In the early days of international figure skating competitions, music was a lot like a floral garnish on a dinner plate. It was there, it was pretty... but it really didn't serve any real purpose.
The first free skating performances skated in the Olympics weren't designed with any specific music in mind. It really didn't matter if the band played a military march or "I'm A Little Teapot" when Ulrich Salchow first demonstrated his namesake jump. The judges were far more interested in his rockers and spins than the jumps he performed or how he kept time with the music anyway.
After a flag was dropped to signify the start of a skater's program, a band played a waltz or a march until 'time' was called by the referee. The style of background music used was sometimes not even of the skater's choosing. Such was the case at the 1932 Olympics in Lake Placid, when the band played the exact same tune for all twelve of the men's competitors. It was said that it was the only classical piece they knew.
By the mid-thirties, the orchestra or band was replaced with specially cut gramophone records and more consideration was given to a skater's musical interpretation. In the decades that followed, cassette tapes and CD's were used. In today's world, everything is digital.
In today's blog, we'll take a look at the soundtrack of figure skating - the music that Olympic Gold Medallists have used for their winning performances over the years. A very special thanks to Dr. Matthias Hampe and Frazer Ormondroyd for their assistance in compiling this information!
MEN
|
Year |
Winner |
Short Program |
Free Skate |
|
1908 |
Ulrich Salchow |
(N/A) |
Live accompaniment |
|
1920 |
Gillis Grafström |
(N/A) |
Live accompaniment |
|
1924 |
Gillis Grafström |
(N/A) |
Live accompaniment |
|
1928 |
Gillis Grafström |
(N/A) |
Live accompaniment |
|
1932 |
Karl Schäfer |
(N/A) |
Live accompaniment: Medley including "Orpheus at the Underworld" (Jacques Offenbach) |
|
1936 |
Karl Schäfer |
(N/A) |
Waltz and modern selections |
|
1948 |
Dick Button |
(N/A) |
"Roumanian Rhapsody" (George Enescu, Andre Kostelanetz) |
|
1952 |
Dick Button |
(N/A) |
"Roumanian Rhapsody" (George Enescu, Andre Kostelanetz) |
|
1956 |
Hayes Alan Jenkins |
(N/A) |
"Scheherazade" (Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov) |
|
1960 |
David Jenkins |
(N/A) |
"Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16" (Edvard Grieg) |
|
1964 |
Manfred Schnelldorfer |
(N/A) |
"Carmen" (Georges Bizet)/"Grandfather's Dance"
from "The Nutcracker" (Pyotr Ilrich Tchaikovsky)/ "Boccaccio: Overture" (Franz von Suppè)
|
|
1968 |
Wolfgang Schwarz |
(N/A) |
"Grand March" from "Aida" (Giuseppe Verdi)/"Symphony No. 9 in E- Minor - From The New World" (Antonín Dvořák)/"Semiramide" (Gioachino Rossini) |
|
1972 |
Ondrej Nepela |
(N/A) |
"Homage March, Op. 22 No. 4" from "Sigurd Jorsalfar" (Edvard Grieg)/"Bacchanale" from "Samson and Delilah" (Camille Saint-Saëns) |
|
1976 |
John Curry |
"Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini Op.43: XII Variation" (Sergei Rachmaninoff, arranged by Nikolai Lugansky) |
"Don Quixote" (Ludwig Minkus) from "Nureyev's Don Quixote" (The Elizabethan Trust Melbourne Orchestra, arranged by John Lanchbery) |
|
1980 |
Robin Cousins |
"The Railway Children" (Johnny Douglas and His Orchestra) |
"Belle De Jour" (Saint Tropez)/"Dragons Of Midnight" (The Mike Theodore Orchestra)/"Murder On The Orient Express: Finale" (Charles Taylor, Marcus Dods, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House)/"Paint It Black" (Johnny Harris) |
|
1984 |
Scott Hamilton |
"Samson and Delilah" (Camille Saint-Saëns)/ "The Sharish Polka" (Lúčnica, Czechoslovakian Folk Ballet from Bratislava) |
"Overture" from "Guardian Of The Light" (George Duke)/"Ren" (Hiroshima)/"Swan Lake" (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky) |
|
1988 |
Brian Boitano |
"Entrée" from "Les Patineurs" (Giacomo Meyerbeer, National Philharmonic Orchestra) |
"Pozzo Theme", "Fort Carré Prison", "Victorious In Italy and Finale" from "Napoléon" (Carmine Coppola) |
|
1992 |
Viktor Petrenko |
"Carmen" (Georges Bizet) |
"Raymond: Overture" (Ambroise Thomas)/"Le Cid" (Jules Massenet)/"Waltz op. 64 No. 2" (Frédéric Chopin)/"I Vespi Siciliani overture" (Giuseppe Verdi |
|
1994 |
Alexei Urmanov |
"Rigoletto", "La donna è mobile" (Giuseppe Verdi) |
"Semiramide: Overture", "La Gazza Ladra - The Thieving Magpie", "William Tell Overture"(Gioachino Rossini)/"Poet and Peasant" (Franz von Suppé) |
|
1998 |
Ilia Kulik |
"Overture" from ""Révolution Industrielle" (Jean-Michel Jarre) |
"Rhapsody In Blue" (George Gershwin) |
|
2002 |
Alexei Yagudin |
"Winter" (Bond) |
"Surrounded", "Heart Of A King" from "The Man In The Iron Mask" (Nick Glennie-Smith) |
|
2006 |
Evgeni Plushenko |
"E lucevan le stelle" from "Tosca" (Giacomo Puccini) |
"The Godfather" (Edvin Marton) |
|
2010 |
Evan Lysacek |
"The Firebird" (Igor Stravinsky) |
"Scheherazade" (Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov) |
|
2014 |
Yuzuru Hanyu |
"Parisienne Walkways" (Gary Moore) |
"Romeo and Juliet" (Nino Rota) |
|
2018 |
Yuzuru Hanyu |
"Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23" (Frédéric Chopin) |
"Seimei" from "Onmyōji" (Shigeru Umebayashi) |
WOMEN
|
Year |
Winner |
Short Program |
Free Skate |
|
1908 |
Madge Syers |
(N/A) |
Live accompaniment |
|
1920 |
Magda Julin |
(N/A) |
Live accompaniment |
|
1924 |
Herma Szabo |
(N/A) |
Live accompaniment |
|
1928 |
Sonja Henie |
(N/A) |
Live accompaniment |
|
1932 |
Sonja Henie |
(N/A) |
Live accompaniment |
|
1936 |
Sonja Henie |
(N/A) |
"Rosen aus dem Süden" (Johann Strauss II) |
|
1948 |
Barbara Ann Scott |
(N/A) |
"Les Patineurs" (Giacomo Meyerbeer)/"March Of The Toys" from "Babes In Toyland" (Victor Herbert)/"Coppélia" (Léo Delibes) |
|
1952 |
Jeannette Altwegg |
(N/A) |
"Tales Of Hoffmann" (Jacques Offenbach) |
|
1956 |
Tenley Albright |
(N/A) |
"Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour" from "Tales Of Hoffmann" (Jacques Offenbach), Selections by Antonin Vivaldi, Johann Strauss Jr. |
|
1960 |
Carol Heiss |
(N/A) |
"Giselle", "If I Were King" (Adolphe Adam)/"Second Suite" from "The Nutcracker" (Pyotr Ilrich Tchaikovsky)/"La Gazza Ladra - The Thieving Magpie" (Giaochino Rossini) |
|
1964 |
Sjoukje Dijkstra |
(N/A) |
"Les Patineurs" (Giacomo Meyerbeer)/"Scène et pas d'action", "Scène: Arrivée de Nouredda" from "La source" (Léo Delibes) |
|
1968 |
Peggy Fleming |
(N/A) |
"Symphony No. 6 - Pathetique" (Pyotr Ilrich Tchaikovsky)/"Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" from "Samson and Delilah" (Camille Saint-Saëns)/"La Gazza Ladra - The Thieving Magpie" (Giaochino Rossini) |
|
1972 |
Trixi Schuba |
(N/A) |
"Man Of La Mancha" (Mitch Leigh)/"Medley" (The Boston Pops Orchestra, Arthur Fiedler)/"The Impossible Dream" (Mitch Leigh) |
|
1976 |
Dorothy Hamill |
"Konzertstück in A-Flat Major, Op. 113" (Vienna Symphony Orchestra) |
"Captain Blood","Love Is Love" from "Escape Me Never", "Overture" from "Elizabeth & Essex", "Nora's Theme" from "Of Human Bondage" (Erich Wolfgang Korngold)
|
|
1980 |
Anett Pötzsch |
"Something's Coming", "America" from "West Side Story Medley" (Frank Chacksfield and His Orchestra) |
"Overture" from "Funny Girl" (Jule Styne) |
|
1984 |
Katarina Witt |
"Csárdás" (Vittorio Monti) |
"I Got Rhythm", "Embraceable You", "Mona Lisa" from "Crazy For You" (George Gershwin) |
|
1988 |
Katarina Witt |
"Overture", "I Am What I Am", "Hello, Dolly!" from "Jerry's Girls" (Jerry Herman) |
"Introduction", Dance", "Carmen's Entrance and Habañera", "Finale" from "Carmen" (Georges Bizet, Rodion Shchedrin) |
|
1992 |
Kristi Yamaguchi |
"Blue Danube" (Johann Strauss, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra) |
"Malaguena" (Ernesto Lecuona, Stanley Black and His Orchestra) |
|
1994 |
Oksana Baiul |
"Pas de deux, Intrada - Tempo di Valse", "Variation d'Odile" from "Swan Lake" (Peter Llyich Tchaikovsky, Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra) |
"The Rain In Spain" from "My Fair Lady", "My Favourite Things" from "The Sound Of Music", "Somewhere" from "West Side Story", "One" from "A Chorus Line", "Cabaret" from "Cabaret" (Andre Kostelanetz and His Orchestra) |
|
1998 |
Tara Lipinski |
"Once Upon A December", "Journey To The Past" from "Anastasia" (David Newman) |
"Prelude and Opening" from "The Rainbow" (Carl Davis)/"Scenes of Summer: Festival" (Lee Holdridge, London Symphony Orchestra, Glenn Dicterow) |
|
2002 |
Sarah Hughes |
"Ave Maria" (Charles Gounod) |
"Daphnis et Chloé" (Maurice Ravel, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra)/"Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" (Sergei Rachmaninoff)/"Piano Concerto No. 2" (Sergei Rachmaninoff) |
|
2006 |
Shizuka Arakawa |
"Fantaisie-Impromptu" (Frédéric Chopin, performed by Stanley Black and the London Festival Orchestra) |
"Violin Fantasy on Puccini's Turandot" (Vanessa-Mae) |
|
2010 |
Yuna Kim |
"Fight On The Disco Vilante/Finale" from "Thunderball" (John Barry), "Girl Trouble" from "From Russia With Love" (John Barry), "Going Down Together" from "Die Another Day" (David Arnold), "James Bond Theme" from "Dr. No" (Monty Norman) |
"Concerto In F" (George Gershwin) |
|
2014 |
Adelina Sotnikova |
"Habanera" from "Carmen" (Georges Bizet) |
"Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A Minor Op. 28 for Violin and Orchestra" (Camille Saint-Saëns) |
|
2018 |
Alina Zagitova |
"Black Swan" (Clint Mansell)/"The Middle Of The World" from "Moonlight" (Nicholas Britell) |
"Don Quixote" (Ludwig Minkus) |
PAIRS
|
Year |
Winner |
Short Program |
Free Skate |
|
1908 |
Anna Hübler and Heinrich Burger |
(N/A) |
Live accompaniment |
|
1920 |
Ludovika and Walter Jakobsson |
(N/A) |
Live accompaniment |
|
1924 |
Helene Engelmann and Alfred Berger |
(N/A) |
Live accompaniment |
|
1928 |
Andrée Joly and Pierre Brunet |
(N/A)" |
Live accompaniment - "Les Patineurs" (Giacomo Meyerbeer) |
|
1932 |
Andrée (Joly) and Pierre Brunet |
(N/A) |
Live accompaniment |
|
1936 |
Maxi Herber and Ernst Baier |
(N/A) |
Original composition (Rudolf Zeller) |
|
1948 |
Micheline Lannoy and Pierre Baugniet |
(N/A) |
(unknown) |
|
1952 |
Ria Baran and Paul Falk |
(N/A) |
"Egmont, Op. 84" by Ludwig van Beethoven/"Oberon" (Carl Maria von Weber); |
|
1956 |
Sissy Schwarz and Kurt Oppelt |
(N/A) |
"Light Cavalry Overture" (Franz von Suppé) |
|
1960 |
Barbara Wagner and Bob Paul |
(N/A) |
"Amor" (Percy Faith)/"Love Letters" (Victor Young And His Singing Strings)/"Gräfin Mariza" (Emmerich Kálmán) |
|
1964 |
Ludmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov |
(N/A) |
"Präludium und Fuge", "Liebestraum" (Franz Liszt), "Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini", "Piano Concerto No. 3" (Sergei Rachmaninoff) |
|
1968 |
Ludmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov |
"Bugle Call Rag" (Glenn Miller)/"Fascination" (Liberace) |
"Moonlight Sonata", "Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67" (Ludwig van Beethoven)/"Piano Concerto No. 1" (Sergei Rachmaninoff)/"Le Poème de l'Extase op. 54" (Alexander Scriabin) |
|
1972 |
Irina Rodnina and Alexei Ulanov |
"Csárdás" (Vittorio Monti)
|
"Autumn Bacchanale" from "The Seasons" (Alexander Glazunov)/"Gayaneh" (Aram Khachaturian) |
|
1976 |
Irina Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev |
Gypsy and Moldovan music (Moiseyev Dance Company) |
Gypsy and Moldovan music, "Tsigany" (Moiseyev Dance Company) |
|
1980 |
Irina Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev |
"Flight 76 (Flight Of The Bumble Bee" (Walter Murphy) |
Selections by Georgy Vasilievich Sviridov and Alexandra Nikolaevna Pakhmutova |
|
1984 |
Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev |
"Kalinka" (traditional Russian music)
|
"Get Back" (Libera Orchestra Sinfonica)/"Für Elise" (Ludwig van Beethoven)/"Stairway To Heaven" (London Symphony Orchestra) |
|
1988 |
Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov |
"Les Toreadores", "La garde montante" from "Carmen" (Georges Bizet) |
"Symphony No. 4" (Felix Mendelsohhn)/"Concerto
No. 2", "Etude No. 12", "Concerto No. 1"
(Frédéric Chopin)/ "Overture" from "The Marriage
Of Figaro" (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
|
|
1992 |
Natalia Mishkutenok and Artur Dmitriev |
"Don Quixote" (Leon Minkus) |
"Liebestraum" (Franz Liszt, The Philadelphia Orchestra) |
|
1994 |
Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov |
"Zapateado"/"Farrucas" (Pepe Romero)/ "Picasso Suite: The Dancer" (Michel Legrand) |
"Pathétique Sonata (No. 8)", "Moonlight Sonata (No. 14)" (Ludwig van Beethoven) |
|
1998 |
Oksana Kazakova and Artur Dmitiev |
"Thus Spake Zarathrusta" (Richard Strauss) |
"Passacaglia" from "Suite de pièce Vol. 1 No. 7 in G minor" (George Frideric Handel) |
|
2002 |
Jamie Salé and David Pelletier |
"Jalousie" (Jacob Gade) |
"(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story" (Stanley Black and London Festival Orchestra) |
|
2002 |
Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze |
"Nocturne" from "La Califfa" (Ennio Morricone) |
"Meditation" from "Thaïs" (Jules Massenet) |
|
2006 |
Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin |
"Romance" from "The Blizzard" (Georgy Sviridov) |
"Romeo and Juliet" (Edvin Marton) |
|
2010 |
Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao |
"Who Wants To Live Forever?" (David Garrett) |
"Adagio In G Minor" (Eroica Trio) |
|
2014 |
Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov |
"Masquerade Waltz" (Aram Khachaturian, performed by Kiril Kondrashin and RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra) |
"Jesus Christ Superstar" (Andrew Lloyd Webber) |
|
2018 |
Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot |
"That Man" (Caro Emerald) |
"La terre vue du ciel" (Armand Amar, Maxime Rodriguez) |
ICE DANCING
|
Year |
Winner |
OSP/Original/Short Dance |
Free Dance |
|
1976 |
Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov |
"Miami Beach Rhumba" (Edmundo Ros) |
"The Chase" (Out Of Place)/"Flamenco Fantasy" (101 Strings Orchestra) |
|
1980 |
Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov |
"Potpourri" from "Die Frau meiner Träume" (Franz Grothe, Wolf Lorey Quintett) |
(unknown pieces)/"Train Number Forty-Five" (Earl Scruggs) |
|
1984 |
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean |
"Cappricio Espagnol" (Nikolai Rimsy-Korsakov, arranged by Robert Stewart, Richard Hartley and Alan Hawkshaw) |
"Boléro" (Maurice Ravel, arranged by Robert Stewart, Richard Hartley and Alan Hawkshaw) |
|
1988 |
Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin |
"Hernando's Hideaway" (Václav Hybš) |
"Polovetsian Dances" from "Prince Igor" (Alexander Borodin) |
|
1992 |
Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko |
"Ballet Suite No. 2: III. Polka" (Dmitri Shostakovich, Lev Atovmyan and Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra) |
"Suite No. 3: Air on the G String, "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" (Johann Sebastian Bach, The Philadelphia Orchestra) |
|
1994 |
Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov |
"Historia de un Amor" (Carlos Eleta Almarán) |
"Rock Around The Clock"/"Humming Bird" (Micky Ashman) |
|
1998 |
Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov |
"Jailhouse Rock" (Elvis Presley) |
"Memorial" from "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover" (Michael Nyman) |
|
2002 |
Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat |
"Tangos De Málaga (Cante, Baile Y Guitarra" (El Trini)/"Tango Güell" (Eric Woolfson) |
"I Have A Dream" (Martin Luther King)/"Non Merci" from "Cyrano de Bergerac" (Jean-Claude Petit)/"Canone Inverso Primo" (Ennio Morricone) |
|
2006 |
Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov |
"Chilly Cha Cha" (Jessica Jay)/"Historia de un Amor" (Carlos Eleta Almarán)/"Samba Vocalizado" (Luciano Perrone) |
"Carmen" (Georges Bizet) |
|
2010 |
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir |
"Farrucas" (Pepe Romero) |
"Symphony No. 5" (Gustav Mahler, performed by The London Symphony Orchestra) |
|
2014 |
Meryl Davis and Charlie White |
"I Could Have Danced All Night", "With a Little
Bit of Luck", "Get Me to the Church on Time" from
"My Fair Lady"
(Frederick Loewe)
|
"Scheherazade" (Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov) |
|
2018 |
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir |
"Sympathy For The Devil" (The Rolling Stones)/"Hotel California" (The Eagles)/"Oye Como Va" (Carlos Santana) |
"The Show Must Go On", "El Tango De Roxanne", "Come What May" from "Moulin Rouge" (David Baerwald, Kevin Gilbert) |
TEAM EVENT
|
Year |
Winner |
Short Program |
Free Skate |
|
2014 |
Evgeni Plushenko |
"El Tango De Roxanne" from "Moulin Rouge" (Ewan McGregor) |
'The Best Of Plushenko' medley (arranged by Edvin Marton): "Criminal St. Petersburg" (Igor Kornelyuk)/"The Godfather" (Nino Rota)/"Sheherazade" (Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov)/"Tango Amore" (Edvin Marton)/"Tosca" (Giacomo Puccini)/"Adagio" (Tomaso Albinoni, Remo Giazotto) |
|
|
Julia Lipnitskaia |
"You Don't Give Up On Love" (Mark Minkov) |
"Schindler's List" (John Williams) |
|
|
Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov |
"Masquerade Waltz" (Aram Khachaturian, performed by Kiril Kondrashin and RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra) |
N/A |
|
|
Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov |
N/A |
"The Addams Family" (Marc Shaiman) |
|
|
Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev |
"Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" from "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (Jules Styne)/"I Wanna Be Loved By You"/"That Man" by Caro Emerald |
N/A |
|
|
Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov |
N/A |
"Swan Lake" (Pyotr Ilrich Tchaikovsky) |
|
2018 |
Patrick Chan |
"Dust In The Wind" (Kansas) |
"Hallelujah" (Jeff Buckley) |
|
|
Kaetlyn Osmond |
"Sous le ciel de Paris", "Milord" (Edith Piaf) |
N/A |
|
|
Gabby Daleman |
N/A |
"Rhapsody In Blue" (George Gershwin) |
|
|
Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford |
"With Or Without You" (April Meservy) |
"Hometown Glory" (Adele) |
|
|
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir |
"Sympathy For The Devil" (The Rolling Stones)/"Hotel California" (The Eagles)/"Oye Como Va" (Carlos Santana) |
"The Show Must Go On", "El Tango De Roxanne", "Come What May" from "Moulin Rouge" (David Baerwald, Kevin Gilbert) |
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