Born inAgria and raised inAthens, Vangelis began his career in the 1960s as a member of the rock bands the Forminx andAphrodite's Child; the latter's album666 (1972) is recognised as aprogressive-psychedelic rock classic.[1][3] Vangelis settled inParis and gained initial recognition for his scores to theFrédéric Rossif animal documentariesL'Apocalypse des Animaux,La Fête sauvage, andOpéra sauvage. He released his first solo albums during this time and performed as a solo artist. In 1975, Vangelis relocated to London, where he built his home recording facility namedNemo Studios and released a series of successful and influential albums forRCA Records, includingHeaven and Hell (1975),Albedo 0.39 (1976),Spiral (1977), andChina (1979). From 1979 to 1986, Vangelis performed in a duo withYes vocalistJon Anderson, releasing several albums asJon and Vangelis. He collaborated withIrene Papas on two albums of Greek traditional and religious songs.
Having had a career in music spanning over 50 years, and having composed and performed more than 50 albums, Vangelis is one of the most important figures in the history ofelectronic music[6][7][8] and modern film music.[9] He used many electronic instruments in the fashion of a "one-man quasi-classical orchestra," composing and performing on the first take.[10]
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou was born on 29 March 1943 inAgria, a coastal town inMagnesia,Thessaly,Greece, and raised inAthens.[11] His father Odysseus worked in property and was an amateur sprinter; Vangelis described him as "a great lover of music".[12][13] His mother Foteini Kyriakopoulou was trained as a soprano.[14] Vangelis had one brother, Nikos. Vangelis recalled a peaceful and happy childhood without interference from his parents, who let him be involved in his activities, mainly consisting of playing the piano, painting, and constructing things with his hands.[15]
Vangelis developed an interest in music at age four, composing on the family piano and experimenting with sounds by placing nails and kitchen pans inside it and with radio interference.[11][1][16] When he was six his parents enrolled him for music lessons, but was unable to take to formal tuition as he preferred to develop technique on his own.[11] In later life he considered himself fortunate to have not attended music school, thinking it would have impeded his creativity.[1][6] He never learned to read or write music, instead playing from memory: "When the teachers asked me to play something, I would pretend that I was reading it and play from memory. I didn't fool them, but I didn't care."[14][17] One of his piano teachers was Greek composerAristotelis Koundouroff.[14]
Vangelis foundtraditional Greek music an important influence in his childhood. At 12, he developed an interest in jazz and rock music.[11][18] At fifteen he formed a band with school friends who had similar musical interests. Three years later, he acquired aHammond organ.[11] In 1963, following brief stints in art college and an apprenticeship in filmmaking, Vangelis and three school friends started a five-piece rock band, The Forminx (or The Formynx), named after theAncient Greek string instrument.[19][20] The group played covers and original material largely written by Vangelis, whose stage name at this time was Vagos, with English lyrics by radio DJ and record producerNico Mastorakis. After nine singles and one Christmas EP, which found success across Europe, the group disbanded in 1966.[14][21]
After the Forminx split, Vangelis spent the next two years mostly studio-bound as a composer and producer.[22] He wrote the score to several Greek films–My Brother, the Traffic Policeman (1963),5,000 Lies (1966) byGiorgos Konstantinou,Antique Rally (1966),Frenzy (1966),To Prosopo tis Medousas (1967) byNikos Koundouros, andApollo Goes on Holiday (1968).[23][24][25][26][27]
In 1967, at age 25, Vangelis formed apsychedelic/progressive rock band withDemis Roussos,Loukas Sideras, andAnargyros "Silver" Koulouris. Initially known as the Papathanassiou Set, they were encouraged by the Greek division ofPhilips Records to try their luck in England after their demo was passed ontoMercury Records and was well received. The relocation appealed to the group, as the political turmoil surrounding the1967 Greek coup limited their opportunities. However, Koulouris was called up for military service, causing the band to travel without a guitarist.[6] After the trio were denied entry into England due to problems with their work permits they settled inParis, where they signed with Philips and renamed themselvesAphrodite's Child.[11][28] Their debut single "Rain and Tears" was a commercial success in Europe, and was followed by the albumsEnd of the World (1968) andIt's Five O'Clock (1969). Vangelis conceived the idea of their third,666 (1972), a double concept album based on theBook of Revelation.[6] It is considered a progressive-psychedelic rock classic.[1][3][29] In 1971, the group split following increasing tensions during the recording of666, although Vangelis produced several of Roussos' future albums and singles.[22][30][31] Vangelis recalled after the split: "I couldn't follow the commercial way anymore, it was very boring. You have to do something like that in the beginning for showbiz, but after you start doing the same thing everyday you can't continue."[32]
Vangelis spent six years in Paris; he was moved by the1968 French student riots and felt obliged to stay, during which he accepted various solo projects in film, television, and theatre. He composed the score for the filmsSex Power (1970),Salut, Jerusalem (1972), andAmore (1974).[1][33][34] A soundtrack album recorded for a 1970 wildlife documentary series byFrédéric Rossif was released asL'Apocalypse des animaux in 1973.[35] In 1971, Vangelis took part in several jam sessions with various musicians in London, the recordings from which were released on two albums released in 1978 without his permission–Hypothesis andThe Dragon. He took legal action and had them withdrawn.[36] His first solo album,Fais que ton rêve soit plus long que la nuit (French forMake Your Dream Last Longer Than the Night), was released in 1972. Inspired by the 1968 riots, Vangelis wrote a "poème symphonique" to express his solidarity with the students, comprising music with news snippets andprotest songs; some lyrics were based on graffiti daubed on walls during the demonstrations.[28][35][37]
In 1973, Vangelis released his second solo albumEarth, a percussive-orientated album with various additional musicians, including Koulouris andRobert Fitoussi.[38] In May 1973 he performed at theRoyal Festival Hall in London supportingTempest, but looked back on the concert as a failure.[32] The line-up featured onEarth released a single titled "Who" under the name Odyssey, and performed live with Vangelis at his concert at theParis Olympia in February 1974.[32] Several months later Vangelis returned to England to audition with the progressive rock bandYes, after singerJon Anderson had become a fan of his music and invited him to replace departing keyboardistRick Wakeman.[39] After problems with obtaining a work visa and a rejection from the Musician's Union, plus his reluctance to travel and tour, Vangelis declined. Yes chose Swiss playerPatrick Moraz, who used Vangelis's keyboards in his audition.[28][36][40]
1974–1980: Move to London, solo breakthrough, and Jon and Vangelis
By the end of 1974 Vangelis was able to relocate to England, by which time he felt he "outgrew France" musically.[41] He settled in a flat onQueen's Gate, London and set up a 16-track recording facility namedNemo Studios on Hampden Gurney Street inMarble Arch, which he named his "laboratory".[12][42] In August 1975, he signed a four-album deal withRCA Records, for which he released a series of influential electronic-based albums that increased his profile.[41] The first of these wasHeaven and Hell (1975), a concept album based on duality that features Anderson singing lead vocals on "So Long Ago, So Clear" and theEnglish Chamber Choir.[43] The album went to No. 31 in the UK, and was performed live in concert at theRoyal Albert Hall in 1976.[44] The album was followed by the UK top 20Albedo 0.39 (1976),Spiral (1977), and the spontaneousBeaubourg (1978), each having their own thematic inspiration including astronomy andphysical cosmology,Tao philosophy, and Vangelis' visit to theCentre Georges Pompidou, respectively.[44][45]
During the same period, Vangelis composed the score forDo You Hear the Dogs Barking? directed byFrançois Reichenbach. This was released in 1975 under the French titleEntends-tu les chiens aboyer? and re-released two years later asIgnacio.[45] In 1976, Vangelis released his second soundtrack for a Rossif animal documentary,La Fête sauvage, which combined African rhythms with Western music.[45] This was followed in 1979 by a third soundtrack for Rossif,Opéra sauvage. The music itself would be re-used in other films, including the track "L'Enfant" inThe Year of Living Dangerously (1982) byPeter Weir; the melody of the same track (in marching band format) appears in the beginning of the 1924 Summer Olympics opening ceremonies scene in the filmChariots of Fire while the track "Hymne" was used inBarilla pasta commercials in Italy andErnest & Julio Gallo wine ads in the United States.[46][47] Rossif and Vangelis again collaborated forSauvage et Beau (1984)[48] andDe Nuremberg à Nuremberg (1989).[49]
By 1979, Vangelis signed withPolydor Records. His first release wasChina (1979), based on Chinese culture. Vangelis returned to his Greek roots by recording new arrangements of Greek folk songs with actress and singerIrene Papas. The first set of songs were released under Papas' name as the albumOdes, which was a success in Greece.[45] and would be followed in 1986 by a second album,Rapsodies.[47] In contrast, 1980 saw the release ofSee You Later, a much more experimental and satirical album of concept pieces and unusual pop songs with vocal contributions from Pete Marsh, Cherry Vanilla, and Yes singerJon Anderson, as well as a rare example of Vangelis singing himself (deliberately badly).[50]
Vangelis' music was brought to a wider audience when excerpts fromHeaven and Hell andAlbedo 0.39 were used for the soundtrack ofCarl Sagan's 1980 television documentary seriesCosmos: A Personal Voyage.[50] In 1986, Vangelis composed music for a special edition episode.[47] Vangelis recalled that Sagan sent him recordings of sounds collected by satellites, which he claimed were exactly what he had heard as a child.[6]
Vangelis in 2012 with stars of the stage adaptation ofChariots of Fire
Vangelis composed and performed on the soundtrack forChariots of Fire (1981), a historical drama film directed byHugh Hudson. He accepted the job because "I liked the people I was working with. It was a very humble, low-budget film."[36] The choice of music was unorthodox as most period films featured orchestral scores, whereas Vangelis's music was modern and synthesiser-oriented. Released in 1981, it gained mainstream commercial success which increased Vangelis's profile as a result.[36] The opening instrumental piece, "Titles", later named "Chariots of Fire – Titles", was released as a single and spent one week at number one on the USBillboard Hot 100 after a five-month climb.[57] Thesoundtrack album was No. 1 on theBillboard 200 for four weeks and sold one million copies in the US. In March 1982, Vangelis won anAcademy Award forBest Original Music Score, but refused to attend the awards ceremony,[36] partly due to his fear of flying. He turned down an offer to stay in a stateroom aboard theQueen Elizabeth 2 for a boat crossing.[58] Vangelis commented that the "main inspiration was the story itself. The rest I did instinctively, without thinking about anything else, other than to express my feelings with the technological means available to me at the time".[59] The song was used at the1984 Winter Olympics[6] and it was described as the work for which Vangelis was best known.[60]
In 1981, Vangelis collaborated with directorRidley Scott to score his science fiction filmBlade Runner (1982).[61] Critics wrote that in capturing the isolation and melancholy ofHarrison Ford's character, Rick Deckard, the Vangelis score is as much a part of the dystopian environment as the decaying buildings and ever-present rain.[62] The score was nominated for aBAFTA andGolden Globe award.Blade Runner has subsequently become one of Vangelis' best-known works, despite problems that prevented its release on album for many years. A disagreement led to Vangelis withholding permission for his recordings to be released, so the studio hired musicians dubbed theNew American Orchestra to release orchestral adaptations of the original score. The problem was eventually resolved twelve years later, when Vangelis's own work wasreleased in 1994. Even then, the release was considered incomplete, since the film contained other Vangelis compositions that were not included on the record.[63] This, in turn, was resolved in 2007 when a box set of the score was released to commemorate the film's 25th anniversary, containing the 1994 album, some previously unreleased music cues, and new original Vangelis material inspired byBlade Runner.[64]
In 1992,Paramount Pictures released the film1492: Conquest of Paradise, also directed byRidley Scott, as a 500th anniversary commemoration ofChristopher Columbus' voyage to the New World. Vangelis's score was nominated as "Best Original Score – Motion Picture" at the 1993Golden Globe awards, but was not nominated for an Academy Award.[65] Due to its success, Vangelis won anEcho Award as "International Artist of the Year", and RTL Golden Lion Award for the "Best Title Theme for a TV Film or a Series" in 1996.[66]
In the early 1980s Vangelis began composing for ballet and theatre stage plays.[52] In 1983 he wrote the music forMichael Cacoyannis' staging of the GreektragedyElektra which was performed withIrene Papas at the open-air amphitheater atEpidavros in Greece.[36] The same year Vangelis composed his first ballet score, for a production byWayne Eagling. It was originally performed byLesley Collier and Eagling himself at anAmnesty International gala at theDrury Lane theatre.[52] In 1984 theRoyal Ballet School presented it again at theSadler's Wells theatre. In 1985 and 1986, Vangelis wrote music for two more ballets: "Frankenstein – Modern Prometheus"[47] and "The Beauty and the Beast".[49] In 1992, Vangelis wrote the music for a restaging of theEuripides playMedea, that featuredIrene Papas.[53][69] In 2001 he composed for a third play which starred Papas, and for a version ofWilliam Shakespeare'sThe Tempest staged by Hungarian director György Schwajdas.[70]
In 1974 Vangelis collaborated with Italian singerClaudio Baglioni in the albumE tu....[71] The album reached first place in the Italian sales charts and was the sixth best-selling album in Italy in 1974.[72]
Vangelis collaborated in 1976 with Italian singerPatty Pravo with the albumTanto and with Italian singerMilva achieving success, especially in Germany, with the albumsIch hab' keine Angst also translated in French asMoi, Je N'ai Pas Peur (1981) andGeheimnisse in 1986 (I have no fear andSecrets), also translated in Italian asTra due sogni.[73][74][75]
An Italian languageNana Mouskouri album featured her singing the Vangelis composition "Ti Amerò". Collaborations with lyricist Mikalis Bourboulis, sung by Maria Farantouri, included the tracks "Odi A", "San Elektra", and "Tora Xero".[63]
Vangelis releasedSoil Festivities in 1984. It was thematically inspired by the interaction between nature and its microscopic living creatures;[36]Invisible Connections (1985) took inspiration from the world of elementary particles invisible to the naked eye;[48]Mask (1985) was inspired by the theme of the mask, an obsolete artefact which was used in ancient times for concealment or amusement;[36] andDirect (1988). The last of the aforementioned efforts was the first album to be recorded in Vangelis's post-Nemo Studios era.[49]
There were another five solo albums in the 1990s;The City (1990) was recorded during a stay inRome in 1989, and reflected a day of bustling city life, from dawn until dusk;[49]Voices (1995) featured sensual songs filled with nocturnal orchestrations;Oceanic (1996) thematically explored the mystery of underwater worlds and sea sailing;[76] and two classical albums aboutEl Greco –Foros Timis Ston Greco (1995), which had a limited release, andEl Greco (1998), which was an expansion of the former.[77]
In 2001, Vangelis performed live, and subsequently released, the choral symphonyMythodea, which was used byNASA as the theme for theMars Odyssey mission. This is a predominantly orchestral rather than electronic piece that was originally written in 1993.[81] In 2004, Vangelis released the score forOliver Stone'sAlexander, continuing his involvement with projects related to Greece.[6][82]
On 11 December 2011, Vangelis was invited byKatara Cultural Village inQatar to conceive, design, direct, and compose music for the opening of its outdoor amphitheater. The event was witnessed by a number of world leaders and dignitaries participating in the 4th Forum of theUnited Nations Alliance of Civilizations held in the city ofDoha. British actorJeremy Irons performed in the role of master of ceremonies, and the event featured a light show by German artist Gert Hof. It was filmed for a future video release by Oscar-winning British filmmakerHugh Hudson.[59][84]
In 2012, Vangelis re-tooled and added new pieces to his iconicChariots of Fire soundtrack, for use in thesame-titled stage adaptation.[59][85] He composed the soundtrack of the environmental documentary filmTrashed (2012) directed by Candida Brady and starring Jeremy Irons.[86] A documentary film directed by Tony Palmer calledVangelis and the Journey to Ithaka originally filmed in 2008 was finally released in its original cut in 2025. It was supplemented by 9 hours of Vangelis being interviewed by Palmer.[8] He also scored the music for the filmTwilight of Shadows (2014) directed byMohammed Lakhdar-Hamina.[87]
For the 12 November 2014 landing of thePhilae lander onComet 67P (part of theEuropean Space Agency'sRosetta mission), Vangelis composed three short pieces titled "Arrival", "Rosetta's Waltz", and "Philae's Journey". The pieces were released online as videos accompanied by images and animations from theRosetta mission.[88] He was quoted by ESA as saying, "Mythology, science and space exploration are subjects that have fascinated me since my early childhood. And they were always connected somehow with the music I write". In September 2016, the works were released as part of the new studio albumRosetta.[89] In 2018, Vangelis composed an original score forStephen Hawking's memorial. While Hawking's ashes were interred atWestminster Abbey, the music which backed Hawking's words were beamed by the ESA to the nearestblack hole to Earth.[90][91] It was a personal tribute by Vangelis,[92] and a limited CD titled "The Stephen Hawking Tribute" was shared with the family and over 1,000 guests.[93]
On 25 January 2019, a new studio album,Nocturne: The Piano Album, was released which includes both new and old compositions played on agrand piano and were "inspired by night time, and by Vangelis's long-held passion for space".[94] However, Vangelis recalled he was kind-of pressured by the record company to release it and include old compositions.[95] In the same year, Vangelis wrote an electro-orchestral score rooted in ethnic music forThe Thread, a modern dance piece created byRussell Maliphant inspired byGreek mythology and Hellenic dances.[95] It received very positive reviews,[96][97][98][99] and its CD & DVD was released in a special limited edition by Andromeda Music.[100] On the Maliphant's project he also collaborated with fashion designerMary Katrantzou for whom composed new music for her fashion shows.[101][102][103][104]
For a musician of his stature, very little is known about Vangelis' personal life; and he rarely gave interviews to journalists.[36][95]In 2005, he stated that he was "never interested" in the "decadent lifestyle" of his band days, choosing not to use alcohol or other drugs.[6] He also had little interest in the music industry business and achieving stardom, realising "that success and pure creativity are not very compatible. The more successful you become, the more you become a product of something that generates money".[10][58][59] Instead, he used it to be as free and independent as possible and often rejected the opportunity to promote or capitalise on his fame.[58]
In the mid-1980s, he was in a relationship with Kathy Hill, who was the model in theWham! hit song "Last Christmas".[107]
Vangelis's place of residence was not publicly known; instead of settling in one place or country, he chose to "travel around".[6] He did own a house by theAcropolis of Athens which he did not renovate.[108] Vangelis did not have children; in 2005, he was in his third long-term relationship and said: "I couldn't take care of a child in the way I think it should be taken care of."[6] Other interviews mention that Vangelis had been married twice; one of these marriages was to French photographer Veronique Skawinska, who produced work for some of his albums.[31][109] A 1982 interview withBackstage suggests that Vangelis was previously married to Greek singer Vana Veroutis,[110][111] who provided vocals for some of his records.[112][113]
Although a very private person, according to many accounts he was an "inordinately approachable", "really nice" and "humorous" man, who enjoyed long friendly gatherings, was fascinated by Ancient Greek philosophy, the science and physics of music and sound, and space exploration.[10][95] His daily activities mainly involved combining and playing his electronic instruments and the piano.[10][36][95] He also enjoyed painting.[10] His first exhibition, of 70 paintings, was held in 2003 at Almudin inValencia, Spain. It then toured South America until the end of 2004.[59][114][115]
Vangelis was suffering from several health issues in the last couple of years and died ofheart failure on 17 May 2022, at the age of 79, at a hospital inParis, where he was being treated forCOVID-19.[116][117][118]
Synthtopia, an electronic music review website, stated that Vangelis's music could be referred to as "symphonic electronica"[1] because of his use of synthesizers in an orchestral fashion. The site went on to describe his music asmelodic: "drawing on the melodies offolk music, especially the Greek music of his homeland".[124] Vangelis's music and compositions have also been described as "a distinctive sound with simple, repetitive yet memorable tunes against evocative rhythms andchord progressions".[125]
In an interview withSoundtrack, a music and film website, Vangelis talked about his compositional processes. For films, Vangelis stated that he would begin composing ascore for a feature as soon as he had seen a rough cut of the footage.[126] In addition to working with synthesizers and other electronic instruments, Vangelis also worked with and conducted orchestras. For example, in theOliver Stone filmAlexander, Vangelis conducted an orchestra that consisted of variousclassical instruments includingsitars, percussion,finger cymbals, harps, andduduks.[127]
He explains his customary method of approach. As soon as the musical idea is there, as many keyboards as possible are connected to the control-desk, which in turn are directly connected to the applicable tracks of the multi-track machine. The idea now is to play as many keyboards as possible at the same time. That way, as broad a basis as possible develops, which only needs fine-tuning. After that it's a question of adding things or leaving out things.[128]
While acknowledging that computers are "extremely helpful and amazing for a multitude of scientific areas", he described them as "insufficient and slow" for the immediate and spontaneous creation and, in terms of communication, "the worst thing that has happened for the performing musician".[59][16] He considered that contemporary civilization is living in a cultural "dark age" of "musical pollution". He considered musical composing a science rather than an art, similar toPythagoreanism.[6] He had a mystical viewpoint on music as "one of the greatest forces in the universe",[59][129] that the "music exists before we exist".[6] His experience of music is a kind ofsynaesthesia.[6][130]
As a musician who always composed and played primarily on keyboards, Vangelis relied heavily onsynthesizers[131] and other electronic approaches to music, although his first instrument was the piano. He also played and used manyacoustic andfolk instruments when required[1] and was a keen percussionist (in addition to a standard drum kit, he performed on vibraphone, timpani, symphonic gongs and snare drums, various gamelan instruments, a tubular bell, a wind gong, a bell tree, and crotales). On several of his albums, he employed a livechoir and classical soprano (usually Vana Veroutis).
I don't always play synthesizers. I play acoustic instruments with the same pleasure. I'm happy when I have unlimited choice; in order to do that, you need everything from simple acoustic sounds to electronic sounds.[36] Sound is sound and vibration is vibration, whether from an electronic source or an acoustic instrument.[59]
Vangelis' first electric keyboard was aHammond B3 organ, while his first synthesizer was aKorg 700 monophonic.[16] By his own admission, he never got rid of keyboards during the first two decades of his career, but accumulated new ones and simply stopped actively using the old ones once he had effective replacements or had exhausted their possibilities. By the mid-1970s, when based at his Nemo Studio in London, he was also using Elka Tornado IV Reed andFarfisaSyntorchestra organs, a SelmerClavioline, aHohner Clavinet D6, aFender Rhodes 88 electric piano, a GR International Bandmaster Powerhouse 8-track drum machine, aMoog Satellite, and various synthesizers byRoland (SH-1000, SH-2000, andSH-3A) and Korg (MaxiKorg 800DV, MiniKorg 700, and 700s). From the mid-1970s onward he employed two grand pianos - anImperial Bösendorfer and aSteinway & Sons Concert model.[132]
Vangelis' favourite keyboard was theYamaha CS-80 polyphonic synthesizer, which he began using from 1977 and which allowed him to employ a distinctive and expressivevibrato technique byvarying the pressure exerted on the key. He would use this instrument throughout the 1970s and 1980s to the point that its timbres, abilities, and idiosyncrasies became closely associated with his musical signature. In a 1984 interview, Vangelis described the CS-80 as "the most important synthesizer in my career – and for me the best analogue synthesizer design there has ever been... It needs a lot of practice if you want to be able to play it properly, but that's because it's the only synthesizer I could describe as being a real instrument, mainly because of the keyboard — the way it's built and what you can do with it."[16]
For the mid-1980s, Vangelis retained his Roland modular systems and ProMars Compuphonic synthesizers, but added the SH-101 andJX8-P models, and theMKS-80 Super Jupiter rack mount module, as well as aYamaha GS-1. Other holdovers from previous active setups were the Fender Rhodes 88 and Yamaha CP-80, the MiniMoog, the Prophet-10, and the grand pianos. For drum machines, he retained the Linn LM-1 but added an LM-2LinnDrum and anE-mu SP-12; his chosen sequencers for this period were the Roland CSQ-600 and the ARP; and he upgraded to the Mk. II version of the Roland VP-330 VocoderPlus. Vangelis disliked programming-oriented sampling devices like theFairlight CMI (considering them to be too far removed from being relatable instruments) and remained unimpressed by many of the later commercial 1980s polysynths such as theYamaha DX7; however, he did use theE-mu Emulator sampler,[16] in particular the Emulator II model.[132]
For his final period at Nemo in the late 1980s, Vangelis also retained the Emulator II; the Prophet 10 (enhanced by theVS module); the GS-1, his grand pianos, and the CP-80 in active service along with the Roland ProMars Compuphonic, JX8-P, and VP-330 VocoderPlus (while mostly retiring the Fender Rhodes). He would also continue to use the SP-12 and LinnDrum as drum machines, adding the Sequential Circuits TOM. By this point, the Roland modular systems had also been retired, although he would retain the MKS-80 Super Jupiter and augment it with further MKS-20 andMKS-70 rack mount models as well as two further Roland keyboard synthesizers (theJupiter-6 and theJuno-106). During this time, Vangelis also made a return to Korg keyboards (acquiring aDW-8000 and aPoly-800) as well as adding theEnsoniq Mirage to his sampler armoury. Sequencing was now handled by a Roland MSQ-700. Despite his stated disappointment with the Yamaha DX7, he still used it alongside the related modular TX7 version.[132]
In 1988, Vangelis closed Nemo Studio and embarked on the more nomadic lifestyle he would continue for the rest of his life, moving between homes and hotels in different countries according to whim and circumstance. For this, he made a drastic switch to a portable, all-digital instrumental setup based around the ZyklusMIDI Performance System, which was first heard on his 1988 albumDirect.[133]
For the last part of his career, Vangelis used a custom keyboard set-up with built-in volume and mixing pedal controls, enabling him to improvise, play, arrange, and orchestrate his music live without overdubbing or needing to move from one sitting position. This ensemble, and the set-up he used for his irregular concert performances, appeared to be based around various Korg and Roland machines as well as theE-mu Proteus rack module.[133][134][135]
^Powell, Mark (1968).End of the World [2010 Reissue] (Media notes). Aphrodite's Child. Esoteric Recordings. ECLEC 2205.Archived from the original on 22 October 2023. Retrieved10 September 2023.
^Lake, Steve (10 August 1974)."Greek Group".Melody Maker.Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved22 August 2016.
^"The Forminx". Vangelis Movements.Archived from the original on 19 April 2010. Retrieved12 November 2008.
^abcDuncan, Andrew (21 November 1982)."Mechanic of Music".Telegraph Sunday Magazine.Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved10 February 2019.
^According to the Vangelis Movements websiteArchived 11 February 2012 at theWayback Machine not mentioning marriage to Veroutis, she is reported to have played again recently (2012). This website refers to Veroutis' own website, and includes images of Vangelis and Veroutis together.
^Jacqueline A. Schaap (21 June 2004)."Vangelis copyright BUMA and STEMRA"(PDF). Commission of the European Communities.Archived(PDF) from the original on 23 January 2017. Retrieved20 August 2016.
