What is Vangelis?

Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (Greek: Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου IPA: [eˈvaŋgelos oðiˈseas papaθanaˈsiu]) is a world-renowned Greek composer of electronic, new age and classical music and musical performer, under the artist name Vangelis Papathanassiou (Βαγγέλης Παπαθανασίου) or just Vangelis (a diminutive of Evangelos) [IPA: /væŋɛlɪs/ or /vægɛlɪs/]. He is best known for his Academy Award winning score for the film Chariots of Fire, and scores for the films Blade Runner and .

Biography

(1943-1960) Formative years

On March 29, 1943, Vangelis (a diminutive of Evangelos) was born near Volos, Greece. He began composing at the age of four, and is largely a self-taught musician. He refused to take traditional piano lessons, and throughout his career did not have substantial knowledge of reading or writing musical notation. He studied painting, an art he also practices, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Athens.

(1961-1972) Work in bands

In the early 1960s he was one of the founders of pop group The Forminx (or The Formynx), which became very popular in Greece. Based in Thessaloniki in the north of the country, the five-piece band played a mixture of cover versions and their own material, the latter written mostly by Vangelis but still sung in English, something which was unusual in Greece at that time. The Forminx released nine hit singles and a Christmas EP before disbanding in 1966 at the peak of their success. A film being made about them at the time was never finished. Vangelis spent the next two years mostly studio-bound, writing and producing for other Greek artists.

Around the time of the student riots in 1968, Vangelis founded progressive rock band Aphrodite's Child together with Demis Roussos, Loukas Sideras and Anargyros ("Silver") Koulouris. After an unsuccessful attempt to enter the UK, they found a home in Paris, where they recorded their first single, a hit across much of Europe called Rain and Tears. Other hit singles followed, and two albums (which combined sold over 20 million copies), but when the record company demanded a third album, Vangelis conceived the ground-breaking double-album 666, based on Revelation, the last book in the Bible, and now considered pivotal in the development of progressive rock and concept albums. Tensions between members during the recording of 666 eventually caused the split of the band in 1971, but the album was still released in 1972. Despite the split, Vangelis has since produced several albums and singles for Demis Roussos, who has in turn contributed vocals to the Blade Runner soundtrack.

(1970-1972) Early solo works

Even while still in Aphrodite's Child, Vangelis had already been involved in other projects which strongly hinted at a future career as a solo musician. In 1970 he had composed the score for a little-known film called Sex Power (Demis Roussos provided some vocals). In 1971 some jam sessions with a group of musicians at Marquee Studios in London had resulted in two albums' worth of material, unofficially released without Vangelis' permission in 1978, titled Hypothesis (aka Visions of the Future), and The Dragon. Vangelis took action to have them withdrawn. A far more successful project was his scoring of wildlife films made by French filmmaker Frédéric Rossif. The first, and possibly the best known, was L'Apocalypse des Animaux, released in 1973 though it may have been recorded as early as 1971. In 1972, the student riots of 1968 provided the inspiration for an album titled Fais que Ton Rêve Soit Plus Long que la Nuit (Make your dream last longer than the night), comprising musical passages mixed with news snippets and protest songs - some lyrics were based on graffiti daubed on walls during the riots.

(1973-1980) Solo career

In 1973 Vangelis' solo career began in earnest. His first "official" solo album was Earth, though it did actually feature a group of musicians including ex-Aphrodite's Child guitarist Silver Koulouris and also vocalist and songwriter Robert Fitoussi (better known as F.R. David of "Words Don't Come Easy" fame). This line-up, later briefly going out under the name "Odyssey," released a single in 1974 titled "Who," but that was Vangelis' last involvement with them. Later in 1974, Vangelis was widely tipped to join another prog-rock band, Yes, following the departure of Rick Wakeman. After a couple of weeks of rehearsals it became clear that things were not going well and he never did join the band (they ended up hiring Swiss keyboard player Patrick Moraz, who later joined the Moody Blues). Vangelis did however become friends with Yes' singer Jon Anderson, and later worked with him on many occasions, including as the duo Jon & Vangelis.

After moving to London, Vangelis signed a deal with RCA Records, set up his own studio, Nemo Studios, very close to Marble Arch, and began recording a string of well-regarded electronic albums, such as the acclaimed Heaven and Hell (1975), Albedo 0.39 (1976), Spiral (1977), Beaubourg (1978), and China (1979). Parts of Heaven and Hell were later used as the theme to the PBS television series by Carl Sagan. Another part (the song "So Long Ago, So Clear"), featured guest vocals by Jon Anderson, marking the start of that successful partnership. Vangelis also contributed as a producer and keyboard player to the album Phos, which was perhaps the most important recording by Greek rock band Socrates Drank The Conium.

In 1979 Vangelis provided the score for another animal documentary by Frédéric Rossif. Called Opera Sauvage, and almost as well known as L'Apocalypse des Animaux, the resulting soundtrack would bring him to the attention of some of the world's top filmmakers. The music itself would be re-used in other films (most notably the track "L'Enfant" in The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) by Peter Weir) and television commercials (the track "Hymne", used in Barilla pasta commercials in Italy and Ernest & Julio Gallo wine ads in the US).

(1981-1999) Film works and success

Chariots of Fire

In 1981 Vangelis wrote the score for the film Chariots of Fire, set at the Paris Olympics in 1924. Though the electronic score might be considered, in hindsight, ill-suited to a period piece, it worked beyond anyone's expectations. The movie won a half-dozen awards, including an Academy award for Best Picture of the year. Vangelis himself won the Academy Award for Original Music Score. The opening theme of the film (appropriately called "Titles" on the soundtrack) was released as a single in 1982, topping the American Billboard chart for one week after climbing steadily for five months (it made No.1 in its 21st week on the chart). Only one other instrumental track, 1985's "Miami Vice Theme," by Czech musician Jan Hammer, has topped that chart since. "Titles" also reached No.12 in Britain, where its parent album peaked at No.5 and spent 107 weeks on the album chart.

Greek musician Stavros Logarides claimed Vangelis had copied the melody of "Titles" from one of his compositions called "City of Violets". Once a member of a 1970s band called Poll and actually a friend of Vangelis at that time, Logarides sued Vangelis for plagiarism in 1987. When the case came to court, Vangelis set up synthesizers in the courtroom and played for the judge and all others present, though less for entertainment purposes and more so he could demonstrate his compositional process. The judge ruled that "Titles" was a Vangelis original, being a strong, vibrant piece of music, whereas "City of Violets" was fairly sombre and somewhat mournful by comparison, and any similarities in the melody were minor.

In February 1981, Vangelis, together with Jon Anderson, adapted the main theme from Chariots of Fire with lyrics for his friend Demis Roussos. It was recorded at Vangelis' London Nemo Studios and released as a single,"Race to the End", in March 1981.

Other notable Vangelis soundtracks were Antarctica for Nankyoku Monogatari in 1983, and The Bounty in 1984. Vangelis also collaborated in 1981 and 1986 with Italian singer Milva, achieving a large success especially in Germany with the albums Ich Hab' Keine Angst and Geheimnisse. (I am fearless and Secrets) The Italian language Nana Mouskouri Album also featured her singing his composition Ti Amero. Collaboration numbers with lyricist Mikalis Bourboulis sung by Maria Farantouri included the tracks Odi A, San Elektra, and Tora Xero.

Blade Runner

In 1982, Vangelis began a collaboration with director Ridley Scott, writing the score for the science fiction film Blade Runner (1982). Perfectly capturing the isolation and melancholy of Harrison Ford's Rick Deckard character, the Vangelis score is as much a part of the dystopian environment as the decaying buildings and ever-present rain.

Unfortunately, a disagreement led to Vangelis withholding permission for his performance of the music from Blade Runner to be released, and the studio instead hired a group of musicians dubbed "The New American Orchestra" to record the official LP released at the time. It would take 12 years before things could be worked out and Vangelis' own work be released in the United States in 1994. Yet this soundtrack was still incomplete, as the film contained some non-Vangelis tracks as well. Over the years a series of bootleg recordings of Blade Runner soundtrack from unknown sources have been released, mostly targeted to collectors as "private releases," that contain most of the music cues (including the Ladd Company logo theme).

1492: Conquest of Paradise

In 1992, Paramount Pictures released the film , also directed by Ridley Scott, as a 500th anniversary commemoration of Christopher Columbus' voyage to the New World. The score opens with a piece of music titled "Opening." The score starts slower, with more pomp to it, while the middle part transfers into a harder sound, ending on a lighter note as the movie progresses.

It was nominated as "Best Original Score - Motion Picture" at the 1993 Golden Globe awards, though surprisingly failed to be included in the Oscar nominations.

Other works

Vangelis also scored a number of undersea documentaries by Jacques-Yves Cousteau. In 1992, France made him a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.

In 1983 Vangelis wrote the music for Michael Cacoyannis' staging of the Greek tragedy Elektra which was performed featuring Irene Papas at the open-air amphitheater at Epidavros in Greece. The same year Vangelis composed his first score for a ballet by Wayne Eagling. It was originally performed by Lesley Colier and Wayne Eagling himself at an Amnesty International gala in Drury Lane, but in 1984 the Royal Ballet School presented it again at the Sadler's Wells theater. In 1985 and 1986, Vangelis wrote two more ballets: "Frankenstein - Modern Prometheus" and "The Beauty and the Beast". In 1992, Vangelis composed music for the intense dramatic performance "Medea" by Euripides, starring Irene Papas, Carlos Lucena, Manuel de Blas, Jordi Dauder and Miquel Cors. Director Nuria Espert is considered to be one of the best theater actresses and directors in Spain. The play was staged in Barcelona during July 1992 and was produced by the Olympic Festival of Arts. The sound design was by Denis Vanzetto who also worked various Vangelis albums.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Vangelis and Jon Anderson released four albums together as Jon & Vangelis.

The Olympic Games

In May 2000, Vangelis composed the music as well as designed and directed the artistic Olympic flag relay portion of the Closing Ceremonies of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. The performance prompted many, including Vangelis himself, to think that he would play an influential role in the artistic development of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. The Athens Olympic Committee (ATHOC) had other plans, however, and perhaps to the dismay of much of the Greek populace, the job was given to someone else. Speculation suggests that internal politics won the day and Olympic planners simply wanted a more contemporary, less Greek image for the Games. STATUS magazine author Nikos Mouratidis interviewed Vangelis in June 2002 and concluded the following:

Since Vangelis is so familiar with Greek mythology, he should know that Greece is just like Saturn, who ate his children. And Greece prefers to eat Vangelis who is its child rather than all those who have little to do with Greece, tradition, culture and its dreams.

While no official recording of Vangelis' composition for the 2000 Sydney Games exists, the music can be heard accompanying the presentation of the emblem of the 2004 Athens Games (YouTube Video).

(2000-present)

In 2001, Vangelis performed live and released Mythodea, a predominantly orchestral rather than electronic piece that was originally written in 1993, and used by NASA as the theme for the Mars Odyssey mission.

In 2001 Vangelis once more composed music for Irene Papas' play - "Las Troyanas". In 2002 he wrote music for staging of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" to open the new Hungarian National Theater.

In 2004, Vangelis released the score for Oliver Stone's Alexander, continuing his involvement with projects related to his homeland. In an interview he gave about that release, Vangelis said he was working on other films but, as of 2006, there was no news yet.^[1]

Vangelis' website, "Vangelis Information World",^[2] went online in 1996 with an announcement of Oceanic but since then it has been under construction.^[3]

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, his closing piece for Blade Runner, Love Theme, has appeared on many Ibiza Chillout albums, a testament to his inspiration.

The "Direct" Technique

Vangelis uses a technique of recording all tracks simultaneously on tape, using a device especially manufactured for him which he calls the "Direct box".

"He explains his customary method of approach. As soon as the musical idea is there, as many keyboards as possible are connected to the control-desk, which in turn are directly connected to the applicable tracks of the multi-trackmachine. The idea now is to play as many keyboards as possible at the same time. That way as broad a basis as possible develops which only needs fine-tuning. After that it’s a question of adding things or leaving out things." — Vangelis interview to Music Maker magazine, September 1982

Discography

Studio albums

• (1972) Fais que Ton Rêve Soit Plus Long que la Nuit (lit. Make your dream last longer than the night)
• (1973) Earth
• (1975) Heaven and Hell
• (1976) Albedo 0.39
• (1977) Spiral
• (1978) Beaubourg
• (1979) China
• (1980) See You Later
• (1984) Soil Festivities
• (1985) Mask
• (1985) Invisible Connections
• (1988) Direct
• (1990) The City
• (1995) Voices
• (1996) Oceanic
• (1998) El Greco
• (2001) ''Mythodea: Music for the NASA Mission: 2001 Mars Odyssey

Score albums

• (1970) Sex Power - film score
• (1973) L'Apocalypse des Animaux - score to Frédéric Rossif TV series
• (1975) Entends-Tu les Chiens Aboyer?, re-issued as Ignacio - score to Mexican film No Oyes Ladrar los Perros? (lit. Can you hear the dogs barking?)
• (1976) La Fête Sauvage - score to the Frédéric Rossif film
• (1979) Opera Sauvage - score to the Frédéric Rossif TV series
• (1981) Chariots of Fire - score to the Hugh Hudson film
• (1983) Antarctica - score to the film Nankyoku Monogatari
• (1992) - score to the
• (1994) Blade Runner - score to the 1982 Ridley Scott film
• (2004) Alexander - score to the Oliver Stone film

Limited releases

• (1984) Silent Portraits - LP album included in a book of portraits - print run: 600
• (1995) Foros Timis Ston Greco - CD album included in a book about Greek painter El Greco - print run: 3,000; later expanded and put in general release as El Greco
• (2004) Ithaca - one-track CD-single, with a Cavafy poem read by Sean Connery, included in the book A Journey in Colour with paintings of Sean Connery's wife, Micheline Roquebrune Connery - print run: 3,000

Collaboration albums

• (1977) Chinese Restaurant - Krisma (Chrisma)
• (1979) Odes - Irene Papas
• (1979) Hibernation - Krisma (Chrisma)
• (1980) Short Stories - Jon & Vangelis
• (1981) The Friends of Mr. Cairo - Jon & Vangelis
• (1981) Ich Hab' Keine Angst (German lyrics) / Moi, Je n'ai pas Peur (French lyrics) - Milva
• (1983) Private Collection - Jon & Vangelis
• (1986) Rapsodies - Irene Papas
• (1986) Geheimnisse (German lyrics) / Tra Due Sogni (Italian lyrics) - Milva
• (1991) Page of Life (U.S. and European versions) - Jon & Vangelis

Compilation albums

• (1978) The Best of Vangelis
• (1982) To the Unknown Man
• (1985) Magic Moments
• (1984) The Best of Jon & Vangelis - Jon & Vangelis
• (1989) Themes, with unreleased tracks
• (1994) Chronicles - Jon & Vangelis
• (1995) Mundo Magico de Vangelis
• (1995) Themes II
• (1996) Portraits (So Long Ago, So Clear), with unreleased tracks
• (2000) Reprise 1990-1999, with unreleased tracks
• (2002) Cosmos
• (2003) , with unreleased tracks

Promotional albums

• (1976) The Vangelis Radio Special

Unofficial albums

Strictly not bootleg recordings as they appeared on a "proper" label, but they were released without Vangelis' permission and were withdrawn from the market.

• (1978) Hypothesis (alt. Visions of the Future)
• (1978) The Dragon

EPs/Singles with exclusive material

• (1968) The Clock / Our Love Sleeps On The Water
• (1977) To The Unknown Man / To The Unknown Man 2
• (1979) The Long March / The Long March 2
• (1980) Don't Be Foolish / Doesn't Matter - Peter Marsh
• (1980) My Love / Domestic Logic One
• (1983) And When The Night Comes / Song Is - Jon & Vangelis
• (1991) Wisdom Chain (EP) - Jon & Vangelis
• (1992) (EP)
• (1992) In London - Neuronium & Vangelis
• (1996) Ask The Mountains (EP) - Vangelis with Stina Nordenstam
• (1996) A Separate Affair (EP) - Neuronium & Vangelis - remixes of In London; remastered and re-released in 2002.
• (1996) Sauvage et Beau / Himalaya / La Petite Fille de la Mer / I'll Find My Way Home (EP)
• (1997) March With Me / Like a Dream - Montserrat Caballe and Vangelis
• (2001) Mythodea Special Edit (CD-Single)
• (2002) Anthem - 2002 FIFA World Cup Official Anthem (EP) - in varied editions

Unreleased works

Film scores (1967) 5000 psemata (lit. 5000 Lies) (Greece) (1974) Amore (lit. Love) (France) (1975) Crime and Passion (alt. Ace Up My Sleeve) (USA) (1980) Prkosna delta (lit. Defiant Delta) (Yugoslavia) (1982) Missing (USA); main theme appears in compilation Themes. (1984) The Bounty (UK/U.S.); opening and end titles appear in compilation Themes. (1989) Francesco (Italy/West Germany) (1992) Bitter Moon (France/UK); main theme appeared in compilation Reprise 1990-1999. (1992) La Peste (lit. The Plague) (France/UK/Argentina); "Psalmus Ode" appears in compilation Reprise 1990-1999. (1996) Kavafis (alt. Cavafy) (Greece) (2001) I Hope... (Romania), short film

Documentary scores (1972) Au Pays des Visages (France) (1973) Georges Mathieu ou la Fureur d'Être (Georges Mathieu or the Fury of Being) (France) (1974) George Braques ou le Temps Different (France) (1982) Pablo Picasso, Peintre (France) (1984) Sauvage et Beau (France); opening titles appear in Sauvage et Beau EP (1986) and compilation Portraits (So Long Ago, So Clear). (1987) Pasteur le Siècle (France) (1988) De Nuremberg à Nuremberg (France) (1991) Indonésie I: Les Vergers de l'Enfer (France) (1991) Indonésie II: Sumatra (France)

Theatre music (1983) Elektra (Greece) (1992) Medea (Spain) (2001) Las Troyanas (Spain) (2002) A Vihar (lit. The Tempest) (Hungary) (2005) Antigone (Italy)

Ballet music (1983) R.B. Sque (UK) (1985) Frankenstein - Modern Prometheus (UK) (1986) The Beauty and the Beast (UK)

In popular culture

• Composer of the 2002 FIFA World Cup official anthem.
• "The Long March" from the album China was used in the late 1980s on UK TV to advertise Akai stereo systems
• A version of "Pulstar", from the 1976 album Albedo 0.39, was an early theme for ESPN's SportsCenter program and served as the news themes for WTVK, WNEV & ABS-CBN.
• A series of commercials for Lincoln Mercury cars used excepts from "Pulstar", "Chung Kuo" (from the album "China"), and other tracks circa 1980.
• An excerpt of the song "The Little Fete" from the album China, with the narration replaced, was used for a popular commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume ("I am made of blue sky, and golden light...") The advertisement spawned parodies on Saturday Night Live and elsewhere.
• An excerpt of "L'Enfant" as the underscore for a series of Old Style Beer ads, featuring scenes of Arctic ice and snow, emphasizing the beer's "cool-brewed" aging process. It also served as the "Love Theme" for the film "The Year of Living Dangerously"
• An excerpt of "Hymn" was used as the underscore for a series of Ernest and Julio Gallo advertisements.
• Several excerpts, from "Heaven and Hell", "Alpha", "Entends tu les chiens aboyer", and "Beaubourg", were used in Carl Sagan's 1980 "Cosmos" miniseries, and appeared on its soundtrack.
• "La Petite Fille De La Mer" was featured on the soundtrack to the 2006 film Stranger Than Fiction.
• A mix of "Conquest of Paradise" and "Bon Voyage" was used by pair figure skaters Aliona Savchenko & Robin Szolkowy in their Torino 2006 final program. Roughly 20 years before, "The Tao of Love" was used for a figure skating program.
• In Argentina, the "End Titles" theme from Blade Runner has been used since the 1980s as the identifying sound motif for the sports communications firm Torneos y Competencias; as such, the first bars of the theme are always played as the opening of sports broadcasts in Argentine television, together with the logo of Torneos y Competencias.
• In Portugal, the theme from the 1492 Soundtrack was widely used during Socialist Party campaigns for government elections, mainly during the Antonio Guterres era. In some socialist events, it is still in use, symbolizing a new era for social politics in Portugal.
• The music from "Missing" was used in an ad for life assurer Old Mutual in South Africa in the 1990s. The advert featured whales cavorting around in the sea and was a local favourite.
• The song Titles in the Chariots of Fire soundtrack is frequently used in parodies of the sports genre. One example is a running scene in the movie Bruce Almighty (2003).
• In Spain, the "End Titles" theme from Blade Runner from the New American Orchestra release was used as the intro music for 'En portada', a weekly tv program of news reports.
• An orchestral version of "End Titles" theme from Blade Runner was used as background music during the 21st stage of Giro d'Italia 2007, which took place in Milan.
• Margaret Weis named a planet Vangelis in her Star of the Guardians universe as a tribute to one of her favorite composers.

Footnotes

See also

• Aphrodite's Child
• Electronic Music
• 20th century classical music

External links

• Dennis Lodewijks' Elsewhere - fan website with comprehensive news and interviews
• www.vangelismovements.com - fan website with a lot of information about Vangelis, musicography, performances, movies and collaborations.
• Vangelis Collector - fan website with comprehensive discography
• Vangelis at the Internet Movie Database
• Vangelis at Pandora (music service) (Music Genome Project)
• Vangelis lyrics site - Vangelis lyrics site of music by Vangelis
• www.vangelishistory.com - a site which looks to the history of Vangelis
• Invisible Connections - International Forum

Persondata
NAME	Vangelis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Papathanassiou, Evangelos Odysseas
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Composer, Record producer, Arranger
DATE OF BIRTH	29 March 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH	Volos, Greece
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH