25 years of “Compañeros”: the true story of “I Won’t Let You Down”, the melody that became a hymn | music

On March 25, 1998, it was released companions On Antena 3, the series that was going to celebrate an entire generation (and some more).

And it is that everything this production touched made eternal, with the humility and ingenuity with which it made so many first times that mark us forever. And this is how the tone for this series was created as well:I will not fail youThree words became a hymn.

We talked about this successful creation Daniel Sanchez de la Hera, author of the musical theme that opens and closes each chapter. With this “school” curtain that gave the first and last wink to the viewers, telling them that everything that happened between the protagonists … “They will not let us down.”

I was 22 years old at the time “I won’t let you down” was a phrase we used to say in my group of friends When we met or when we said goodbye, “Sanchez de la Hera begins to recall.” I worked as a teacher at a film academy and was a cameraman for a TV show but my hobby was music. He was a singer-songwriter, had a group and did some music for short films but without any pretensions.”

Until one day: “At work they told me that they were performing a soap opera and that they were looking for a melody. If I did, they would show it to Manolo Valdivia [director]. I went up and sent this song directly to them“.

Like many things in life, they come about by accident: “I never thought it would be so important when I made it. It was the freshness of being 20, the excitement of having my job to be on TV and the illusion that it was going to work. I felt “I won’t let you down” and maybe that’s exactly what drew the crowd.

“They started and closed the chapters with ‘I won’t fail.'” Closing Requiem stunned people and brought out the music even more. When they chose that phrase for the title of the movie, I was moved. It was the mantra I told my gang and when things are done from the heart what happens is they touch heartshe muses.

The composer also relates to that selection Greta and Garbus To interpret the theme during the early seasons was a suggestion from Valdivia: “I was a complete outsider and they were so well known that they guaranteed a punch that we didn’t know if the theme was going to have.”

Sánchez de la Hera also asserts that at the time “there weren’t many melodies of interest either” in the series. And that creating a musical theme that is heard independently is not the same: “The music that accompanies the series is related to the images, to a television product, which is why it is a science. It’s just as important to the success of the series, says the expert, as many fall by the wayside.

“But the greatness of ‘No te failaré’ is in its persistence as music, it was lifted as a one-minute header from which we later expanded and turned into a theme. It has thus taken on more body as independent music and has a big record label.”

And although the composer does not live on a single song, Sánchez de la Hera is truly grateful to “No te failaré” for opening the doors to his new career. After the Companions came Red Eagle, Countdown, Boarding School, One Step Forward, My Beloved Neighbors, Land of Wolves, I’m Aliveamong many, many wonderful award nominations.

Therefore, although he has not been able to attend the aggregate meeting for 25 years companionsAnd Being on a journey, it also celebrates the series that have marked many, among them.