Vangelis - The Music Of Freedom

“Music exists before we exist”, declared once the virtuoso keyboardist, musician, composer, and producer Vangelis Papathanassiou, not only expressing his personal view about music, but about the universe as a whole. 

For, in Vangelis’ view, one was indivisible from the other.

“Scientifically, believe it or not, music drives everything, because music equals universe and universe equals music”, he once said.

But his views, his personal approach to music and his compositions, are a reflection of his time and the product of an era of freedom and effervescent creativity. 

The 1960s was a decade of rapid changes and exploration across all scopes of human endeavor, when distant fields often crossed over, feeding from one another in order to produce exciting new and often unforeseen alternatives. Art only reflected this search for new forms of expression.

The social and cultural changes around the world, the rapid advance of technology, and the galloping space career demanded a new sound to reflect the achievements of the era and humanity’s hopes for the future. 

Enter electronic music. 

Although around since the 1920s, when the Theremin was invented, synthesizers experienced a boom in the 1960s with the introduction of the Moog synthesizer. Suddenly, musicians all over the world began enthusiastic experimentations with it and other electronic instruments across musical genres, with John Cage and Pierre Boulez setting the first stones in avant-garde compositions. 

By 1972, the catchy Moog-originated tune “Popcorn” became a hit, and a new palette of artists emerged with an array of sounds provided by machines. Isao Tomita, The Electric Light Orchestra, Pink Floyd, Brian Eno, Alan Parsons, Jean Michel Jarre, Kitaro, Mike Oldfield, Laurie Anderson, Kraftwerk, David Bowie, Andreas Vollenweider, and 10cc were among those artists who embraced the new technologies, eagerly creating compositions for the newborn musical genre.

In this environment, it is not surprising that Vangelis had gravitated towards synthesizers and electronic music from an early age.

Born Vangelis Odysseus Papathanassiou in Greece to a musical father who worked on real estate, and a trained soprano mother, Vangelis began toying with music on the family piano at the age of four. Despite this early musical talent, he refused to learn to read and write music formally, relying instead on memory and musical ear. 

“Music is not something that’s written”, he once declared in a rare interview. “Everything that’s noted down comes after the music is created. Music is immediate, wild, unpredictable, multidimensional.” This conviction would accompany Vangelis throughout his life, basing his compositions on impromptu improvisations and instinct rather than on academic canons and written notes.

However, as a child he accepted to receive some formal piano instruction, progressing enough as to study under the great Greek composer Aristotelis Koundouroff.

For most of his youth, Vangelis made music for fun. But things began to change when in 1963 he joined "The Formynx", a group formed with classmates. Performing under the stage name ‘Vagos’, Vangelis and the band scored enough success in their native Greece to receive a dash of celebrity.

The band split in 1966, but in 1967 Vangelis met Demis Roussos, forming the band that would become their ticket to global fame: “Aphrodite’s Child”. At a time when world music was a global trend, the Greek band reached international success with songs such as “Rain and Tears”, and “It’s Five O’Clock”.

Aphrodite's Child: Vangelis, Demis Roussos, and Loukas Sideras.

However, Vangelis’ need for experimentation and artistic freedom became evident during the production of “666", the group’s third and final album, based on the Apocalypse of St. John as described in the Book of Revelations. Although the critics still consider it a seminal piece of progressive rock, the attempt underscored the conceptual differences among its members, and the band split.

By this time, Vangelis had already released his first solo album, “Fais Que Ton Reve Soit Plus Long Que la Nuit” (1972), followed by “Earth” (as Vangelis O. Papathanassiou) in 1973. However, he remained cordial with his former band members and collaborated with Demis Roussos as producer of his LP “Magic” (1977), released at the height of the singer’s fame. Then, in 1981, Roussos contributed vocals for the “Blade Runner”soundtrack. 

The renowned Greek actress Irene Papas, who had contributed with vocals for “666", also collaborated again with Vangelis in two experimental albums of traditional Greek songs:”Odes” (1979), and “Rhapsody” (1986).

Still fresh from “Aphrodite’s Child” breakup, in 1974 Vangelis auditioned for the progressive rock band “Yes” to replace the departing member Rick Wakeman at the keyboards. 

The members of the band were mesmerized by Vangelis’ talent, but problems with his work permit prevented him from landing the job. However, this meeting began a professional association between him and the lead singer, Jon Anderson, which would flourish in 1979 as the duo “Jon and Vangelis”, releasing three albums to considerable commercial success.

The ballad “I’ll Find My Way Home” and the Greek-inspired dancing hit “State of Independence” topped the charts, the latter garnering a second life and even greater public with a cover by Disco queen Donna Summer under the production of Quincy Jones.

However, Vangelis’ greatest success was just around the corner.

Video: “I’ll Find My Way Home” - Jon and Vangelis (4:10)

https://youtu.be/rKqLAVyRaXw

In 1975, Vangelis established his recording studio, “Nemo Studios” in London, where he would produce and record most of his music. Working at a frantic pace, he released a quick succession of solo albums: “Heaven and Hell” (1976), “Albedo 0.39" (1976), “Spiral” (1977), “Beaubourg” (1978), and “China” (1979).

By the time he received the commission to write the score for “Chariots of Fire” in 1980, Vangelis had a considerable baggage of experience in the field. 

Vangelis composed his first film score while he was still a member of "The Formynx", with “My Brother the Traffic Policeman” (1963). This was followed by the score for the film “Sex Power” (1970), and “Salut, Jerusalem” (1972), both while he was still a member of “Aphrodite’s Child”. 

Amid other projects at the time, Vangelis composed the score for three documentaries by Frederic Rossif, “L’Appocalypse des Animaux” (1973), “La Fete Sauvage”(1976), and “Opera Sauvage” (1979). The latter and the album “China”(1979) caught the attention of film director Hugh Hudson, and opened the door for the commission that would catapult Vangelis into international stardom.

The theme for “Chariots of Fire” became Vangelis’ first massive commercial success, and is probably his most remembered composition to date. 

Even if you have never seen the film, his music has been used and lampooned so often, that it’s impossible to listen to its first notes and not picture a line of runners by the seashore in slow motion.

His much-acclaimed 1982 score for “Blade Runner” proved that Vangelis had more than one trick under his sleeve. By mixing atmospheric sonic landscapes with pulsating beats and jazzy sounds, Vangelis was able to capture the soul of the machine, the mechanical hearts beating underneath the masks of the Replicants in all their clockwork glory.

Other well-known compositions by Vangelis are the Movement 3 from “Symphony to the Powers B”, and “Pulstar”, both used in the successful PBS documentary series “Cosmos: A Personal Voyage”.

Vangelis’ association with astrophysics was not casual, and only highlighted his lifelong interest in astronomy and space. 

In 1976 he released the albums “Heaven and Hell” and “Albedo 0.39" (named after the quotient of Earth’s solar reflection), inspired on the subjects of space exploration and astronomy. 

“Mythology, science and space exploration are subjects that have fascinated me since my early childhood,” he once declared, “and they were always connected somehow with the music I write.”

As a space aficionado, Vangelis received the highest honor when in 1995 the International Astronomical Union’s MPC named an asteroid after him (6354 Vangelis). 

In 2001, Vangelis furthered his collaboration with the scientific world by composing music for NASA’s Mars Odyssey space mission, released in the album “Mythodea”, and performed live in Athens by the renown sopranos Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle. 

Later, in 2014, he collaborated with the European Space Agency, composing three pieces for its Rosetta spacecraft mission to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.  

In 2003 NASA conferred Vangelis its public service medal, the highest honor presented to an individual not involved with the American government. In 2018, Vangelis continued his astral connection by composing a score for Stephen Hawking’s memorial at Westminster Abbey. 

His 23rd and final studio album, “Juno to Jupiter” (2021), was also inspired by his endless passion for space exploration, and it makes a fitting epilogue for a man whose music always pointed towards the future and seemed to be translated from the stars.

Video: Vangelis - La Petite Fille de la Mer (5:54)

https://youtu.be/P6qoTPhhv9w

Film music allowed Vangelis’ music to break from the purely experimental/avant-garde circle, and be heard by wide audiences across the globe. 

However, aside from the themes composed for films and the songs released with Jon Anderson, much of Vangelis’ music is experimental, with lengths that defy radial broadcasting. This, however, did not deter him from amassing an ever-enlarging group of fans across the globe.

Often accused of being cold and soulless, electronic music expanded its reach and gained popularity in part thanks to Vangelis’ particular gift for bringing out immense tenderness and warmth from synthesizers. 

Beyond being merely atmospheric, Vangelis’ compositions touch the heart of the listener, inspiring them in ways only thought possible through traditional instruments. Some examples of this are “La Petite Fille de la Mer”, “Missing”, “Rachel’s Song”, and “Tears in the Rain”.

The undeniable quality of his compositions and his absolute professionalism endowed him with commercial success and respect from his peers, which in turn provided him the freedom to experiment. 

Vangelis moved across different music genres, unafraid of trying the new and different, unwilling to attach himself to conventions for the sake of commercial success. 

“One thing I have never done is make music for the sake of commercialization”, he once declared proudly. This fierce independence allowed him to explore musical possibilities, expand the scope of electronic music, and find the sounds that would later become his trademark.

From his early reluctance to attach himself to the structure of music theory to keeping residences in Paris, London and Athens, freedom was a constant theme in Vangelis’ life. That freedom also extended to other aspects of his life, in which Vangelis decided to keep no strings or attachments that could curtail his artistic expression. 

Video: Vangelis - 2002 World Cup Hymn (4:31) 

https://youtu.be/T_M6dRIW7dY

Although widely known for his masterful use of synthesizers, Vangelis often incorporated traditional instruments in his compositions. As such, we can hear the use of Japanese strings, drums, and gong in the soundtrack for “Antarctica”, a formula repeated for “Tao of Love”, and his 2002 “World Cup Hymn”. 

His score for the Costa-Gavras film “Missing” includes a tender and heart-wrenching modified piano solo, and his score for “Cavafi” included zither, echoing the Balkan sounds where the film story takes place. Other examples of traditional instruments he used in his compositions are guitars and reed flutes in “1492", recorder and bagpipes for “Celtic Dawn”, and violin (as played by Vanessa Mae) in “Alexander”.

His jazz influences can be heard in some of his arrangements and are evident in his “Blade Runner” soundtrack, particularly on “Love Theme” and “Blade Runner Blues”, which capture the feeling of an old detective noir film with futuristic elements.

For his film scores “1492: Conquest of Paradise” and “Alexander”, Vangelis mixed a full orchestra, choirs, and synthesizers for a grandiose, epic feeling. The same arrangement was used again in “Mythodea”, a score that, although meant for the NASA space mission, can very well be the soundtrack of a film about Troy, the Odyssey, or ancient Greek gods.

Interestingly, most of Vangelis’ music is based on a simple tune, developed and beefed up harmonically. Vangelis had a great ear for melody and was able to capture emotional states and moods with a string of simple notes.

Vangelis did not consider himself a musician, but rather a radar ready to pick up the symphonies coming from the sky.

In addition to playing, composing, and producing music, Vangelis also expressed his artistic vein through painting, a lifelong hobby he had maintained since childhood. 

In 2003, his first exhibition of original paintings took place at the Almudin Museum and exhibition center in Valencia, Spain. 

The exhibition ran from June 5th to October 12th, and later travelled to Montevideo (Uruguay), Buenos Aires (Argentina) in 2004, and then Salvador de Bahia, Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte (Brazil) for the remainder of the year.

In spite of his constant search for futuristic sounds and his prevalent use of synthesizers, Vangelis was deeply critical of the use of computers in music, and about the current musical scene. “We are living in a cultural dark age of musical pollution”, he once expressed in an interview. “You put the radio on, and five minutes later you need an aspirin”.

Over the years, Vangelis received multiple awards, accolades, and distinctions from a wide range of entities, including the Academy Award for Best Original Film Score for “Chariots of Fire” (1982), the French Order of the Arts and Letters (1992), the French National Order of the Legion of Honor (2001), the Hellenic Heritage Achievement Award from the American Hellenic Institute (2008), the appearance on a Greek stamp honoring living Greek personalities (2013), and a honorary doctorate degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Thessaly, Greece (2018). 

But throughout all these, Vangelis remained level-headed, willfully unchanged by success.

For most of his life Vangelis remained fiercely private, unfazed by fame, giving few interviews and staying true to his need for independence. 

“The more successful you become in any form of music, the more you become a product that generates a lot of money. Instead of being able to move freely and do whatever you wish, you find yourself stuck and obliged to repeat yourself and your previous successes.”

Vangelis died on May 17th, 2022, at the age of 79, due to COVID-19 complications.

However, and perhaps true to his wishes, his musical legacy remains unclassifiable under any one single style (pop, electronic, jazz, progressive rock, ambient, new-age, classical, etc.), and the universal message in his melodies continues to captivate new generations of listeners who find in him the channeling medium of humanity’s hopes and emotions.

To Learn More

* To see more of Vangelis’ paintings, visit this site which also includes troves of information about this remarkable artist:

https://www.vangelismovements.com/vangelispaintings.htm

* For a complete discography and in-depth information about Vangelis’ recordings, visit this page on Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/artist/7027-Vangelis

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Sources: Discover Music, The Guardian, Wikipedia, VangelisMovements.com.