UEFA Champions League Anthem

The anthem is played inside the stadium before the start of each UEFA Champions League match, in addition to the beginning and end of television broadcasts of the games.

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.

For the recording used in television transmissions of UEFA Champions League matches and events, the piece was performed by London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and sung by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chorus.

Anthony King writes:[4] The majestic music which rises to an impressive major key crescendo signifies the installation of a new head of state.

The baroque music of the Zadok anthem associates the Champions League with the monarchies of Ancien Regime Europe.

It is interesting that the anthem is orchestrated so that the most prominent instruments at this climax are horns; they communicate a shining metallic sound which musically reflects the trophy itself.

Music and colours merge together as one dense signifier, communicating a concept of silver in both sound and vision.For the season, 2024/25 the anthem was slightly refined by Tony Britten and re-recorded as part of a new brand identity for the UEFA Champions League.

[9] Ce sont les meilleures équipes Sie sind die allerbesten Mannschaften The main event

Die Meister Die Besten Les grandes équipes The champions The anthem's chorus is played before each UEFA Champions League game as the two teams are lined up, as well as at the beginning and end of television broadcasts of the matches, and when the winning team lifts the trophy after the final.