Oscar-Winning Composer Vangelis, Known for Chariots of Fire, Blade Runner Film Scores, Dies at 79
18:04 GMT 19.05.2022 (Updated: 18:07 GMT 19.05.2022)
© AP Photo / ARIS MESSINIS
Subscribe
Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou, better known by his professional name Vangelis, has passed away at the age of 79, Greek media reported.
According to news reports, Vangelis died late on Tuesday night in a French hospital while receiving treatment for COVID-19.
Born in the central port city of Volos in 1943 amid the Nazi German occupation, Vangelis displaced a musical talent from an early age, but never received formal musical training - something he credited with saving his sense of creativity.
The young artist fled from Greece in 1967, when the Hellenic Army under Col. Georgios Papadopoulos, a former Nazi collaborator, seized power and instituted a right-wing military junta. In Western Europe, he became acquainted with the electronic synthesizers that were to become a hallmark of much of his music.
After playing with several bands, including Aphrodite’s Child, Vangelis began composing film scores, starting with animal documentaries, before composing the score for the British sports drama Chariots of Fire in 1981. Vangelis’ composition won him an Oscar for Best Original Score, and he went on to compose scores for numerous other films, including the 1982 cyberpunk film Blade Runner. In 2019, the American Film Institute ranked the two scores as among the 25 greatest film scores in existence.
He composed prolifically, releasing nearly 30 studio albums and more than a dozen film soundtracks, which included the 2004 film Alexander, about Greek conqueror Alexander the Great, and 1492: Conquest of Paradise, a drama about Italian explorer Christopher Columbus.
His passing was mourned by Greeks, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis posting his condolences on his official Twitter account on Thursday.
Για εμάς του Έλληνες, όμως, που ξέρουμε ότι το δεύτερο όνομά του ήταν Οδυσσέας, σημαίνει ότι ξεκίνησε το μεγάλο ταξίδι του στους Δρόμους της Φωτιάς. Από εκεί θα μας στέλνει πάντα τις νότες του.
— Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR) May 19, 2022
“Vangelis Papathanassiou is no longer with us. For the whole world, the sad news states that the world music firm has lost the international Vangelis. The protagonist of electronic sound, the Oscars, the Myth and the great hits,” Mitsotakis wrote.
“For us Greeks, however, knowing that his second name was Odysseus, means that he began his long journey in the Roads of Fire. From there he will always send us his notes,” he added.
The artist gave few interviews in his life and kept his personal life private. He had no children, telling the UK Telegraph in 2005 that his transnational lifestyle wouldn’t allow it.
