The Legendary Film Scores of Vangelis
The death of Vangelis leaves a void difficult to fill in the world of film and music. We are talking about an irreplaceable artist. His way of composing and the trends he set in orchestral music with the sound of his synthesizer have left a valuable precedent. In addition to marking an era, his works influenced the future of the scores that will accompany certain film genres.
Evangelos Odyssaas Papathanassiou was born in Greece on March 29, 1943. His family’s fortune allowed him to acquire a synthesizer at a time when the instrument had not yet arrived in his native country and, deep into its sound, he began to explore all its possibilities from a very early age. At first, Vangelis dabbled in progressive rock and psychedelic pop with Aphrodite’s Child, his new band with Demis Roussos, and became one of the pioneers of symphonic rock and took on experimentation as a cornerstone of his work, but then his career took a definite turn.
In 1982 he won his first and only Oscar for the soundtrack of ‘Chariots of Fire’, and, since then, the world of cinema did not allow him to follow another path. Vangelis made possible such sublime musical works as those in ‘Missing’, ‘Blade Runner’, ‘Vampire in Venice’, ‘Bitter Moon’, or ‘1492: Conquest of Paradise’.
Let’s mention some of his legendary scores.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE1iHYl3iE4
Cosmos (1980)
It is not a movie but a television series that marked a generation hungry for knowledge. If we talk about science fiction and synthesizers, the leap to fame of Vangelis undoubtedly occurred here, with ‘Cosmos’, by Carl Sagan. The soundtrack of the series was mostly the work of the Greek composer, including the main theme. These sounds made the Star Trek-obsessed generation dream with space. Indeed: it was this kind of music that reached the mind of those who contemplated the stars. How to imagine an indecipherable infinite universe without such background sounds? That was the basic premise to create the now-classic soundtrack of this epic television series.
Chariots of fire (1981)
Directed by Hugh Hudson, this was a true story based on the preparation of British athletes to compete in the Paris Olympics. It was nominated for seven Oscars and won four, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. However, over the years the film became immortal precisely because of the soundtrack composed by Vangelis, to such an extent that you may not have watched the film but the central theme of the story became part of public knowledge. It was not only included in other films but it also became associated with classic moments of cinema.
Blade Runner (1982)
Directed by the legendary Ridley Scott and partially based on Philip K. Dick’s novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”, the film became a science fiction classic, praised as one of the most influential movies of all time for its detailed and original setting, as well as the philosophical background on which it is built. The soundtrack composed by Vangelis was nominated for a BAFTA and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score in 1983. It is considered a fundamental sound of electronic music and also one of the soundtracks that most influenced other works.
Missing (1982)
Vangelis also managed to envelop with his music the terrible reality shown in Costa Gavras’ film with Jack Lemmon as a father desperately searching for his missing son at the beginning of Pinochet’s Chilean dictatorship. This was an example of how the soundtrack of a film consists of 70% of the emotionality of the work itself.
1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
For this film, Ridley Scott again counted on the work of Vangelis, who worked with several artists, including two flamenco guitar players and vocalists along with the addition of violin, mandolin, and flutes. Vangelis was in charge of all the synthesizers, using mainly string patches. The album did not carry much weight at the time of its release but, for reasons unrelated to the film, three years later it was a huge sales success.
Alexander (2004)
The film by Oliver Stone and starring Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Christopher Plummer, Anthony Hopkins, Jared Leto, and Val Kilmer tells of the life of the great Macedonian conqueror who expanded his empire to India. When it comes to the music, the director turned to another great Greek legend: Vangelis, a lover of his nation’s cultural tradition. The mixture of electronic and orchestral music acts as a sound background for the story, with Hellenic, Eastern, and Central Asian rhythms.
The life and work of Vangelis are evidence that the soundtrack of production is an element that should never be left to chance. If you are interested in sound professionals, do not hesitate to contact Enhanced Media Sound Studio for your work.
