MassiveMusic develops new UEFA Women’s Champions League anthem
The UEFA Women’s Champions League, an international women's association football competition, worked with international creative music agency MassiveMusic to develop a distinctive anthem that aims to capture the hearts and minds of players and fans all over the world.
UEFA’s brief for the anthem was classic yet modern, combining emotion and power, whilst also being iconically memorable. MassiveMusic drew inspiration from coronation anthems for queens and princesses as well as classical music pieces. From this research, MassiveMusic learned that most famous anthems are composed in Baroque timing and contain vast musical complexities when it comes to arrangement, counterpoints and harmonies.
Merging this knowledge with contemporary inspiration resulted in a composition that aims to encapsulate the journey of the players from the tunnel to the pitch. Firstly, with the walk-on fan chant as the players enter the pitch, followed by a full orchestral piece building up in a crescendo as the players are lined up.
“Turning the vocal melody into a classical choir as well as a fan chant meant that we created something for both players and fans to really connect with. We formed a women-led creative committee to provide feedback on sound composition throughout the creative process, ensuring the piece conveys an empowering message for women,” says Lodewijk Pöttker, executive creative producer at MassiveMusic.
Featuring UEFA’s three official languages, English, German and French, the anthem contains phrases to give an extra confidence boost to the players and fans before the whistle blows, including ‘All unite, Das große Spiel (the biggest game), The time is now, C’est maintenant (it’s now), They stand, With pride.” Aided by this new anthem, UEFA has brought a new identity to the women’s game.
“People need to know the UEFA Women’s Champions League, they need to have something they can relate to and be attached to and I believe such an anthem is really important for a recognisable competition,” says Nadine Kessler, UEFA’s chief of women’s football.
The Groot OmroepKoor choir recording, led by female conductor Martina Batič, aims to expresses the majesty, energy and power of the best women’s club competition in the world, conveying an empowering message of strength and courage for women, aiming to change perceptions and celebrate their skill.
The addition of a new anthem and branding is just the latest stage of an overhaul of UEFA women’s football, in line with UEFA’s 'Time for Action' strategy, which aims to double the reach and value of UEFA flagship women's competitions by 2024.
