Vangelis: Encyclopedia II - Vangelis - History

Vangelis - History

Vangelis - 1943-1960 Formative years

In 1943 March 29 Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou [in Greek: Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου / Eyáġġelos Oḏysséas Papaṯanasíoy (Evángelos Odhiséas Papathanasíu)] was born in Volos, Greece.

He began composing when 4 years old, and is largely a self-taught musician. He refused to take traditional piano lessons, and throughout his career did not have substantial knowledge of reading or writing musical notation. He studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Athens.

Vangelis - 1961-1972 Early works in bands

In the early 1960s he formed the pop group Forminx (sometimes spelled "Formynx"), which became very popular in Greece.

During the student riots in 1968 he moved to Paris and formed progressive rock band Aphrodite's Child with Demis Roussos and Loukas Sideras. They had a hit single in Europe called "Rain and Tears", and are considered pivotal in the development of progressive rock and concept albums, especially because of their ground-breaking composition 666 (The Apocalypse Of John,13/18). In 1972 the group was disbanded, although Roussos made several appearances on Vangelis' later work.

Vangelis - 1973-1980 Beginning of solo career

In 1973, Vangelis began his solo work by writing scores to two films by French filmmaker Frederic Rossif. His first official solo album was Earth, also recorded in 1973. At about the same time, he rehearsed for a couple of weeks with another prog-rock band, Yes. Although he never joined the band (they ended up hiring Patrick Moraz), he became friends with singer Jon Anderson, with whom he later worked on many occasions.

After moving to London, Vangelis signed a deal with RCA Records, set up his own studio, Nemo Studios, and began recording a string of well-regarded electronic albums, such as the acclaimed Heaven and Hell (1975), Spiral (1977) and China (1979). Vangelis' Heaven and Hell was later used as the theme to the PBS television series Cosmos by Carl Sagan. He also contributed as a producer and keyboard player to the recordings of Greek rock band Socrates Drank the Conium's album Phos, which was perhaps their most important release.

Vangelis - 1981-1999 Work in film and commercial success

In 1981 Vangelis wrote the score for Chariots of Fire; the movie won a half-dozen of awards, including the 1982 Academy Award for Original Music Score to Vangelis. The theme song topped the US Billboard charts for one week after climbing steadily for one year.

In 1982 he began working with director Ridley Scott: Vangelis scored his Blade Runner (1982), and would later score 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992). He also scored many of the undersea documentaries of Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Collaboration in 1981 and 1986 with Italian singer Milva, achieving a large success especially in Germany with the albums Ich hab'keine Angst an Geheimnisse. In 1992, France made him a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Vangelis and Jon Anderson released several albums together as Jon & Vangelis.

Vangelis - 2000-present Later days

In 2001 he released Mythodea, an orchestral rather than electronic piece that was originally written in 1993, and used by the NASA as the theme for the Mars missions.

In 2004 he released Alexander, a CD soundtrack of his score for Oliver Stone's movie Alexander, continuing his involvement with projects related to his homeland.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki