Vangelis, the revolutionary Greek composer whose catalog spans digital music, progressive rock and main movie scores (Blade Runner, Chariots of Fireplace), has died at age 79.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted (per an English translation), “Vangelis Papathanassiou is not with us.” Whereas a reason for loss of life has but to be introduced, the Associated Press stories that the musician died in a French hospital late Tuesday.
Vangelis, born Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou in 1943, began experimenting with music as a toddler and joined his first bands as a young person. After scoring a handful of Greek movies within the ’60s, he fashioned the psychedelic prog-rock band Aphrodite’s Youngster, who launched three studio albums — their last mission, the loosely conceptual 1972 double-LP 666, is now revered as a traditional of the style. (UCR included the monitor “The 4 Horsemen” on our checklist of the High 50 Progressive Rock Songs.)
Whereas primarily often called a keyboardist (he famously rejected a suggestion to interchange Rick Wakeman in Sure in the course of the mid-’70s), Vangelis was additionally a flexible multi-instrumentalist — a ability displayed all through his post-Aphrodite’s solo work. His ’70s materials ventures into spacey prog, ambient, classical and electronica, with the synthesizer growing into his signature.
The early ’80s marked a business breakthrough for Vangelis as he landed two important movie scoring initiatives: the 1981 sports activities drama Chariots of Fireplace (which received an Academy Award for Finest Unique Rating) and Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi traditional Blade Runner. (The chiming piano theme to “Chariots of Fireplace” additionally topped the Billboard Scorching 100.)
“My foremost inspiration was the story itself,” he advised The Guardian of his work on Chariots of Fireplace. “The remainder I did instinctively, with out occupied with the rest, aside from to specific my emotions with the technological means out there to me on the time.”
Vangelis remained prolific over the many years: recording quite a few different soundtracks, collaborating on 4 albums with Sure singer Jon Anderson (below the title Jon & Vangelis) and issuing solo work at a semi-steady tempo. His last studio album, Juno to Jupiter, got here out in 2021.
Whereas Vangelis is of course lumped in with different digital pioneers from his period, his work stands out stylistically. Former Tangerine Dream member Paul Haslinger advised NPR in 2016, “The important thing distinction is melody.” “Whether or not it is Blade Runner or the 1492 movie … there are huge melodic statements,” he mentioned. “And [Vangelis is] a grasp of that specific ability.”
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