Music of the Inaugural Ceremony of London 2012: A Performance among Bells

Abstract

The music of the Olympic Games, especially that of their grandiose rituals and ceremonies, can be considered a great study laboratory due to its relevance, selection of contents, production forms, diffusion and also because of its capacity of being a synthesis of mediums, supports and musical tendencies. This research studies the music of the Inaugural Ceremony of London 2012 and has as its purpose determination of its presence from a communicative perspective. It examines it by means of musical analysis and also content revision, studying the music that is listened to and its characteristics, the way it is built up, and its effects and tendencies. Research results show its specific traits and relative positions in the communicative chain, being its persuasive and moving speech determinant for the effectiveness of this ceremony that would not make any sense without music. Music acts as an emotional catalyst and also as a metronome of the dynamism of the show and, finally, it shows its capacity to persuade, to move and to become a symbol of identity, achievements and agreements among cultures.