Vangelis

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Vangelis
Born 29 March 1943
Volos, Greece

Contents

Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου) [IPA: ɛvæŋɛlɪs ɔðɪsɛɪæs ɔpæpæθænæsiu], artist name Vangelis Papathanassiou (Βαγγέλης Παπαθανασίου) or just Vangelis (Βαγγέλης) [IPA: væŋɛlɪs], is a world-renowned new age and electronic composer and musician, best known for his Academy Award winning score for the film Chariots of Fire, and scores for the films Blade Runner and 1492: Conquest of Paradise.

[edit] Biography

[edit] (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 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Athens, an art he also practices.

[edit] (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 for original material 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 and Loukas Sideras. 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, 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 as well as Roussos contributing vocals to the Blade Runner soundtrack.

[edit] (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 probably 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.

[edit] (1973-1980) Solo career

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

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 Cosmos 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.

[edit] (1981-1999) Film works and success

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 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 a respectable No.12 in Britain, where its parent album peaked at No.5 and spent 107 weeks on the album chart.

Not everyone was impressed however - when fellow Greek musician Stavros Logarides heard "Titles" he was furious, claiming Vangelis had stolen the melody 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.

Another notable Vangelis soundtrack was 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.

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

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, Vangelis and Jon Anderson released four albums together as Jon & Vangelis.

[edit] (2000-present) Later days

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 2004, Vangelis released the score for Oliver Stone's Alexander, continuing his involvement with projects related to his homeland. On 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], is under construction as of October, 2006, like it has been since at least 1998 [3].

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

[edit] 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

[edit] Discography

Album cover of Heaven and Hell (1975)
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Album cover of Heaven and Hell (1975)
Album cover of a reissue of Albedo 0.39 (1976)
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Album cover of a reissue 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)

[edit] Studio albums

[edit] Soundtrack albums

[edit] Limited edition releases

[edit] Collaboration albums

[edit] Compilation albums

[edit] Promotional albums

  • (1976) The Vangelis Radio Special [promo only]

[edit] Unofficial albums

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

[edit] 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 [as Peter Marsh & Vangelis]
  • (1980) My Love / Domestic Logic One
  • (1983) And When The Night Comes / Song Is [as Jon & Vangelis]
  • (1991) Wisdom Chain (EP) [as Jon & Vangelis]
  • (1992) Conquest of Paradise (EP)
  • (1992) In London [as Neuronium & Vangelis]
  • (1996) Ask The Mountains (EP) [as Vangelis with Stina Nordenstam]
  • (1996) A Separate Affair (EP) [as 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 (CD EP)
  • (1997) March With Me / Like a Dream [as Montserrat Caballe and Vangelis]
  • (2001) Mythodea Special Edit (CD-Single)
  • (2002) Anthem - 2002 FIFA World Cup Official Anthem (EP) - many different editions exist.

[edit] Unreleased works

Music for films

  • (1967) 5000 psemata (aka 5000 Lies) (Greece)
  • (1974) Amore (aka Love) (France)
  • (1975) Crime and Passion (aka Ace Up My Sleeve) (USA)
  • (1980) Prkosna delta (aka Defiant Delta) (Yugoslavia)
  • (1982) Missing (USA), main theme in Themes.
  • (1984) The Bounty (UK/USA), opening and end titles in Themes.
  • (1989) Francesco (Italy/West Germany)
  • (1992) Bitter Moon (France/UK), main theme in Reprise 1990-1999.
  • (1992) La peste (aka The Plague) (France/UK/Argentina), "Psalmus ode" in Reprise 1990-1999.
  • (1996) Kavafis (aka Cavafy) (Greece)
  • (2001) I hope... (Romania), short.

Music for documentaries on TV/video

  • (1972) Au pays des visages (France)
  • (1973) George Mathieu ou la fureur d'etre (France)
  • (1974) George Braques ou les temps different (France)
  • (1982) Pablo Picasso, pientre (France)
  • (1984) Sauvage et Beau (France), opening titles in Sauvage et Beau EP.
  • (1987) Pasteur le siècle (France)
  • (1988) De Nuremberg à Nuremberg (France)
  • (1991) Indonesie I, Les vergers de l'enfer (France)
  • (1991) Indonesie II, Sumatra (France)

Music for plays

  • (1983) Electra (Greece)
  • (1992) Medea (Spain)
  • (2001) Las Troyanas (Spain)
  • (2002) A Vihar - The Tempest (Hungary)
  • (2005) Antigone (Italy)

Music for ballet

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

[edit] Similar Artists

[edit] In popular culture

  • Composer of the 2002 FIFA World Cup official anthem.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • An excerpt of "Hymn" was used as the underscore for a series of Ernest and Julio Gallo advertisements.
  • "La Petit Fille De La Mer" was featured on the soundtrack to the 2006 film Stranger Than Fiction.
  • 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.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Vangelis interview to SoundtrackNet
  2. ^ Vangelis Information World
  3. ^ An Internet "Museum", featuring the above site as a "ghost" since at least 1998

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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