Composer Vangelis: A Tribute

The renowned film composer known as Vangelis, sadly passed away on 17^th May 2022, aged 79. The Greek musician, composer, songwriter and producer, whose full name was Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou, was best-known for his creations spanning electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral genres.

Early career

Vangelis began working with pop bands in the 1960s, creating progressive, psychedelic rock music, before moving into the world of scoring in the 1970s. His first music for the moving image was composing for animal documentaries, and finding success in this field, the musician setup Nemo Studios in London. From here, Vangelis released several experimental albums, and began working with Jon Anderson from the prog rock band ‘Yes’. Together, the duo worked as Jon and Vangelis, releasing records under this name. During this time, Vangelis also remained close to his roots, collaborating on two Greek traditional albums with musician Irene Papas.

Soundtrack Stardom

It was the 1981 film Chariots of Fire that threw Vangelis into the mainstream with his film scoring work, with the composer achieving the accolade of winning the Academy Award for Best Original Score, as well as hitting Number One on the US Billboard Hot 100 with the main theme.

Vangelis quickly became known for his talent for composing scores, creating several in the time following Chariots of Fire – in 1981, he scored the documentary film Pablo Picasso Painter by Frédéric Rossif, he composed the score of Missing in 1982, directed by Costa-Gavras, which was awarded the Palme d’Or and gained Vangelis a nomination for a BAFTA Award for Best Film Music. Additionally, he created the soundtrack Antarctica for the film Nankyoku Monogatari in 1983, one of the highest-grossing movies in Japan’s film history, and The Bounty in 1984.

Although some controversial disagreements with copyright issues followed, another monumental success for Vangelis was his work with director Ridley Scott on the iconic sci-fi film Blade Runner in 1982, which resulted in BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for his score.

Many more scores followed, however Vangelis also created a broad range of music in other styles and genres – from theatre, and scores for ballets, to pop records both solo and in collaboration with other artists. These included the music for Michael Cacoyannis’ staging of the Greek tragedy Elektra in 1983, his first ballet score for a production by Wayne Eagling that was originally performed by Lesley Collier and Eagling himself at an Amnesty International gala at the Drury Lane theatre, and then in 1984 the Royal Ballet School presented it again at the Sadler’s Wells theatre. In 1985 and 1986, Vangelis wrote music for two more ballets: Frankenstein – Modern Prometheus and The Beauty and the Beast. In 1992, Vangelis wrote the music for a restaging of the Euripides play, Medea, that featured Irene Papas. In 2001 he composed for a third play which starred Papas, and for a version of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest staged by Hungarian director György Schwajdas.

His pop records were numerous, with notable collaborations including working with Nana Mouskouri, Patty Pravo, and Milva, while he made 23 solo albums.

Tributes

Many have expressed their sadness and condolences at the musician’s passing, taking to social media. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Prime Minister of Greece, tweeted in a message that translated as:

“Vangelis Papathanassiou is no longer with us. The world of music has lost the international (artist) Vangelis.”

Jean-Michel Jarre published a retro photo and message to the composer, saying:

“Dear Vangelis,

We will all remember your unique touch and your moving melodies forever.  You & I have always shared the same passion for synthesizers and electronic music since so long…

May you Rest In Peace,

JMJ x”

1980s pop sensation Paul Young reminisced fondly, saying:

“Very sad to hear the news of the recent passing of Vangelis. I’d always loved his soundtrack to Blade Runner. Then in the mid 90’s I had the honour of writing & singing a song on his album “Voices”; an immense talent that will be missed by his family, and the world of music.”

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