53 years of the European Anthem

On 12 January 1972 the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers adopted Beethoven's "Ode to Joy", the fourth movement of the German composer's 9^th Symphony, as the European Anthem. Fourteen years later, in 1986, the Europe Community (now the European Union) adopted the same music for its own European Anthem, and it has been shared by the two organisations ever since.

In recent decades the Council of Europe has expanded its range of musical versions from the original orchestral version to Roma, big band, rock, jazz, techno, trance and even Hip-Hop. Check out the full range of musical versions of the European Anthem here.