Vangelis, composer of Blade Runner soundtrack, dead at 79

[Hector]

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Blade Runner…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccJJ0uxigVA

Also Academy Award winner for Chariots of Fire.

His music was used in Carl Sagan’s Cosmos.

And so many others,

Prolific composer.

Only John Williams is left.

Vangelis RIP

P.S. I found this to be pretty cool:

Vangelis composed an original score for Stephen Hawking's memorial. While Hawking's ashes were interred at Westminster Abbey, the music which backed Hawking's words were beamed by the ESA to the nearest black hole to Earth. It was a personal tribute by Vangelis, and a limited CD titled "The Stephen Hawking Tribute" was shared with the family and over 1,000 guests.

[Hector]

From Wiki:

For a musician of his stature, little is known about Vangelis's personal life and he rarely gave interviews to journalists. 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. 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". Instead, he used it to be as free and independent as possible and often rejected the opportunity to promote or capitalise on his fame.

Vangelis's place of residence was not publicly known; instead of settling in one place or country, he chose to "travel[ed] around". He 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." Excerpts from other interviews mention that Vangelis had married twice before, one of which was to French photographer Veronique Skawinska, who produced work for some of his albums. A 1982 interview with Backstage suggests that Vangelis was previously married to Greek singer Vana Veroutis, who provided vocals for some of his records.

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. His daily activities mainly involved combining and playing his electronic instruments and the piano.He also enjoyed painting. His first exhibition, of 70 paintings, was held in 2003 at Almudin in Valencia, Spain. It then toured South America until the end of 2004.

Vangelis died on 17 May 2022, aged 79, at a hospital in Paris, due to heart failure.

[publiusr]

He had many keyboards. He helmed a starship of sorts.
Not as light as Andreas V’s CAVERNA MAGICA or as heavy as Arkenstone’s work.

[Hector]

I love Andreas Vollenweider's Caverna Magica.

It’s amazing how time flies, as I bought that album way back in the early 80s.