All voice artists performed live.

The Australian bush song "Waltzing Matilda" became a musical motif as performed as a sing-a-long during the Prelude, quoted in Morrison's Fanfare and performed by the Sydney 2000 Band.[6][5]

The Flame was released as a single two weeks before the performance.

Release

The soundtrack The Games of the XXVII Olympiad: Official Music from the Opening Ceremony was released on 18 September. The music album peaked at number 1 on the ARIA Charts and was certified 2× platinum in Australia.[7] It was nominated at the 2001 ARIA Awards for Best Original Soundtrack Album.[8]

Music which was not on the official soundtrack included a remix of Eternity by Peewee Ferris which was played at the end of the Artistic section, the Marching Band arrangements of Olympic themes by Ken Dye,[9] and an excerpt from the orchestral work The Warriors: Music to an Imaginary Ballet by Percy Grainger, which was played during the rising of the cauldron.[10]

Track listing

The Games of the XXVII Olympiad 2000: Music from the Opening Ceremony track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)PerformerLength
1."The Flame"John ForemanTina Arena, Sydney Children's Choir & the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra3:31
2."Dare to Dream"Paul Begaud, Vanessa Corish & Wayne TesterJohn Farnham & Olivia Newton-John5:16
3."Heroes Live Forever"John Gillard & Trevor WhiteVanessa Amorosi4:34
4."Under Southern Skies"Damien Halloran & Maria MillwardNikki Webster & Sing 2001 Choir3:23
5."Countdown Fanfare"Richard MillsSydney Symphony Orchestra1:07
6."The Man from Snowy River — Olympic Version"Bruce RowlandSydney Symphony Orchestra3:29
7."Fanfare"James MorrisonJames Morrison & Swing City1:34
8."Advance Australia Fair"Peter Dodds McCormick, Arranged by David Stanhope[11][12]Human Nature, Julie Anthony, James Morrison, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Sydney University Musical Society & Sing 2001 Choir3:35
9."Deep Sea Dreaming"Elena Kats-CherninSydney Children's Choir & the Sydney Symphony Orchestra4:07
10."Awakening"Djakapurra Munyarryun, David Page, Stephen Francis, Peggy Misi, Elma Kris, Matthew Doyle, & Don NindihirribalaDjakapurra Munyarryun, Don Nindihirribala, David Page with Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara & Yankunytjatjara Women & Doonooch Dance Co7:02
11."Fire"Michael AskillMichael Askill & Fire Percussion2:42
12."Nature"Chong Lim[12]Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Chorale & National Boys Choir of Australia6:45
13."Tin"Ian Cooper, John Frohlich, John Gillard & Trevor White, Paul GrabowskyIan Cooper, John Frolich, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra & National Boys Choir8:21
14."Arrivals"Pee Wee FerrisPee Wee Ferris5:16
15."Eternity"David HirschfelderDavid Hirschfelder6:23
16."Games 2000 Fanfare"David StanhopeSydney Symphony Orchestra0:37
17."The Olympic Hymn"Spyridon Samaras & Kostis PalamasThe Millenium Choir of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia & The Sydney Symphony Orchestra2:55
18."Tibi Omnes from the Berlioz Te Deum"Hector BerliozSydney Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Sydney University Musical Society, Sing 2001 Choir & Sydney Children's Choir8:20

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for The Games of the XXVII Olympiad 2000: Music from the Opening Ceremony
Chart (2000) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[13] 1

Year-end chart

Year-end chart performance for The Games of the XXVII Olympiad 2000: Music from the Opening Ceremony
Chart (2000) Rank
Australia (ARIA)[7] 15

Certifications

Certifications for The Games of the XXVII Olympiad 2000: Music from the Opening Ceremony
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[7] 2× Platinum 140,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ a b "Australian Stars to Shine at Sydney 2000 Olympic Opening Ceremony". Sportcal. SOCOG Press Release. 9 August 2000. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "CD Sydney 2000, the Games of the XXVII Olympiad : official music from the Opening Ceremony". Australian Music Centre. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  3. ^ Kats-Chernin, Elena. "Work Deep sea dreaming (treble choir with full orchestra)". Australian Music Centre. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  4. ^ Jinman, Richard (26 August 2008). "Revealed: Sydney Olympics faked it too". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
  5. ^ a b Ferin, Roy. "FACSIMILE TRANSMISSION" (PDF). HSC 2001 Music 2 Standards Pack. NSW Education Standards Authority. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  6. ^ Cazeneuve, Brian (15 September 2012). "Opening secrets". CNN. Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 19 August 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  7. ^ a b c "2000 ARIA ALBUMS CHART". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  8. ^ "ARIA Awards: Past Winners 2001". ARIA. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  9. ^ Dame, ENR, ZCR, CNM // Marketing Communications: Web // University of Notre. "Kenneth - Dye // Department of Music // University of Notre Dame". Department of Music. Retrieved 13 February 2021.((cite web)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "Percy Grainger - Australian recordings, performances". Move Records. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  11. ^ Stanhope, David. "David Stanhope News Archives: Archive for October 2000". www.davidstanhope.com. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  12. ^ a b Grafton, Julius (October 2000). "Olympics shine may be unbeatable". Connections #81. CX Network. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Various – The Games of the XXVII Olympiad: Official Music from the Opening Ceremony". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
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