Greek composer Vangelis is dead. The artist, who gained fame with the soundtracks for the films “Blade Runner” and “The Hour of Victory,” died at the age of 79, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Twitter on Thursday. Vangelis was awarded an Oscar for the film music for “The Hour of the Victor”.
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The 79-year-old died on Tuesday, the ANA news agency reported. According to Greek media reports, he died in France of a coronavirus infection.
The composer, whose real name was Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, was a pioneer of electronic music. He has written dozens of film scores, including the film “Missing” by Constantin Costa-Gavras, “Bitter Moon” by Roman Polanski and “Alexander” by Oliver Stone.
He has also written for theater and ballet and composed the anthem for the 2002 World Cup.
According to Vangelis, he found his inspiration in space exploration, nature, futuristic architecture and the New Testament, among other things. He experimented musically all his life and was on the road in a wide variety of genres: from psychedelic rock to ethnic music and jazz.
The musician lived a secluded life and was largely self-taught. He gave his first piano concerto at the age of six, although he never really took any lessons. (AFP)
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