Vangelis quotes

Vangelis was a Greek composer and musician, celebrated for his pioneering work in electronic, film, and orchestral music. His evocative soundtracks, especially for films like "Chariots of Fire" and "Blade Runner," earned him worldwide acclaim. He became renowned for blending synthesizers with classical influences to create memorable and atmospheric compositions. Here are 50 of his quotes:

Mythology, science, space exploration, these are subjects that have fascinated me since my early childhood. And they were always connected somehow with the music I write.

Vangelis

We are living in a cultural dark age of musical pollution. You put the radio on, and five minutes later you need an aspirin.

Vangelis

The number of interviews I've ever given could be counted on the fingers of my hands.

Vangelis

On working alone: "I enjoy working alone. I know myself, and I know what I want... and all this allows me to create my music before my thoughts can interrupt."

Vangelis

Computers are extremely helpful and amazing for a multitude of scientific areas, but for me, when it comes to creation, they are insufficient and slow. Therefore all of my efforts are to stay away from that beast.

Vangelis

On happiness: "For me, it's harmony resulting from the cosmic wave, not the happiness resulting from the social wave"

Vangelis

I understand the world through music and I believe that music shapes the universe. Mankind has always had a sense of wonder about space, has always been curious. It's something that's implanted in us. It's natural to want to travel and discover. It is, always has been, and is always going to be like this. We are space.

Vangelis

On hearing: "It's an extremely important faculty which helps to balance the nervous system. Besides, people do not hear or see the same thing. There are specialists, especially in France, that measure hearing and determine the frequencies that the ear cannot hear or can only hear at greater intensity. This can cause psychological problems".

Vangelis

The New Age music: "gave the opportunity for untalented people to make very boring music."

Vangelis

On concerts: "Concerts are nonsense. They create many problems: money, interests – it is hardly spontaneous. I want to feel the same pleasure that my audience experiences, otherwise it's not honest"

Vangelis

And whatever we find on Mars, the doors will be open to the next Odyssey, to something so many have instinctually felt for so long, something which through music I remember -- that at the dawn of creation the seeds of life were likely scattered far and wide across the endless skies, and that science will continue to show us how we are connected, no different than the universe itself.

Vangelis

On the 2004 Summer Olympics: "Nobody proposed me anything to do with the Olympics. Nothing. Maybe the Olympics have become too much of a supermarket now. The other athletics events have more of the spirit of the Olympics."

Vangelis

Vangelis has been writing and performing electronic music for three decades and suggests that it is perhaps the only genre - with the exception of "pure" classical music - that can comunicate universally.

Vangelis

Music for me is life, I stay in my studio until ten or eleven at night and I record every day. Not for money or for albums - I just compose music.

Vangelis

On music: "Scientifically, believe it or not, music drives everything, because music equals universe and universe equals music."

Vangelis

in English: I do not consider myself a musician, rather a radar ready to pick up the symphonies coming from the sky. It's been like that since I was four years old and I hope it will continue forever. When I compose, any ingredient can be good, the problem lies in the proportions that must be harmonized. It's like the work of architects, you never invent anything.

Vangelis

On theory: "I don't know any theory. Knowing the theory does not mean anything.

Vangelis

On music record industry: "I moved into the record industry. I was under the impression that in order to be alive and to be able to create what I had in mind I had to become successful. I realised 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 of being able to move forward freely and do what you really wish, you find yourself stuck and obliged to repeat yourself and your previous success."

Vangelis

I've been composing and performing for as long as I can remember.

Vangelis

On music: "Yes, the frequencies that I use are very important. The music has a real message inside. I must be very careful with sound. The sound is my life. My ear is completely aware. I spontaneously listen to all the sounds around me. For example, a frequency of approximately 30 cycles just passes, there. If we slow down sound it can cause sickness, and if we amplify it, it could destroy a wall."

Vangelis

On live performance: "Yes. l'd really like to do some concerts of completely improvised music, but one of the reasons for doing a concert is to experience the enjoyment of the people there, so you have to include excerpts of music from previous albums because they want to hear something they already know and like. There's nothing wrong with limiting your spontaneous playing to just improvising around old themes, but what is wrong is playing a concert solely to promote a certain record. I've never done a concert tour just to promote Heaven and Hell or Chariots or anything like that. That sort of thing seems pointless to me."

Vangelis

If I've made money from music, it was never my aim to do that. I didn't do it to become famous. I absolutely respect and I believe I serve music.

Vangelis