The London Philharmonic Orchestra recorded all 205 anthems in 50 hours

Old news, maybe, but the London Philharmonics managed to record all 205 national anthems of the London 2012 Olympics in just 50 hours over six days at the legendary Abbey Road Studios. That is about 15 minutes per song, arranged and rearranged to last 1 minute, to be ready for the 100 team welcome ceremonies and 805 victory ceremonies. Did you know that the Congo national anthem asks “And if we have to die/ Does it really matter?”, and that the opening line of Ukraine’s anthem is “Ukraine is not yet dead”?

And it is not just a question of playing them, but also to give each one of them a special London 2012 feel. Wow.