Chariots composer Vangelis dead at 79
VANGELIS, the Oscar winning composer behind the world renowned scores to Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner, has died aged 79.
The prolific musician, born Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, passed away on Tuesday in a French hospital.
Vangelis developed an early interest in music and gave the first recital of his own compositions aged six.
Right from the off he was experimental with his sound, fixing nails and glasses to his parents’ piano.
After moving from his native Greece to Paris in 1968, he formed the popular prog rock band Aphrodite’s Child with Demis Roussos.
Never a fan of pop music, he moved to London in 1975 and set up his own Nemo Studios, aka his “laboratory”.
Having earlier rejected the chance to play keyboards for Yes, he collaborated with its lead singer Jon Anderson on four albums as Jon & Vangelis.
But the Greek legend was catapulted into superstardom when he wrote the score for 1980’s Chariots of Fire.
The soundtrack to the film about British athletes at the 1924 Olympics earned him an Oscar – although he missed the ceremony owing to a fear of flying – and later topped the US charts.
He once said of the score: “I try to put myself in the situation and feel it.
“I’m a runner at the time, or in the stadium, or alone in the dressing room and then I compose and the moment is fruitful and honest, I think.
“If you analyse it, it’s really innocent, simple, like a children’s song. The most difficult thing is a simple thing.”
He later said it was inspired by his father, Ulysses, who was a sprinter.
Vangelis also wrote the soundtrack to Ridley Scott’s sci-fi epic Blade Runner and the anthem for the 2002 World Cup. In all, he produced 23 studio albums in his career and although a very private man who rarely gave interviews, he was known to be a keen painter.
Leading the tributes was Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis who described Vangelis as “a pioneer of the electronic sound”.
He added: “He began his long journey on the Chariots of Fire. From there he will always send us his notes.”