Vangelis, composer of Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner soundtracks, dies aged 79:
Vangelis, the Greek composer and musician whose synth-driven work brought huge drama to film soundtracks including Blade Runner and Chariots of Fire, has died aged 79. His representatives said he died in hospital in France where he was being treated.
Born Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou in 1943, Vangelis won an Oscar for his 1981 Chariots of Fire soundtrack. Its uplifting piano motif became world-renowned, and reached No 1 in the US charts, as did the accompanying soundtrack album.
[...] Vangelis had continued his film score work throughout the 1970s, but it was in the 80s that this reached its commercial heights. Chariots of Fire became inextricable from Vangelis's timeless theme, and the music became synonymous with slow-motion sporting montages. "My music does not try to evoke emotions like joy, love, or pain from the audience. It just goes with the image, because I work in the moment," he later explained.
His score to Blade Runner is equally celebrated for its evocation of a sinister future version of Los Angeles, where "replicants" and humans live awkwardly alongside one another, through the use of long, malevolent synth notes; saxophones and lush ambient passages enhance the film's romantic and poignant moments. "It has turned out to be a very prophetic film – we're living in a kind of Blade Runner world now," he said in 2005.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 25 2022, @04:56PM
But that's because I'm a big Yes/Anderson fan. I had no idea Vangelis was considered as a replacement keyboardist when Rick Wakeman left the band (the first time).
(Score: 2) by SDRefugee on Wednesday May 25 2022, @05:29PM (2 children)
He was/is one of my favorite composers. Especially loved his soundtrack from "1492 Conquest of Paradise". The closing track of the
album sends shivvers up my spine ("Pinta, Nina, Santa Maria (into eternity)")
America should be proud of Edward Snowden, the hero, whether they know it or not..
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Wednesday May 25 2022, @08:11PM
I'm getting old, all those "old farts" who's albums I bought as a teenager are dying off fairly quickly.
I do not consider myself an old fart. And get off my lawn.
I just passed a drug test. My dealer has some explaining to do.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday May 26 2022, @02:47AM
(Score: 1) by SvenErik on Thursday May 26 2022, @07:41AM
My first time listening to his music was the Movement 3 that was used as the theme music for Carl Sagan's TV series Cosmos.
"Every demand is a prison, and wisdom is only free when it asks nothing." Sir Bertrand Russell