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.
Jerusalem
Vangelis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy lamb of god
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the countenance divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among those dark satanic mills?
Bring me my bow of burning gold
Bring me my arrows of desire
Bring me my spear, o clouds unfold
Bring me my chariots of fire
I will not cease from mental fight
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land
The song 'Jerusalem' by Vangelis is an interpretation of the famous poem "And Did Those Feet in Ancient Time" by William Blake. It questions if Jesus Christ traveled to England in ancient times, and if so, could his presence have impacted England's land, people, and culture? The poem proposes the idea that England has the potential to become a new Holy Land, similar to Jerusalem.
The first stanza of the song deals with these questions, asking if it's possible that Jesus walked on England's green mountains, and if he was seen on England's pastures. The countenance divine refers to the face of Jesus, asking if he had shone his light on the "clouded hills" of England.
The second stanza infers a sense of military call to arms, emphasizing the importance of the cause of building Jerusalem in England. It calls for weapons of all sorts, such as a bow of burning gold, arrows of desire, a spear, and chariots of fire. The final two lines of the stanza indicate a commitment to fighting until the goal of building Jerusalem is accomplished.
Overall, the song is a plea to build a better England, possibly through a divine figure's intercession. It is a call to fight for this change and not give up until the cause is achieved.
Interesting Facts:
Line by Line Meaning
And did those feet in ancient time
Did individuals in a bygone era walk on this land?
Walk upon England's mountains green?
Did they traverse England's hilly landscapes?
And was the holy lamb of god
Was the icon of purity, innocence and humility visible?
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
Did it appear in England's beautiful and bountiful fields?
And did the countenance divine
Did an otherworldly expression of grace and beauty shine?
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
Did it provide eternal light to our dimmed and obscured mountains?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Was this place the site of the city of peace, unity and hope?
Among those dark satanic mills?
Amidst the factories possessing of characteristics commonly attributed to the devil?
Bring me my bow of burning gold
Provide me with the weapon that sparks blazing flames of golden fury
Bring me my arrows of desire
Bring me the projectiles that embody my passionate yearnings and aspirations.
Bring me my spear, o clouds unfold
Retrieve my spear so I can vanquish the clouds which keep me from it.
Bring me my chariots of fire
Provide me with the means of reaching my fiery passion and desire.
I will not cease from mental fight
I will never abandon the inner struggle for what I believe to be right.
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
I will not allow my sword to remain idle in my grasp.
Till we have built Jerusalem
Before we create the city of peace, unity and hope.
In England's green and pleasant land
On this nation's peaceful, verdant, and picturesque lands.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Traditional
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind