2023-01-08 – 13:00 h

Variety has informed that legendary composer John Williams has written an original theme for ESPN’s College Football Playoff National Championship.

 

Named ‘Of Grit and Glory’, this three and a half minutes theme “plays like a joyful overture, opening with fanfares and shifting seamlessly from martial urgency to anthemic splendor, all richly orchestrated and instantly memorable.”

 

The theme was recorded on December 21st, 2022, at the Sony Scoring Stage where John Williams conducted a 96-piece orchestra and ESPN brought seven cameras, to shoot the entire three-hour recording session, parts of which will be intertwined throughout the opening segment.

 

The piece will air tomorrow, Monday Jan 9, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, prior to the TCU-Georgia game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

 

In John Williams’ words:

“Intercollegiate football has been at the heart and soul of our nation’s life for so long that the opportunity to musically salute this great tradition has been a particularly meaningful joy for me. I was thrilled and excited when ESPN suggested that I write a theme for the Jan. 9 championship game.

 

The games themselves always raise the collective spirit and, in the end, the competition brings us all closer to a place where the concept of winners and losers dissolves into mutual respect and admiration. The invitation to write this music constitutes a great honor for me, and I feel especially privileged to make a small contribution to one of our country’s most treasured traditions.”

 

You can read the whole article at the following link in Variety:

https://variety.com/2023/music/news/john-williams-writes-new-theme-for-espn-college-football-1235480841/

 

If you’re curious about Williams’ work for spots & television, you can also watch the following 3-minute video where he explains his music for ‘NBC’s Sunday Night Football’ composed in 2006: