November 22, 2004 - Fifteen years ago, if you asked me, "Who's your favorite composer?" I would have said "Vangelis." Like a great many others I was transfixed by his score for Blade Runner, though maybe moreso because the music wasn't available on vinyl, cassette or CD in non-bootleg form until 1996. (There were a couple Blade Runner tracks on his "Best of" CD, including the future-noir gem "Memories of Green," but pretty much that was it.) I can do without the Chariots of Fire theme because it will always be tied to the image of people running in slow motion, but what's indispensable is Vengelis' Hymn (can it be measured what that tune did for California wine?), his fabulous score for the documentary Antarctica, the main theme from 1492: Conquest of Paradise and the theme from Missing (which some of you may recall was used for a series of successful AT&T; commercials in the 80s). I guess my attraction to Vangelis' music boiled down to the fact that his work was essentially synthesizer-based and musically he went places John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner and the like didn't go.

Now, there's Alexander, Vangelis' first CD in three years (his last being the operatic Mythodea). Breaking with the usual method of scoring a movie, where the composer comes in after principal photography, Vangelis to created the score as the movie was being filmed. For a change of pace, director Oliver Stone played portions of Vangelis' composition between camera set-ups to help establish a mood for the actors.

In this short video interview from his studio, Vangelis comments on collaborating with Oliver Stone.

Download: An Interview with Vangelis.