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Vangelis

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The Greek electronic composer Vangelis in 2001.
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The Greek electronic composer Vangelis in 2001.

Vangelis (pronounced /van-ge-liss/, with a hard "g" as in "get") is a world-renowned new age and electronic composer and musician. He was born Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (/evan-ge-loss odee-say-ass papa-thana-see-ou/) [Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου] on March 29, 1943 in Volos, Greece.

His best known compositions are the score to the movie Chariots of Fire, whose title theme won an Academy Award and reached No.1 on the American Billboard singles chart (it made No.12 in Britain); the score to the movie Blade Runner; the themes used in the soundtrack of Carl Sagan's [[Cosmos: A Personal Voyage|Cosmos]] (from his 1975 album Heaven & Hell); and the title piece for the 1992 movie [[1492: Conquest of Paradise]]. He also composed the anthem of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. 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. Less widely known was the usage of 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.

Contents

Biography

( In 1943, March 29 Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou [in Greek: Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου, Spanish: Evángelos Odhiséas Papathanasíu] was born in Volos, Greece.

He began composing when 4 years old, 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 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Athens.

( In the early 1960s he formed the pop group Forminx (sometimes spelled "Formynx"), which became very popular in Greece.

Around the time of the student riots in 1968, Vangelis formed progressive rock band Aphrodite's Child together with Demis Roussos (bass guitar and vocals), and Loukas Sideras (drums and vocals). The band headed for London to try for a record deal, only to find they did not have the necessary work permits, and so they found a home in Paris, where Anargyros "Silver" Koulouris (lead guitar), became a fourth member. Being younger than the others, however, he soon had to return to Greece to complete his military service, and so it was the original trio of Vangelis, Demis and Loukas who had a hit single across much of Europe called Rain and Tears, which was a minor hit in the UK as well (No.29 in 1968). Other singles followed, and two albums, but when their recording contract with Mercury Records demanded a third album, Vangelis conceived the ground-breaking double album 666, loosely based on Revelations, the last book in the Bible, and now considered pivotal in the development of progressive rock and concept albums. Silver Koulouris, having finished his duty in the Greek army, rejoined the band after they had scored their biggest commercial successes without him. Tensions between members during the recording of 666 finally split the band in 1971, but although the other three members had finished their contributions to the album, Vangelis spent another year working on it, recording and re-recording sections, even adding complete new tracks, either on his own or with guest musicians and vocalists. The album was finally released in 1972, as was a single taken from it - Break. Despite the split, Vangelis has since produced several albums and singles for Roussos as well as Roussos contributing vocals to the Blade Runner soundtrack.

(1973-1980) Beginning of solo career

Album cover of Spiral (1977)
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Album cover of Spiral (1977)

In 1973, Vangelis began his solo work by writing scores to two films by French filmmaker Frédéric Rossif. His first official solo album was Earth, also recorded in 1973. At about the same time, he rehearsed for a couple of weeks with another prog-rock band, Yes. Although he never joined the band (they ended up hiring Patrick Moraz), he became friends with singer Jon Anderson, with whom he later worked on many occasions.

After moving to London, Vangelis signed a deal with RCA Records, set up his own studio, Nemo Studios, and began recording a string of well-regarded electronic albums, such as the acclaimed Heaven and Hell (1975), Spiral (1977) and China (1979). Vangelis' Heaven and Hell was later used as the theme to the PBS television series [[Cosmos: A Personal Voyage|Cosmos]] by Carl Sagan. He 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.

(1981-1999) Work in film and commercial success

In 1981 Vangelis wrote the score for Chariots of Fire. 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 Best Picture of the year. Vangelis himself won the Academy Award for Original Music Score. The opening theme of the film (appropriately titled "Titles" on the soundtrack) was released as a single in 1982, topping the Billboard chart for one week after climbing steadily for over five months. Only one other instrumental track, 1985's "Miami Vice Theme," has topped that chart since.

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.

Perhaps inspired by the success of Chariots of Fire, in 1983, director Peter Weir used previously released Vangelis music in his film The Year of Living Dangerously, most notably "L'enfant" from 1979's Opera Sauvage. In 1982 Vangelis began a collaboration with director Ridley Scott: Vangelis scored his Blade Runner (1982), and would later score [[1492: Conquest of Paradise]] (1992). He also scored many of the undersea documentaries of Jacques-Yves Cousteau. In 1992, France made him a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.

In 1996 the British ambient dance duo Future Sound of London sampled the track 'Rachel's Song' from the Blade Runner soundtrack for use on their My Kingdom EP.

Scene from the film Blade Runner, whose atmosphere was greatly enhanced by Vangelis' original score.
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Scene from the film Blade Runner, whose atmosphere was greatly enhanced by Vangelis' original score.

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

(2000-present) Later days

In 2001 Vangelis released Mythodea, an orchestral rather than electronic piece that was originally written in 1993, and used by NASA as the theme for the Mars missions.

In 2004 he released Alexander, a CD soundtrack of his score for Oliver Stone's movie Alexander, continuing his involvement with projects related to his homeland.

Discography

Album cover of Heaven and Hell (1975)
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Album cover of Heaven and Hell (1975)

Album cover of Albedo 0.39 (1976)
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Album cover of Albedo 0.39 (1976)

Album cover of Hypothesis (1978)
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Album cover of Hypothesis (1978)

Album cover of China (1979)
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Album cover of China (1979)

Studio albums

Soundtrack albums

Limited edition releases

Collaboration albums

Compilation albums

Promotional albums

Bootleg albums

EPs/Singles (with exclusive material)

See also

External links

 

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