Swiadectwo - Muzyka Filmowa (2008)
Vangelis' latest release is only half a Vangelis album. Both Vangelis and Polish composer Robert Jansson were commisioned to write music for "Swiadectwo", a theatrical documentary about the life of Pope John Paul the 2nd. Vangelis wrote the titles music, Jansson the movie's underscore. The work of both them is released on the movie's soundtrack album, now on general release in Poland.For further information, please follow the current developments in this site's news section.
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Vangelis - Part 1
1. Sanctus 4:34
2. Aeternitatem 1:58
3. Humanum Est 3:08
Robert Jansson - Part 2
4. Dziecinstwo 7:09
5. Podroze 4:59
6. Swiadectwo 1 4:12
7. Powolanie 4:53
8. Swiadectwo 2 2:29
9. Triumf 3:28
10. Swiadectwo 3 4:03
11. Nadzieja 4:30
12 Zlo 1:25
13 Cierpienie 4:16
El Greco Original Motion picture Soundtrack (2007)
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Until this section is expanded, please follow the developments in the latest news section of this site.
1 Part 1 3:59
2 Part 2 1:56
3 Part 3 4:20
4 Part 4 2:26
5 Part 5 3:06 (Traditionnal Folk Song of Chania, Crete)
6 Part 6 2:05
7 Part 7 1:30
8 Part 8 1:56 (Composed and Performed by Psarantonis)
9 Part 9 1:00
10 Part 10 1:51
11 Part 11 2:50 (Written and Perfomed by Loudovicos Ton Anogion)
12 Part 12 4:56
13 Part 13 2:36
14 Part 14 1:06
15 Part 15 2:40
16 Part 16 2:46
17 Part 17 2:28
18 Part 18 3:16
Blade Runner Trilogy, 25th Anniversary (2007)
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Until this section is expanded, please follow the developments in the latest news section of this site.
CD 1: Blade Runner Original Soundtrack Album
1 Main Titles 3:42
2 Blush Response 5:47
3 Wait For Me 5:27
4 Rachel’s Song 4:46
5 Love Theme 4:56
6 One More Kiss, Dear 3:58
7 Blade Runner Blues 8:53
8 Memories Of Green 5:05
9 Tales Of The Future 4:46
10 Damask Rose 2:32
11 Blade Runner (End Titles) 4:40
12 Tears In Rain 3:00
CD 2: Blade Runner Previously Unreleased and Bonus Material
1 Longing 1:58
2 Unveiled Twinkling Space 1:59
3 Dr. Tyrell’s Owl 2:40
4 At Mr. Chew’s 4:47
5 Leo’s Room 2:21
6 One Alone (bonus) 2:23
7 Deckard And Roy’s Duel 6:16
8 Dr. Tyrell’s Death 3:11
9 Desolation Path (bonus) 5:45
10 Empty Streets 6:16
11 Mechanical Dolls 2:52
12 Fading Away 3:32
CD 3: BR 25
1 Launch Approval 1:54
2 Up and Running 3:09
3 Mail From India 3:27
4 BR Downtown 2:27
5 Dimitri’s Bar 3:52
6 Sweet Solitude 6:56
7 No Expectation Boulevard 6:44
8 Vadavarot 4:14
9 Perfume Exotico 5:19
10 Spotkanie Z Matka 5:09
11 Piano In An Empty Room 3:37
12 Keep Asking 1:29
Alexander (2004)
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This combination has made the album very popular among most of his fans, except for those listening only from the electronic music perspective, or those (overly?) nostalgic for the "Nemo studios" sound from the 80s.
The music fits a historic movie set in times of King Philip and Alexander the Great , but isn't as Greek or semi Byzantine (read: heavy) as "El Greco" or even "Mythodea". Instead it tries to speak a more contemporary melodic / harmonic language, to express the story's drama, violence, romance, heroism and tragedy.
The album starts with some of the more lyrical tracks, with Titans probably as the most recognizable melody, with the humming choirs and crashing cymbals. "The Drums of Gaugamela" is probably the most filmic piece, a driving rhythm of heavy percussion and a true spectacle of brasses and strings doing battle under the guidance of exotic chanting. Other parts of the album turn attention to the exotic flavors as Alexander conquers the East or the more heavy handed human tragedy when his health begins to fail, but it's never long before another epic melody (along with the expected choirs, tympani and crashes) keeps the spirits up.
Roxane's Veil" here is performed with Vanessa Mae on violin. The track was originally composed for Mae's album "Choreography" but its melody appeared in the movie for a love scene between Alexander and his new wife Roxane. As it turns out, Vangelis decided to use the Mae recording on the CD, not the harp / strings version he recorded for the movie.
As with most of Vangelis' soundtrack albums, much of the music on the album differs from that heard in the movie. Some tracks are different recordings (e.g. Introduction, Tender Memories, Roxane's Veil, Across the Mountains) while others are edited differently (Titans, The Drums of Gaugamela, The Charge). As always a great number of themes (some very good and prolific) heard in the movie aren't found on the CD at all. Interestingly, the one CD track that wasn't heard in the movie at all, "One Morning at Pella" has indeed showed up in the longer "Final Cut" version of the movie that Oliver Stone edited and released on DVD/Blu-Ray some years later.
Commercial release
1 Introduction 1:32 2 Young Alexander 1:36 3 Titans 3:59 4 The Drums of Gaugamela 5:20 5 One Morning at Pella 2:11 6 Roxane's Dance 3:25 7 Eastern Path 2:58 8 Gardens of Delight 5:24 9 Roxane's Veil 4:40 10 Bagoas' Dance 2:29 11 The Charge 1:41 12 Preparation 1:42 13 Across the Mountains 4:12 14 Chant 1:38 15 Immortality 3:18 16 Dream of Babylon 2:41 17 Eternal Alexander 4:37 18 Tender Memories 2:59 Plus, only on German and Borders Limited Editions: 19 Bizarre Bazaar 3:52One more variation of this album has to be mentioned, even though it was never commercially available. Back in 2004 when the studio was hoping "Alexander" would be considered for Oscar nominations, a modified version of the album was created. It was produced in very limited numbers, burned as a CD-R with only a single cover sleeve, as is quite custom for Oscar promo material, and send to the selection of the Academy that decides the music nominations. It didn't succeed, but sometimes those promotional CDs reach second hand shops or collectors specialist stores. Because of the fact that it contains two otherwise unreleased tracks, it has become a much sought after item.
No official track list is included, but the following list using titles of the commercial release will help understand the structure of this alternative version. The first unreleased track is a gentle harp & string piece heard at two different points in the movie. The second is the melody we know from "Tender Memories", but performed more delicately on harp and strings, as heard during some of Alexander's infant scenes. Note that "One Morning at Pella", "Dream of Babylon" and the album's version of "Tender Memories" have been omitted.
"For Your Consideration" promo
1 Introduction 1:31 2 Young Alexander 1:36 3 Titans 3:59 4 The Drums of Gaugamela 5:20 5 [unreleased] 1:51 6 Roxane's Dance 3:25 7 Eastern Path 2:54 8 [unreleased] 1:42 9 Gardens of Delight 5:20 10 Bagoas' Dance 2:29 11 The Charge 1:41 12 Preparation 1:42 13 Across the Mountains 4:12 14 Chant 1:38 15 Immortality 3:38 16 Eternal Alexander 4:44To hear as much music as possible composed for this project, one would need to listen to both versions of the soundtrack CD, watch both the theatrical cut of the movie as well as the longer "Final Cut" (it seems that the intermediate and shorter "Director's Cut" did not contain any music not heard in the two other cuts) and then watch a number of DVD extra that used some more of Vangelis' music, some of it not heard before, being Sean Stone's documentary called "Fight Against Time", as well as the "Resurrecting Alexander", "Perfect is the Enemy of God" and "The Death of Alexander" documentary features on other DVD releases.
Mythodea (2001)
Vangelis' first release on his new label, Sony Classical is indeed as one might expect, more classical than
ever before. It may seem a more elaborate continuation of El Greco, or a more
traditional take (in the orchestral sense) on some of 1492's passages. Whatever one might
feel the need to compare it with, be prepared to find the album to be something else all together. It's commendable that Sony put their commercial faith in a work with - relatively speaking - so little easy hit potential. The strenght of this work will not be found in accessible sing-along melodies or recognizable tunes. However, anyone who's looking for more than that will find everything he hopes for. With amazing grace Vangelis leads an orchestra, a large mixed choir, two perfect sopranos and of course his own synthesizer setup through a world of Greek mythology and outerspace Mars exploration. After an introduction with electronic sound effects, the bombastic opening theme uplifts the spirits to prepare for the more sedate and reflective parts that occasionaly build up to the album's dynamic highlights. The sopranos enter somewhere during the fourth track and sing beautiful, slow but also surprisingly complex solos and duets throughout most of the one hour long work.
Choirs, opera vocals, strings, windblown instruments, harps and orchestral percussion dominate the sound, but some of those parts are still played on - or doubled by - synthesizers. The style is pleasantly consistent, often slightly "Greek", always very serious but warm and full in sound. Sometimes dark, sometimes light and bright. But always in tune with the rest of the music.
The music is based on a concert that Vangelis performed with choir and harpists at the Herodium theater in Athens, 1993. For this release the work was revisited, certain tracks and cues added and many of the parts rerecorded, this time with the full London Metropolitan Orchestra, using the efforts of orchestrator / conductor Blake Neely. Amazingly enough the result feels as "Vangelis" as ever in both performance and sound, so that any sour memories of previously orchestrated cover versions are swiftly washed away after hearing this particular recording.
Both sopranos, Kathleen Battle and Jessye Norman - true divas in all senses of the word - provide the album with extra momentum, performing with as much sensitivity and power as they could draw on.
The release of this album was preceeded by a new live performance: a spectacular show at the Temple of Zeus in Athens, with the entire orchestra and choir present, fronted by Vangelis, Battle and Norman. The show was used in the promotional campaign by means of television broadcasts, a web site, and many newspapers and magazines wrote about the event.
Both the concert and the album are closely tied with a mission NASA was undertaking around Mars. They used the music in their educational program, while the concert used NASA's Mars imagary combined with elements of ancient Greek mythology among the projected imegary, resulting in a surprisingly focussed combination.
The album appeared on CD and the concert was released as Vangelis' first official concert registration on DVD and VHS.
German (plus some) release: International version: 1. Movement 1 2:43 1. Introduction 2:43 2. Movement 2 5:41 2. Movement 1 5:41 3. Movement 3 5:39 3. Movement 2 5:39 4. Movement 4 5:51 4. Movement 3 5:51 5. Movement 5 13:42 5. Movement 4 13:42 6. Movement 6 6:35 6. Movement 5 6:35 7. Movement 7 6:27 7. Movement 6 6:27 8. Movement 8 4:58 8. Movement 7 4:58 9. Movement 9 3:07 9. Movement 8 3:07 10. Movement 10 5:00 10. Movement 9 5:00 11. Movement 11 3:03 11. Movement 10 3:03 12. Mythodea Special Edit 3:57At the concert a special pre-release of the album was given out to guests, housing Mythodea in a luxurious box.
El Greco (1998)
See also below:"Foros Timis Ston Greco" (1995)New commercial version of the limited classic from 1995. The original album became legendary instantly upon its release in 1995, being hailed as superb, by the fans who managed to get hold of it. Three years later Vangelis decided to offer the music to the rest of the world in a slightly different version: a new track order with some altered transitions between the tracks, plus three new compositions, resulting in a total playing time of more than 73 minutes.
The three new tracks were recorded by Vangelis a few months before the release (1998) in Athens. They met with mixed response, being labeled 'too light', 'sloppy' or 'unfitting' by some, while being warmly welcomed by others. The new tracks are Movements 3, 5 and 7 on the new CD. The first two are light and playfull, the last being a short track featuring classical percussion and uncreditted input from a choir and classical vocalist, reminding of Vangelis' "Mask" album.
Be sure not to confuse this album with his 2007 release "El Greco Original Motion Picture Soundtrack", which represents the score Vangelis wrote for Smaragdis' film about the painter Vangelis had already paid tribute to before, in this studio album.
Since the track names consist of Movement numbers, the change in order and the insertion of new tracks caused most of the track names to differ from the original release. A comparison:
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None of the old music has been notably changed or cut. Only the transitions between the tracks have been altered to fit the new order. Furthermore the first part of the new track Movement 3 (On the new album) has been dubbed over the ending of Movement 2.
1 Movement I 10:06
2 Movement II 5:19
3 Movement III 6:49
4 Movement IV 6:26
5 Movement V 4:26
6 Movement VI 7:54
7 Movement VII 3:20
8 Movement VIII 9:44
9 Movement IX 11:58
10 Movement X (Epilogue) 7:00
The music was presented to a celebrity audience in Athens' luxurious "Hotel Grande Bretagne", by having the album play over the speakers while the paintings were visually projected to accompany the music. The guests (Greek politicians, record company executives, etc.) were given a special custom made luxurious red box that contained sheets with information and the Greek print of the album.
Oceanic (1996)
This ode to the Oceans was reportedly written and recorded by Vangelis at a beach
house in Greece. It's a calm and gentle album with many sounds of waves and water.Vangelis was personally involved in the sleevedesign, as he used to be in the late seventies and early eighties. The album proved 'too light' for many old fans who prefer Vangelis' roots with progressive music, but was welcomed by many of the new age generation of his fans.
According to East West (the recordlabel) some of the music was originally written for a documentary project about whales, but in the end Vangelis has taken the subject far beyond that.
1 Bon Voyage 2:33 2 Siren's Whispering 7:59 3 Dreams Of Surf 2:43 4 Spanish Harbour 6:42 5 Islands Of The Orient 7:24 6 Fields Of Coral 7:44 7 Aquatic Dance 3:44 8 Memories Of Blue 5:40 9 Song Of The Seas 6:12
Foros Timis Ston Greco (1995)
See also above:"El Greco"
Within the same period of the release of Voices, Vangelis surprised the fans with this
remarkable album. Only 3000 copies were made. Vangelis personally signed all of them.
A book - dedicated to Vangelis - about Greek/Spanish painter El Greco accompanied the CD,
and contained many pictures of paintings. All was presented in a nice blue box imprinted
with Greek characters describing the title "A Tribute to El Greco".
The package was sold at only one place in Greece, the National Galery museum in Athens. The
sales profit was used to restore and mainten paintings in Greek museums. It followed a
fundraising project initiated by Vangelis to purchase El Greco's paintings and bring them
to Greece.
The music itself is a slow but gentle and serious ode to El Greco. The synthesizer sounds are
all reminiscent of classical instruments but only suggest their origin. The music sounds
very Byzantine, but in a contemporary way.
Vangelis is joined by two opera voices: soprano Montserrat Caballé and tenor Konstantinos
Paliatsaras; each on one of the seven movements.
All of this would have cost you about $150 US dollars if you would have bought it directly in
Athens, where it was often told to have been sold out, but reappearing at a later date. It
might even still be available at the museum.
In 1998 a new version of the album was compiled, with 3 additional tracks, being released commercially and not limited as a normal CD. The artwork was new and of course, no book, box or autograph were included.
Also, be sure not to confuse this album with his 2007 release "El Greco Original Motion Picture Soundtrack", the score Vangelis wrote for Iannis Smaragdis' film about the painter Vangelis had already paid tribute to in this studio album.
1 Movement 1 10:08 2 Movement 2 5:25 3 Movement 3 6:26 4 Movement 4 9:46 5 Movement 5 8:12 6 Movement 6 11:52 7 Movement 7 7:00
Voices (1995)
Shortly after the commercial success of 1492, Vangelis released this album, which might be an
ode to the human voice. But the main part of the music still seems to be instrumental, sometimes
with choirs.
At first the album may seem to cash in on the Conquest of Paradise hype by opening
with a bombastic (but solid) track that is reminiscent of the Conquest of Paradise single. The
German advertising campaign claims Vangelis wrote this as thanks to Henry Maske for his part
in the success of 1492, but that sounds more like a marketing trick. The rest of the album is
calm and ethereal. Many passages are reminiscent of former works while three different vocalists
(Paul Young, Stina Nordenstam and Caroline Lavelle) contribute in surprising ways.
1 Voices 7:00
2 Echoes 8:20
3 Come To Me 4:40 (Caroline Lavelle)
4 P.S. 2:05
5 Ask The Mountains 7:55 (Stina Nordenstam)
6 Prelude 4:24
7 Losing Sleep (Still My Heart) 6:41 (Paul Young)
8 Messages 7:30
9 Dream In An Open Place 5:50
Blade Runner (1994)
In 1982 Vangelis recorded the music for Ridley Scott's cultclassic "Blade Runner", which was
released in 1983. For still unknown reasons (I will not quote any of the many speculations
since non of them was ever confirmed by a directly involved party) the original music
was never released on a soundtrack album. A replayed "orchestral" version by the "New American
Orchestra" was released but it couldn't match the original at all.Paul M. Sammon's book "Future Noir, the Making of Blade Runner" (ISBN 0-06-105314-7) mentions an extremely rare bootleg tape (60 minutes) that surfaced just before the film was released theatrically, covering a selection of the film's music in very bad quality.
In 1989 the Themes compilation CD was released featuring the endtitles (ending slightly different) and the love theme.
In 1992 a CD-bootleg appeared with the music of the film in bad soundquality, but looking very official ("unauthorized replication prohibited"). It contained most of the score plus some bonuses like the sound of the original trailer.
Finally in 1994 it happened: an official soundtrack album was released, perhaps to back up the theatrical re-release of the film in slightly different form. In this new version of the film Harrison Ford's voice-over naration was gone, a 10 seconds unicorn dream sequences was inserted and the ending was cut short (the car sequence - originally lifted from "the Shining" was cut off). That's all but it has changed the film's perspectives tremendously.
The music on this official album is sadly far from complete. Some major passages were left out, like the chorus
accompanying the revenge by Roy on his creator, as well as the beginning of the opening titles. But
what it does offer is FANTASTIC sound quality, well chosen included dialogs
and a few extra tracks that were not included in the film, yet written for it or
inspired by it. It cannot totally replace the bootleg release, but it is all the more
unmissable on its own accounts.
Some prominent guest performances: Rachel's song is sung by Mary Hopkin (in crystal clear
'aah' style years before Enya popularized this art form), Don Percival sings "One More Kiss Dear", Dick Morrisey plays
the "Love Theme" saxophone and Demis Roussos hums and chants on "Tales of the Future".
1 Main Titles 3:42 2 Blush Response 5:47 3 Wait For Me 5:27 4 Rachel's Song 4:46 5 Love Theme 4:56 6 One More Kiss Dear 3:58 7 Blade Runner Blues 8:53 8 Memories Of Green 5:05 9 Tales Of The Future 4:46 10 Damask Rose 2:32 11 Blade Runner (End Titles) 4:40 12 Tears In Rain 3:00
1492, Conquest of Paradise (1992)
This is the soundtrack to Ridley Scott's epic film about Christopher Columbus. The story
focussed on Columbus' motivations, and uses his quest as a symbol for exploring the unexplored,
doing things no one has done before. All this was brought to life with stunning visuals and a
remarkable sense of detail. This movie needed an epic soundtrack, and Vangelis skillfully
provided just that.The recordings on the album differ greatly from those in the film. Some passages are identical but much of the music on the album can not actually be heard in the movie, or appears on the album in an entirely different form. Other music appears in the film but not actually on the album. This makes it seem more like a studio album than a soundtrack release. Many of the character themes as well as some passages for major turningpoints in the film (like the storm near the end) are not represented on the album.
What remains of the album however is not less desirable. A magnificent collection of melodic music, filled with choirs, appropriate synthesizers and ethnic imstruments make this album sound relaxing and exciting at the same time. It is often regarded as one of the favorites amongst Vangelis' fans.
It is also his greatest commercial success so far. Three years after its initial
release it was used as personal theme by German boxing champion Henry Maske and
re-released on CD single. This triggered a huge hype in Europe hitting the nr. 1 charts
positions in Germany, Austria, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and other countries,
breaking many sales records (both single and album).1 Opening 1:21 2 Conquest Of Paradise 4:30 3 Monastery Of La Rabida 3:24 4 City Of Isabel 2:08 5 Light And Shadow 3:31 6 Deliverance 3:20 7 West Across The Ocean Sea 2:44 8 Eternity 1:53 9 Hispanola 4:39 10 Moxica And The Horse 6:42 11 Twenty Eighth Parallel 4:47 12 Pinta, Nina, Santa Maria (Into Eternity) 12:37
Because the album was being awarded with many platinum records East West organized a celebration party for
Vangelis, who wished to receive the awards in Greece. In February 1995 the ceremony took
place in "Hotel Grande Bretagne", a luxurious hotel at the Constitution Square in Athens.
Present were many famous people including Irene Papas, Milva and Mikroutsikos.
The score itself had already been nominated for a Golden Globe award. A pity that he didn't win this,
since Vangelis collects globes as a hobby.
Page of Life (1991)
The fourth "Jon and Vangelis" album sounds rather different than the first three.
Partially because of Vangelis' "new style", which he had been using since Direct, but
also because their combined musical style seems to have changed. The album was not a
big commercial success and they had no success in the single-charts either.The regular European/Canadian release (top picture) of this album in 1991 was in fact a recompiled version. Before it was released there were a couple of differences, including an extra song called "Change we Must", extra nature sounds on Garden of Senses and a long instrumental opening to Wisdom Chain. Also there were a few tracks missing, including "Jazzy Box" and "Is It Love" (which is essentially not a Jon and Vangelis track, as Vangelis was not involved).
Arista version (Europe/Canada): Arista, 261 373
1 Wisdom Chain 5:22
2 Page Of Life 3:16
3 Money 6:07
4 Jazzy Box 3:14
5 Garden Of Senses 6:24
6 Is It Love 4:27
7 Anyone Can Light A Candle 3:44
8 Be A Good Friend Of Mine 4:13
9 Shine For Me 4:10
10 Genevieve 3:48
11 Journey To Ixtlan 5:50
12 Little Guitar 1:43
The second version (lower picture) released in the USA in 1998 by Higher
Octave music on the "OMTOWN" label is closer to the original because it drops a few tracks
("Is It Love" (not with Vangelis), "Jazzy Box", "Be a Good Friend of
Mine" and "Journey To Ixtlan") and returns to the 5 minute Vangelis intro of "Wisdom Chain" (with
some new vocals and different editing) and the original recording of
"Change we Must". This one however has been drastically cut: The unreleased
original version had a delightfully subtle opening by Vangelis which ends in
the waves you can hear as the start of this version.Also the nature sounds and extra vocal inserts in "Garden of Senses" which were deleted on the European/Canadian release are back on this one. Finally the song "Shine for Me" is a bit different and "Money" is mixed differently.
Notice that the uncredited female vocals on "Change we Must" are by the lovely Mary Hopkin who also sang "Rachel's Song" on the "Blade Runner" release.
Higher Octave version (USA/Japan): OMTOWN, OMCD 45337
1 Change We Must 6:28
2 Anyone Can Light a Candle 3:43
3 Page of Life 3:17
4 Money 5:43
5 Little Guitar 1:42
6 Garden of Senses 6:32
7 Genevieve 3:45
8 Shine for Me 4:01
9 Wisdom Chain 10:44
The City (1990)
This moody album tries to capture the spirit of a day in a city from one morning to
the next morning. Various musical ambiances represent different parts of day
or night.
"Dawn" opens with complex harmonics and set the somber mood for the rest of the album. The
heavy "Nerve Center" features crunchy guitar sounds and electronic choirs. Twilight is a
mysterious harp tune. Procession a simple but impressive hum along melody and a fitting
finale to the work.
Some of the music has a "jazzy" touch, showcasing synthesized wind and brass instruments.
Many musical genres are used throughout, making it a versatile album. Its moody and generaly
slow pacing makes some people call it depressive, others call it thoughtfull.1 Dawn 2 Morning Papers 3 Nerve Centre 4 Side Streets 5 Good To See You 6 Twilight 7 Red Lights 8 Procession
Direct (1988)
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The CD tracks "Dial Out" and "Intergalactic Radio Station" are NOT on the LP. The LP has CD tracks 1-2-3-4-6 on side A and CD tracks 7-8-10-11-9 on side B.
Vangelis announced this album as the first in a series of interconnected albums that would explore a wide range of the musical spectrum. It is not known however which later albums can be counted to these series.
The operavocals on "Glorianna" were performed by Markella Hatziano.
1 The Motion Of The Stars 2 The Will Of The Wind 3 Metallic Rain 4 Elsewhere 5 Dial Out 6 Glorianna (Hymn A La Femme) 7 Rotation's Logic 8 The Oracle Of Apollo 9 Message 10 Ave 11 First Aproach 12 Intergalactic Radio Station
Earlier albums