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Vangelis, the Greek composer, and musician whose synth-driven work has added immense drama to cinema soundtracks such as Blade Runner and Chariots of Fire, has passed away at 79. His representatives stated that he died in a hospital in France.
He earned an Academy Award for his dramatic score for Chariots of Fire in 1981.
Vangelis' massive impact on modern film music is difficult to ignore, according to Oscar-nominated British musician Daniel Pemberton, who says :
"It is also hard to understand how groundbreaking Chariots of Fire was. A period British film with a phenomenal synth score,"
Late Oscar-winning composer Vangelis' career explored
Evangelos Odessey Papathanassiou, better known as Vangelis, was born in Greece in 1943. At 6, he was enrolled at the Athens Music School, where he soon began performing.
He grew up in Athens and formed his first band, the Forminx, in 1963, playing pop music and Beatles covers. After a few years, he began working on film scores and sessions.
In 1968, he formed the progressive-rock quartet Aphrodite's Child with a group of Greek expatriates, including Demis Roussos, after relocating to Paris. The group's single Rain and Tear topped the French, Belgian, and Italian charts and reached the UK Top 30.
After relocating to London in 1975, he began working with Yes singer Jon Anderson, with whom he released four albums as Jon and Vangelis between 1980 and 1991, one of which charted in the UK.
The soundtrack album's opening theme, Titles, topped the Billboard Hot 100 the following month. The theme has appeared frequently at the Olympic Games.
He has also appeared in films such as The Bounty, Francesco, Bitter Moon, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, and Alexander.
The Greek composer said:
"My interest was not to create a symphony orchestra, which I can very easily, but to go further than that and do things that the symphony orchestra can't do.And I think that I succeeded to create something like this."
His final studio album, Juno to Jupiter, was released by Decca in September 2021. The single featured singer Angela Gheorghiu and was inspired by NASA's Juno spacecraft mission.
Since news of the musician's death broke, tributes have poured in.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotak said:
"Vangelis Papathanassiou is no longer with us. The world of music has lost the international (artist) Vangelis."
Vangelis had a lifelong fascination with space, music, and a general need to experiment. This was reflected in the vastness and mood of his creations.
