Death of the Greek composer Vangelis, self-taught genius and jack of all trades
A photo taken on October 20, 1992 shows Greek musician and composer Vangelis Papathanassiou, known as Vangelis, posing at the French Ministry of Culture after receiving a decoration.
- Vangelis, the Greek composer of the 'Blade Runner' and 'Chariots of Fire' soundtracks, has died aged 79, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on May 19, 2022. "Vangelis Papathanassiou is no longer with us," the Prime Minister tweeted.
"The music world has lost international (artist) Vangelis."
AFP - GEORGES BENDRIHEM
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The Greek composer of the music for the films
Blade Runner
and
Chariots of Fire
, Vangelis Papathanassiou, nicknamed Vangelis, has died aged 79.
World famous, he left his mark on psychedelic rock and then electronic music and received numerous distinctions.
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The announcement was made on Twitter by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. “
Vangelis Papathanassiou is no longer with us.
The music world has lost (artist) international Vangelis
”.
According to several Greek media, the composer died of Covid-19 in France where he shared his time with London and Athens.
He was 79 years old.
A pioneer of electronic music, this autodidact had found his inspiration in space exploration, nature, futuristic architecture, the New Testament and the student movement of May 1968. This self-taught keyboard genius always liked to multiply experiences and was transitioned with ease from psychedelic rock and synth to ethnic music and jazz.
His soundtrack for "
Chariots of Fire
" was Oscar-winning against the music of John Williams made for the first Indiana Jones film in 1982.
"
His mastery and stormy inspiration in the creation of sounds, totally original, have created a global audience
", reacted the Greek Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni.
“
He was ecumenical
”.
Among the dozen soundtracks Vangelis composed are those for Costa-Gavras' film
Missing
,
Roman Polanski 's
Lunes de fiel
, and Oliver Stone's
Alexandre .
“Sound Lab”
“
I never studied music
,” he confided to the Greek magazine
Periodiko
in 1988, also deploring
the growing “exploitation
” imposed by the studios and the media.
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou was born in 1943 in the village of Agria near Volos (center).
A child prodigy, he gave his first piano concert at the age of six, without having really taken any lessons.
Trying to reach the United Kingdom in the face of the oppression of the Greek military junta in 1967, he found himself stranded in Paris during the student movement of May 1968. With two other Greek exiles, Demis Roussos and Lucas Sideras, he formed the group progressive rock band Aphrodite's Child which will sell millions of records.
Relocated to London in 1974, Vangelis created the Nemo studios, “
a sound laboratory
”, where the albums that would establish his fame as a composer would be produced.
The famous soundtrack of the sci-fi film Blade Runner
In 2019, in an interview with the
Los Angeles Times
, the musician claimed to see parallels with the dystopia depicted in
Ridley Scott 's film
Blade Runner .
“
When I saw the images, I understood that this was the future.
Not a bright future, of course.
But that's where we're headed.
»
Vangelis has received the Max Steiner Film Music Award, France's Legion of Honor, NASA's Public Service Medal, and Greece's highest honour, the Order of the Phoenix.
(With
AFP
)
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