After having taken piano lessons, Vangelis began his professional musical career working with several popular bands of the 1960s such as the Forminx and Aphrodite's Child, with the latter's album 666 going on to be recognized as a psychedelic classic. Throughout the 1970s, Vangelis composed music scores for several animal documentaries, including L'Apocalypse des Animaux, La Fête sauvage and Opéra sauvage; the success of these scores brought him into the film scoring mainstream. In the early 1980s, Vangelis formed a musical partnership with Jon Anderson, the lead singer of progressive rock band Yes, and the duo went on to release several albums together as Jon & Vangelis.
In 1981, he composed the score for the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Original Score. The soundtrack's single, the film's "Titles" theme, also reached the top of the American Billboard Hot 100 chart and was used as the background music at the London 2012 Olympics winners' medal presentation ceremonies. Vangelis also received acclaim for his synthesizer-based soundtrack for the 1982 film Blade Runner.
Having had a career in music spanning over 70 years and having composed and performed more than 50 albums, Vangelis is considered to be one of the most important figures in the history of electronic music.
Vangelis was born 29 March 1943, in Agria, near Volos, Greece. Largely a self-taught musician, he reportedly began composing at the age of three. His earliest memory is "playing piano, some percussion and whatever else that was available that made a noise. Right from the start, I was only interested in playing my own music". He refused to take traditional piano lessons, and throughout his career did not have substantial knowledge of reading or writing musical notation. When he was six, Vangelis's parents enrolled him at a specialist music school in Athens. He recalls "I was lucky not to go because music schools close doors rather than open them". He studied painting, an art he still practices, at the Athens School of Fine Arts.
In 1989 received Max Steiner Award. France made Vangelis a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in 1992 and promoted to Commander in 2017, as well Chevalier de la Legion d’ Honneur in 2001. In 1993 received music award Apollo by Friends of the Athens National Opera Society. In 1995, Vangelis had a minor planet named after him (6354 Vangelis) by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center (MPC) at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory; the name was proposed by the MPC's co-director, Gareth V. Williams, rather than by the object's original discoverer, Eugène Joseph Delporte, who died in 1955, long before the 1934 discovery could be confirmed by observations made in 1990. In 1996 and 1997 was awarded at World Music Awards.
NASA conferred their Public Service Medal to Vangelis in 2003. The award is the highest honour the space agency presents to an individual not involved with the American government. Five years later, in 2008, the board of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens voted to make Vangelis an Honorary Doctor, making him Professor Emeritus at their Faculty of Primary Education. In June 2008, the American Hellenic Institute honoured Vangelis with an AHI Hellenic Heritage Achievement Award for his "exceptional artistic achievements" as a pioneer in electronic music and for his lifelong dedication to the promotion of Hellenism through the arts. On 16 September 2013, he received the honour of appearing on the Greek 80 cent postage stamp, as part of a series of six distinguished living personalities of the Greek Diaspora.
Albedo
Vangelis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Minimum distance from the sun: 91 million 377 thousand miles
Mean distance from the sun: 92 million 957 thousand and 200 miles
Mean Orbital velocity: 66000 miles per hour
0rbital eccentricity: 0.017
Obliquity of the ecliptic: 23 degrees 27 minutes 8.26 seconds
Length of the tropical year: equinox equinox 365.24 days
length of the sidereal year: fixed star fixed star 365.26 days
Length of the mean sidereal day: 23 hours and 56 minutes and 4.091 seconds at mean sederial time
Mass: 6600 milion milion milion tons
Equatorial diameter: 7927 miles
Polar diameter: 7900 miles
Oblateness: one 298th
Density: 5.41
Mean surface gravitational acceleration of the rotating earth: 32.174 feet per second per second
Escape velocity: 7 miles per second
Albedo: 0.39
Albedo: 0.39
Albedo: 0.39
Albedo: 0.39
Albedo: 0.39
Albedo: 0.39
Albedo: 0.39
The lyrics of Vangelis's song Albedo 0.39 are focused on providing factual information about the characteristics of the Earth's orbit and physical properties. The first stanza of the song lists the maximum, minimum, and mean distance from the sun, along with other data such as the mean orbital velocity and eccentricity of the orbit. The second stanza provides information about the Earth's axial tilt and length of the tropical and sidereal years. The third stanza is focused on physical properties such as mass, diameter, and density, as well as the mean surface gravitational acceleration and escape velocity.
The repetition of the phrase "Albedo: 0.39" throughout the song may be interpreted as a reference to the Earth's albedo, or the reflection coefficient of its surface. The value of 0.39 is the average albedo of the Earth, meaning that approximately 39 percent of the radiation from the sun is reflected back into space.
Overall, the lyrics of Albedo 0.39 can be seen as a celebration of the scientific knowledge and understanding of the Earth's place in the solar system and the universe. It highlights the precision and complexity of the natural world, and the importance of continued exploration and study.
Line by Line Meaning
Maximum distance from the sun: 94 million 537 thousand miles
The farthest distance between the Earth and the Sun is around 94 million miles.
Minimum distance from the sun: 91 million 377 thousand miles
The nearest distance between the Earth and the Sun is around 91 million miles.
Mean distance from the sun: 92 million 957 thousand and 200 miles
The average distance between the Earth and the Sun is around 93 million miles.
Mean Orbital velocity: 66000 miles per hour
The Earth's speed while revolving around the Sun is approximately 66,000 miles per hour.
0rbital eccentricity: 0.017
The orbit of the Earth around the Sun is not perfectly circular, but slightly elongated with an eccentricity of 0.017.
Obliquity of the ecliptic: 23 degrees 27 minutes 8.26 seconds
The angle between the Earth's equator and the plane of its orbit around the Sun is about 23 degrees, 27 minutes and 8.26 seconds.
Length of the tropical year: equinox equinox 365.24 days
The time it takes for the Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun with respect to the vernal equinox is called the tropical year, which is around 365.24 days long.
length of the sidereal year: fixed star fixed star 365.26 days
The time it takes for the Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun with respect to a fixed star is called the sidereal year, which is around 365.26 days long.
Length of the mean solar day: 24 hours and 3 minutes and 56.5555 seconds at mean solar time
The average length of a solar day, which is the time taken for the Earth to complete one rotation on its axis, is around 24 hours and 3 minutes and 56.5555 seconds.
Length of the mean sidereal day: 23 hours and 56 minutes and 4.091 seconds at mean sederial time
The average length of a sidereal day, which is the time taken for the Earth to complete one rotation with respect to a fixed star, is around 23 hours and 56 minutes and 4.091 seconds.
Mass: 6600 milion milion milion tons
The Earth has a mass of around 6.6 trillion trillion tons.
Equatorial diameter: 7927 miles
The equatorial diameter of the Earth, which is the distance from one side of the Earth to the other passing through the equator, is around 7,927 miles.
Polar diameter: 7900 miles
The polar diameter of the Earth, which is the distance from one side of the Earth to the other passing through the poles, is around 7,900 miles.
Oblateness: one 298th
The Earth is slightly flattened at the poles, with an oblateness of about 1/298th of its equatorial diameter.
Density: 5.41
The average density of the Earth is around 5.41 grams per cubic centimeter.
Mean surface gravitational acceleration of the rotating earth: 32.174 feet per second per second
The gravitational force that the Earth exerts on objects on its surface is approximately equal to 32.174 feet per second per second.
Escape velocity: 7 miles per second
The minimum speed required for an object to escape from the Earth's gravitational pull is approximately 7 miles per second.
Albedo: 0.39
The average reflectivity of the Earth's surface is about 0.39, meaning that about 39% of the incoming sunlight is reflected back into space.
Albedo: 0.39
The average reflectivity of the Earth's surface is about 0.39, meaning that about 39% of the incoming sunlight is reflected back into space.
Albedo: 0.39
The average reflectivity of the Earth's surface is about 0.39, meaning that about 39% of the incoming sunlight is reflected back into space.
Albedo: 0.39
The average reflectivity of the Earth's surface is about 0.39, meaning that about 39% of the incoming sunlight is reflected back into space.
Albedo: 0.39
The average reflectivity of the Earth's surface is about 0.39, meaning that about 39% of the incoming sunlight is reflected back into space.
Albedo: 0.39
The average reflectivity of the Earth's surface is about 0.39, meaning that about 39% of the incoming sunlight is reflected back into space.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: EVANGELOS PAPATHANASSIOU
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
G
By far my favorite track. I wore the grooves out on this vinyl. RIP Vangelis. One of the most profound artists of our time.
SteveRes
What I love about this track is Vangelis just got an engineer to do the voice to try it out, and it worked so well he kept it! Fab video btw, love it
Marcos Antônio Fernandes
Para mim esse cara, o vangelis, é um dos melhores instrumentistas de nossa época, capaz de trazer a música em uma visão e imaginação no futuro. Demais.
mapkos2009
I am happy that you have liked it my work, tks for watch this video!
mapkos2009
Thank you for your apreciation, its very important to me!
mapkos2009
Realy he is one of the best artists of all times! I like very mutch!
resmeister
Brilliant. Just brilliant. 5* and favourited.
mapkos2009
Hey friend, its a great distance!
mundiverso
Great video! kaiserwilhelm23 thanks for sharing! 5*
Aaron Williams
Heard this for the first time on music choice soundscapes.
So I looked it up here on YouTube