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 FΓͺte sauvage and OpΓ©ra 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 dβ 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, EugΓ¨ne 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.
Monastery of La Rabida
Vangelis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Domine exaudi vocem meam
Et ipse redimet Israel
In secula
De profundis clamavit ad te Domine
In secula
--------------------
Lord, listen to my voice
And He shall redeem Irsrael
For ever and ever
The lyrics of Vangelis's song "Monastery of La Rabida" seem to be a plea or prayer to God. It contains Latin phrases that are used in religious texts and rituals, such as "De profundis clamavit ad te Domine," which means "Out of the depths, I cry to you Lord," from Psalm 130. The second line, "Domine exaudi vocem meam," translates to "Lord, hear my voice." The song is a beautiful and haunting melody that seems to be full of hope and faith, and the use of the Latin language adds to its mystical and spiritual quality.
The third line, "Et ipse redimet Israel in secula," means "And He shall redeem Israel forever." The idea of redemption and salvation is central to many religious beliefs, and this line could be interpreted as a reminder that even in the midst of darkness and despair, there is always hope for renewal and restoration. The final line, "In secula," translates to "For ever and ever," which could be seen as a statement of faith that God's protection and love are constant and unchanging.
Overall, the lyrics of "Monastery of La Rabida" convey a sense of reverence and devotion to a higher power, and the use of Latin adds to the sense of timelessness and universality of these themes.
Line by Line Meaning
De profundis clamavit ad te Domine
From the deep, I exclaim to thee Lord
Domine exaudi vocem meam
Lord, listen to my voice
Et ipse redimet Israel
And He shall redeem Israel
In secula
For ever and ever
De profundis clamavit ad te Domine
From the deep, I exclaim to thee Lord
In secula
For ever and ever
Lyrics Β© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: EVANGELOS PAPATHANASSIOU
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind