The BOS to play the Anthem in San Mamés

On Sunday, 25 November, at 17:00 hours, during the interval of the Athletic Club-Deportivo A Coruña match, the Symphony Orchestra of Bilbao (BOS) will offer a concert in San Mamés. This act is offered on the occasion of the commemorative program of BOS’s 90th anniversary festivities (1922-2012).

The event is being organized thanks to the collaboration of Symphony Orchestra of Bilbao (BOS) and Athletic with the objective of celebrating, in a very special way, its anniversary celebration with 40,000 guests. Symphony Orchestra of Bilbao (BOS) has wanted to celebrate its 90th anniversary by visiting the historical field of San Mamés to interpret a brief musical program coinciding with an official match. This concert in San Mamés will be the most thronged concert for BOS in its ninety-year history.

The program that the orchestra will be interpreting will be a tribute to the English’s path through San Mamés. Athletic Club has the privilege of having an official hymn created by a prestigious composer, and tireless rojiblanco fan: Carmelo Bernaola (1929-2002). Bernaola composed various versions of this hymn, including that which is going to be interpreted, for orchestras and choirs.

The Athletic Club anthem will be interpreted before the beginning of the match, and later, during halftime, another two pieces will be played. The first will be a brief fanfare, composed of brass instruments, created by Paul Dukas (1865-1935) for the beginning of his ballet ‘The Peri’. With this piece, the BOS wishes to appeal and draw the public’s attention, because fanfares work as a powerful and solemn sonorous call.

The second piece that the BOS will interpret will be the well-known ‘Pomp and Circumstance March number 1’, of Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934), one of better known English melodies. The election of this piece corresponds to BOS’s desire, shared by Athletic Club, to offer a tribute to San Mamés stadium; its architecture, history and culture which are and have been strongly tied to English football from the very beginning. In addition, the piece will allow many spectators to enjoy live a well-known work of musical art.

With this program, the Symphony Orchestra of Bilbao (BOS) wishes to bring music to all the fans but without impairing their first-rate cultural institution character.

An important technical and operational task of almost 200 people, including Symphony professors, choir singers and technical personal of all sorts will take part in this event; whilst also taking into consideration the complication of the different aspects of moving the Orchestra to San Mamés. On the one hand, we must consider that is won’t be an easy task to accommodate a Symphony in the stands of a football ground so as to prepare and condition the space where the orchestra will be playing. A wooden platform will be built to locate the most bulky and fragile instruments such as cellos, double basses and percussion… and the rest of instrumentalists will occupy one of the stands located under one of the video-scoreboards along with choir members.

The sound is going to be recorded and amplified by means of a complex technical device with the objective of transmitting the sound to a very large audience in an enormous open space as is San Mamés, with the highest possible quality.

Collaborating choirs of ‘Bizkaia sings to Athletic’

Various Choirs from Biscay will be participating in the concert, as well as the University of the Basque Country Choir, who will join in with the Symphony (BOS) to interpret the Athletic Club anthem, in representation of all of Biscay.

Considering that the oldest choir formation participating in the event is no less than the Bilbao Choral Society, it will be a tenor from that same society who will interpret the three ‘Athletic!’ of the beginning of the anthem. The choirs that will be taking part in the event are: Bilbao Choral Society, Bakioko Abesbatza, Ondarreta Choir, University of the Basque Country Choir, Inmakuladako Abesbatza from Basurto, Jatorki Abesbatza from Bilbao, Cámera Doinuzahar Choir from Durango, Santa Maria Choir from Portugalete, Cámera Choir from Galdakao. Each of the invited choirs will provide between four and eight voices to the concert.