Last weekend Sweden’s Henrik Stenson won British Open 2016 in Golf. For their coverage of this event, NBC brought back Yanni’s “In Celebration Of Man”. Hear the new version below.
It is a customized rendition the song, which is a longtime theme music associated with NBC Sports’ men’s major championship golf coverage. This version interweaves distinct bagpipe notes – played by world-renowned musician Eric Rigler (Braveheart, Titanic) – within the composition to embody the Scottish heritage of The Open.
AwfulAnnouncing.com writes:
“The Yanni theme was initially submitted to CBS as a possibility for their 1992 Winter Olympics theme song, but they passed on it and NBC picked it up, at first for their 1992 Summer Olympic preview show. They then made it the theme for their U.S. Open coverage from 1995 to 2014, with NBC golf producer Tommy Roy gushing over it to Myers:
“It’s been a perfect piece of music that really has branded I think the U.S. Open and all of the USGA telecasts on NBC,” Roy said. …”If you get the right one, I think it’s hugely important because it becomes a brand of the property in a way. If you think of the Olympics. You hear that music coming on the air and it just creates a mood and it creates memories and you know something really big is about to happen. And that’s the same way with ‘In Celebration of Man.’ You hear that music and you know this is the U.S. Open is coming on. You know it’s a big-time sporting event and it’s time to sit down and watch.”
At that time, Roy said he didn’t envision NBC using the theme for other events given its close association with the U.S. Open. That stance appears to have changed, and the new version will even include a nod to the British Open’s setting.”
Here’s a version of the theme from NBC’s 2008 U.S. Open coverage: