| Chariots of Fire | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Film score by | ||||
| Released | March 1981 (UK) October 1981 (US)[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1980 | |||
| Studio | Nemo Studios, London | |||
| Genre | Film score | |||
| Length | 42:03 | |||
| Label | Polydor | |||
| Producer | Vangelis | |||
| Vangelis chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Chariots of Fire | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [3] |
| Filmtracks | [4] |
Chariots of Fire is a 1981musical score by Greek electronic composerVangelis (credited as Vangelis Papathanassiou) for the British filmChariots of Fire, which won four Academy Awards includingBest Picture andOriginal Music Score.
The album topped theBillboard 200 for 4 weeks. It reached #2 in Canada, #5 in the UK, #5 in Australia, and #6 in New Zealand.
Theopening theme of the film, called "Titles" on the album track listing but widely known as "Chariots of Fire", was released as asingle; on theBillboard Hot 100 it reached #1 and stayed there for one week.
The film score combines styles from across the musical spectrum includingprog-rock, symphonicclassical music andnew age.[5]
The film's director,Hugh Hudson, chose Vangelis to compose the film's music, after becoming impressed with his albumsOpera Sauvage andChina and having worked with Vangelis on commercials in Paris during the 1970s.[6] AYamaha CS-80synthesizer was used on the recording.[7] Vangelis played all the instruments, including synthesizers, acoustic piano, drums and percussion, and recorded the score in his Nemo studio in London, which he had set up in 1975.[8] The music that he came up with, mostly electronic for a period film, initiated a new style in film scoring. The use of synthesizers in film scores beyond mere textures, and their convenience in allowing directors, producers, and studios to hear preliminary versions of full scores found its roots inChariots of Fire.
The score album was almost all re-recorded, and sounds different from the music heard on film, with often richer arrangements, particularly in the "Titles" track. The second part of the album is a one-track suite including music from and inspired by the score.[8] Some original themes from the film did not make it to the album.
Although Vangelis had already done a number of film scores, including those for animal documentaries by Frédéric Rossif,Chariots of Fire was his first major film score, and it immediately gave him his big breakthrough as a composer, as "Titles" was an international hit and changed the whole course of his career.
In addition to Vangelis' original music, the album includes an arrangement of "Jerusalem", sung by theAmbrosian Singers, as performed at the 1978 funeral ofHarold Abrahams, the event which bookends the film and inspired its title. This famous choral work is a 1916 setting bySir Hubert Parry ofWilliam Blake's poem.
Vangelis dedicated the score to his father Ulysses Papathanassiou who had been a sprinter.
Despite Vangelis public performances being rare, he has played "Chariots of Fire" live in Los Angeles, U.S. (November 7, 1986), Rome, Italy (July 17, 1989, as encore), Rotterdam, Netherlands (June 18, 1991), and Athens, Greece (Mythodea concerts of July 13, 1993 and June 28, 2001, as encore, and August 1, 1997)[13]
In 2000, and again in 2006, the album was relaunched on CD, on both occasions remastered by Vangelis.[8]
Tracks from the album have been included in several official Vangelis compilations, namelyThemes (1989),Best Of Vangelis (1992),Portraits {So Long Ago, So Clear} (1996), andOdyssey - The Definitive Collection (2003).[14]
Of the pieces of Vangelis's music that did not end up on the film's soundtrack album is the background music to the race Eric Liddell runs in the Scottish highlands. The title of this piece is "Hymne", and it is a new arrangement for the film from Vangelis' 1979 album,Opéra sauvage. The original version is also included on Vangelis's compilation albumsThemes,Portraits, andOdyssey: The Definitive Collection.
DirectorHugh Hudson's original choice for the famous slow-motion running sequences on the beach was the track "L'Enfant" fromOpéra sauvage. Vangelis had to persuade Hudson to let him create something original for the scene, using the same tempo as "L'Enfant." The result was the "Chariots of Fire" title track, "Titles".
In 1985 Greek composer Stavros Logaridis sued Vangelis forplagiarism (EMI vs Warner Brothers), alleging the title track had plagiarised Logaridis' song "City of Violets" (1977), which does feature similar instrumentation and chord progressions. Vangelis demonstrated his first-take improvisational composition style live on his synthesizers in court and was acquitted of the complaint. The case reached the London High Courts in 1987 and was referred to as atest case numerous times in the following years in matters relating, but not limited, tomusic sampling andcopyright infringement.[15]
The "Titles" track ofChariots of Fire has been used in innumerable parodies in films and television shows, especially in slow-motion sequences. It is used in the Olympic-themed video gameTrack & Field.
The piece has also been used in numerous venues as inspirational music for athletes. At theopening ceremony of the2012 Summer Olympics, the piece was used in a parodyLondon Symphony Orchestra performance featuringRowan Atkinson, in character asMr. Bean. The piece was also played during every victory ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics inLondon.
It has been used during celebratory occasions for organizations. For one notable example, it was played whenApple Inc.'s chairmanSteve Jobs introduced thefirst Macintosh on January 24, 1984, at a technology demonstration event.
The album was released in 1981 onLP,compact cassette and on8-track cartridge in the U.S. The version onCD was released in 1984 in Germany. The track list below corresponds to LP and cassette variants.
All tracks written by Vangelis Papathanassiou, except where noted.
The album reached number-one in the sales charts of various countries, including four weeks at number-one in the United States. In total, the album stayed 97 weeks in theBillboard 200, selling three million copies in the first year alone,[6] becoming the best-selling instrumental film score until the release ofTitanic in 1997.[16] The album reached number five in theUK Albums Chart and stayed in the listing for 107 weeks.
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[28] | 2× Platinum | 100,000^ |
| Austria (IFPI Austria)[29] | Gold | 25,000* |
| Canada (Music Canada)[30] | 3× Platinum | 300,000^ |
| France (SNEP)[31] | Gold | 100,000* |
| Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[32] | Gold | 10,000* |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[33] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[34] | Platinum | 300,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[35] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
| Summaries | ||
| Worldwide | — | 3,000,000[36] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
| Studio albums | |
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| Soundtracks | |
| Compilations | |
| Songs | |
| Other collaborations | |
| Related | |
