"Heart of Courage" is a song by the Americanproduction music company,Two Steps from Hell; it was composed by co-founderThomas Bergersen.^[1] It originates from the "drama"/second disc of their 2008trailer musicdemo album,Legend, circulated exclusively within themovie advertising industry for the purpose oflicensing. The track was subsequently made available for public purchase on the group's first commercial album,Invincible, released on 3 May 2010.

It is considered the group's most famous song, having gone on to be extensively used worldwide as thebackground track forfilm trailers,video game trailers,TV commercials, stadium events and festivals.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Particularly notable was its use as the entrance theme of the teams onto the pitch at all 31 matches ofUEFA Euro 2012 which thrust it into the public limelight, becoming known as ade facto theme of the tournament.^[1]

"Heart of Courage" is orchestral and choral-based, with an emphasis onstrings including significant use of theviolin andcello.^[1][7][8] Instrumental elements were performed by theCzech-basedCapellen Orchestra, whilst the choral elements were performed byThe Salt Lake Tabernacle Choir.^[9]

It begins gently and slowly inB-flat minor. The song starts to build after ~0:30 with the introduction of a repetitive rhythm, and further still at ~0:45 when a catchy melody is introduced, featuring a choir singing short lines, mostly consisting of just a word or two. The song ceases to build after roughly half of its length when it then crescendos inE-flat minor, climaxing in intensity at ~1:40. Strings then continue on until the end of the track, once again returning to B-flat minor and finishing byfading out.^[5][10][11]

The song is famed for its "epic" and emotive qualities.^[1]Soundstripe summaries the song from this perspective saying, "No matter which visual you prefer, this piece of adventure music somehow captures the excitement and danger that we'd expect to find in another place or time. And in two minutes that song creates an experience that might take 30 minutes to pull off in a visual medium."^[3] Its capacity to induce emotion has led it to be frequently cited by professionalsports people as a popular pre-game motivational anthem.^[12][13]

"Heart of Courage" has appeared on multiple Two Steps from Hell albums:

• Legend (2008) –Demo album; original appearance.^[16]
• Invincible (2010) – Initial commercial release.^[17]
• Legacy (2015) – Japan-exclusivegreatest hits release.^[18]
• Two Steps from Hell: Ringtones (2016) – Mobile-exclusive; track split into three short excerpts intended for use asringtones.^[19]
• Legend Anthology (2019) – Features as an alternative, "no choir" version of the track.^[20]
• Greatest Hits Remastered (2020) – Demo album; digitalremaster.^[21]
• Live – An Epic Music Experience (2022) – Features alive recording of the track from their 2022 European Tour.^[22]

The following are select examples of notable uses of "Heart of Courage" in the media, and the varying types it is frequently featured in:

• in trailers for films such as:
  • The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader^[23] andAvatar.^[24]
• in trailers for television shows such as:
  • theNBC seriesRevolution,^[23] theBBC seriesFrozen Planet,^[24] and theABC seriesOnce Upon a Time in Wonderland.^[4]
• in trailers for video games such as:
  • Mass Effect 2,^[24][25]Ryse: Son of Rome,^[26][27]Nehrim: At Fate's Edge (atotal conversion mod ofThe Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion),^[10] the 2014 trailer forAngry Birds Epic andGame of War: Fire Age.^[28]
• in television shows such as:
  • featuring in multiple episodes of theBBC seriesTop Gear,^[29] as theopening titles theme of theComedy Central seriesNathan for You,^[6][30] in multipleHistory Channel documentaries,^[31] in an episode ofThe Masked Singer,^[29] in the Greek reality seriesSurvivor Greece,^[32] in the Italian seriesUlysses – The Pleasure of Discovery [it] andJourney into the Great Beauty [it]^[33] and in the German YouTube reality TV series7 vs. Wild^[34] as opening title theme.
• in TV commercials and promotional videos such as:
  • for theFerrari FF in 2011,^[35] for a newMercedes-Benz SUV in 2015,^[4][36] for the2015 Rugby World Cup,^[37][38] for multiplereed.co.uk adverts in 2016,^[39][40] and forAmazon Alexa in 2020.^[41]
• during stadium events and festivals such as:
  • as the openingtheme music for all matches ofUEFA Euro 2012,^[1][42][43] at multiple stages of the2012 Summer Olympics in London,^[44] as part of the music accompanying Europe's largest firework display in France, theGreat Fire of Saint-Cloud [fr], in 2012,^[44] and as the entrance music for numerous clubs in a number ofGerman football leagues.^[17]

The main segment of the melody has been re-used in a couple popular songs:

• "Darkside" byAlan Walker during the chorus at the lyric "I see it, let's feel it, while we're still young and fearless".
• "Beast in Black" byBeast in Black during the verses.

"The Unknown" by Frequencerz is a higher-keyhardstyle remix of "Heart of Courage".

• "Heart of Courage" atAllMusic
• "Heart of Courage" at the Two Steps from Hell officialYouTube channel

• 2010 songs
• Two Steps from Hell
• UEFA Euro 2012

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