Vangelis, the Greek electronic composer who wrote the unforgettable Academy Award-winning score for the film 'Chariots of Fire,' has died at 79.
ATHENS, Greece — Vangelis, the Greek electronic composer who wrote the unforgettable Academy Award-winning score for the film"Chariots of Fire" and music for dozens of other movies, documentaries and TV series, has died at 79.
People are also reading… He evolved into a one-man quasi-classical orchestra, using a vast array of electronic equipment to conjure up his enormously popular undulating waves of sound. A private, humorous man — burly, with with shoulder-length hair and a trim beard — he quoted ancient Greek philosophy and saw the artist as a conduit for a basic universal force. He was fascinated by space exploration and wrote music for celestial bodies, but said he never sought stardom himself.
"Orchestration, composition — they teach these things in music schools, but there are some things you can never teach," he said in a 1982 interview."You can't teach creation." But his huge breakthrough came with the score for"Chariots of Fire" that told the true story of two British runners competing in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. Vangelis' score won one of the four Academy Awards the film won, including best picture. The signature piece is one of the hardest-to-forget movie tunes worldwide — and has also served as the musical background to endless slow-motion parodies.
Vangelis was wary of how record companies handled commercial success. With success, he said,"you find yourself stuck and obliged to repeat yourself and your previous success."