Line #67 Music/Vangelis


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0_1_9.jpg]]
2
3	Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (29 March 1943 - 17 May 2022), [[StageName better known as]] "Vangelis", was a UsefulNotes/{{Gree\|ce}}k musician and composer.
4
5	He was part of the {{psychedelic\|Rock}}[=/=]{{progressive\|rock}} rock band Music/AphroditesChild from 1967 till they disbanded in 1972, and moved on to an [[NewSoundAlbum eclectic]] and successful solo career.
6
7	He was most famous for making [[ElectronicMusic epic music with synthesizers]], and composed a number of [[CultSoundtrack memorable]] electronic film and documentary scores such as ''Film/ChariotsOfFire'', ''Film/BladeRunner'', ''Film/TheBounty'' and ''Film/FourteenNinetyTwoConquestOfParadise'', as well as several of the tracks in Creator/CarlSagan's ''Series/CosmosAPersonalVoyage''.
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9	He passed away from [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic COVID-19]] at age 79 on May 17, 2022.
10	----
11	[[foldercontrol]]
12
13	[[folder:Albums]]
14	* ''Earth'' (1973)
15	* ''Heaven and Hell'' (1975)
16	* ''Albedo 0.39'' (1975)
17	* ''Spiral'' (1977)
18	* ''Hypothesis'' (recorded 1970, released 1978)
19	* ''Beaubourg'' (1978)
20	* ''China'' (1979)
21	* ''See You Later'' (1980)
22	* ''Soil Festivities'' (1984)
23	* ''Mask'' (1985)
24	* ''Invisible Connections'' (1985)
25	* ''Direct'' (1988)
26	* ''The City'' (1990)
27	* ''Voices'' (1995)
28	* ''Oceanic'' (1996)
29	* ''El Greco'' (1998)
30	* ''Mythodea'' (recorded 1993, released 2001)
31	* ''Rosetta'' (2016)
32	* ''Nocturne: The Piano Album'' (2019)
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Film soundtracks ]]
36	* ''Sex Power'' (1970)
37	* ''L'Apocalypse des animaux'' (recorded 1970, released 1973)
38	* ''Amore'' (1973)
39	* ''The Wild Nation'' (1975)
40	* ''[[Film/DoYouHearTheDogsBarking ¿No oyes ladrar los perros?]]'' AKA ''Ignacio'' (1975)
41	* ''Crime and Passion'' (1975)
42	* ''Opéra sauvage'' (1979)
43	* ''Film/ChariotsOfFire'' (1981)
44	* ''Film/BladeRunner'' (recorded 1982, released 1994)
45	* ''Film/{{Missing\|1982}}'' (1982)
46	* ''Film/{{Antarctica}}'' (1983)
47	* ''Film/TheBounty'' (1984)
48	* ''Sauvage et Beau'' (1984)
49	* ''Film/DeNurembergANuremberg'' (1989)
50	* ''Francesco'' (1989)
51	* ''Film/FourteenNinetyTwoConquestOfParadise'' (1992)
52	* ''Film/BitterMoon'' (1992)
53	* ''Literature/ThePlague'' (1992)
54	* ''Kavafis'' (1996)
55	* ''Film/{{Alexander}}'' (2004)
56	* ''El Greco'' (2007) [[note]]not to be confused with his 1998 album[[/note]]
57	* ''Trashed'' (2012)
58	* ''Twilight of Shadows'' (2014)
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	!!Tropes related to this artist and his work:
62
63	* TwelveBarBlues: "Dervish D", although it's technically double-time and therefore a 24-bar blues.
64	* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Some of his choral works, such as "Symphony to the Powers B" from ''Heaven and Hell'' and the main theme from ''1492: Conquest of Paradise'' use an invented musical language reminiscent of CanisLatinicus.
65	* AuthorAppeal: Vangelis was a dedicated environmentalist, and as such many of his works dealt with environmental themes, such as ''Soil Festivities'' and some of his documentary soundtracks.
66	* BoleroEffect: Vangelis made a lot use of this. For example, "Alpha" from ''Albedo 0.39'' employs a variant in which a simple theme of a few bars is developed through increasingly complex instrumentation.
67	* CultSoundtrack:
68	** ''Film/ChariotsOfFire'' and ''Film/FourteenNinetyTwoConquestOfParadise'' are pretty obscure by themselves, but their soundtracks and especially the main titles became big hits and staples of outdoor light shows.
69	** ''Film/BladeRunner'' falls into this category, too. Even before the "Main Titles" were officially released on an audio medium, they had driven the second-hand price of the Yamaha CS-80 to [[CrackIsCheaper insane heights]] because so many synthesizer aficionados wanted one of these rare monsters to recreate this particular sound.
70	* CyberPunkIsTechno: The soundtrack of ''Film/BladeRunner'' is not quite techno, but makes heavy use of synthesizers (except for the famous "LoveTheme", played on a [[{{Sexophone}} saxophone]]).
71	** Vangelis' music subverts this trope big time overall, consisting primarily of melodic, minimalistic electronica and being complete opposite of dynamic techno, trance or rock, commonly associated with the genre.
72	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The farther we go back from his 1975 album ''Heaven And Hell'', the weirder it got. Best example: He used to be a member of the band Music/AphroditesChild. He was mostly their percussionist. And before he forced the band into ProgRock against their will by single-handedly composing the ConceptAlbum ''[[NumberOfTheBeast 666]]'', they made two albums somewhere between psychedelic pop and ''schlager''.
73	* ElectronicMusic: A forerunner in the use of electronic instrumentation to create beautiful, classical-style music. Vangelis's style is uniquely melodic and expressive because he played almost everything by hand and barely made use of sequencers. That said, anything that doesn't sound electronic in Vangelis' music isn't, e.g. pianos, electric pianos or percussion.
74	* FutureMusic: Vangelis' idea of this in ''Film/BladeRunner'' partly involved analog, non-programmable beat-boxes from TheSeventies that were out-of-date when he made the soundtrack.
75	* GenreRoulette: If you're used to Music/JeanMichelJarre, listen through any one of Vangelis' non-soundtrack albums from TheSeventies. No two songs sound even a bit similar.
76	* GreatestHitsAlbum: Vangelis released quite a number of these. They're often the only way to get your hand on some of his works. ''Themes'' even only contains one single piece of music that had been previously released; everything else was only available on this one album at that point. The full "Film/BladeRunner Main Titles" are still only available on ''The Collection''.
77	* {{Improv}}: Spontaneous playing pretty much replaced traditional composition for Vangelis. This is why he was so fast at making music.
78	* {{Instrumentals}}: Unless there's a choir or a credited solo singer (usually [[Music/{{Yes}} Jon Anderson]]), Vangelis' music is devoid of vocals.
79	* NatureDocumentary: He scored quite a number of them, including some by Creator/JacquesCousteau.
80	* NeverLearnedToRead: He couldn't read sheet music. He didn't have to, for he didn't compose in the traditional sense. He recorded immediately what he played.
81	* NewSoundAlbum:
82	** Aphrodite's Child, the band that Vangelis played percussion and keys in during [[TheSixties the late '60s]], made very corny pop music--until Vangelis single-handedly composed the ProgRock double ConceptAlbum ''666'' against the will of the rest of the band before ProgRock really was a thing.
83	** Throughout the second half of TheSeventies, Vangelis didn't stick to the same sound between his non-soundtrack albums.
84	* ParodiesOfFire: [[TropeMaker He helped make this trope]].
85	* StandardSnippet: His ''Film/ChariotsOfFire'' theme has been used for a variety of things, including outdoor light shows and parodies (such as Creator/RowanAtkinson's Series/MrBean goofing around at the 2012 UsefulNotes/OlympicGames in UsefulNotes/{{London}}).
86	* {{Supergroup}}: In a sense, Jon & Vangelis with Jon Anderson of Music/{{Yes}}.
87	* [[invoked]]UncreditedRole: He was not credited for his work on the 1992 adaptation of ''Literature/ThePlague'' despite composing its soundtrack.
88	* {{Workaholic}}: It seems like Vangelis couldn't ''not'' make music. This in comparison with his very efficient way of making music was the key for his staggering creative output.

Context Music / Vangelis