Europa 25 by Scanner

This project – created in response to a request from the British Council Brussels to find a way of celebrating the expansion of Europe in 2004 - represented Europe’s diversity and unity. Taking themes from every existing member’s national anthem and collaging them into a single sacred song, I tried to offer an alternative and playful approach to a possible contemporary interpretation of what an anthem might sound like.

The accepted European anthem is based on the final movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s ninth symphony, which is based on Friedrich Schiller’s ode An die Freude (Ode to Joy). Due to the large number of languages used in Europe the anthem is purely instrumental and has no lyrics. The anthem was originally adopted by the Council of Europe in 1972.

This recording explores a personal interpretation through a mixology of themes familiar to each country, of voices and field recordings from each territory, images that reflect the personality of each distinct nation, video projections that echo every province.

There is a short main theme which features melodies taken from each country. In between there are other explorations of this theme through a series of mixes, slipping from warm seductive moods to pixellated abstraction.

Europa 25 was not intended to replace the national anthems of the Member States but rather to celebrate the values they all share and their unity in diversity.

In making this available in 2020 feels like an especially surreal experience, and from a personal point of view an acknowledgment of how borders are again being built between people, culture and ideas, in a most disheartening way.

Tracklist

1.	Europa 25	1:34

2.	Panorama	4:06

3.	Merge, Movement & Motion	7:18
4.	Intercontinental	5:16
5.	Planeta	5:24
6.	A Balance For Others	7:10

Credits

released November 29, 2004

Written and performed by Robin Rimbaud

With thanks to the British Council for enabling this to happen

License