Song Spotlight: Prelude by Vangelis

The music created by Vangelis for the movie  Blade Runner is my favorite soundtrack music.  I wish that I could say that the soundtrack album of Blade Runner is my favorite movie soundtrack.  Unfortunately there has yet to be a proper official release that contains all of the wonderful music that Vangelis created for the groundbreaking movie back in 1982.  Perhaps in the future an adventurous record label will correct this glaring omission.

Looking over the long career of Vangelis it is clear that he has been, and continues to be, a prolific and imaginative songwriter and musician.  His career track has been a fascinating one. For the bulk of his career he has primarily alternated between creating music for movie soundtracks and music for his solo albums.  In many respects there has not been a great deal of difference between the two.  His soundtrack albums tend to be a bit more focused, but overall the music on all of his albums sounds distinctly like Vangelis.

In 1995 Vangelis released the album Voices. When listening to the album I am immediately drawn to the sixth track, Prelude. As a fan of the music of Blade Runner, Prelude is an alluring song.  Although the song was released  thirteen years after Blade Runner  it would have been a perfect fit for the movie.  Voices is an interesting album.  It is not a soundtrack album, yet all of the music would have been appropriate for a movie soundtrack.  Some songs evoke the sounds and mood of his Blade Runner score. Others are reminiscent of his work for the Chariots Of Fire soundtrack.   For me Prelude is one of the album’s standout tracks.

Prelude clocks in at four minutes and twenty four seconds.  Vangelis packs a great deal of drama into that time frame.    The  enigmatic opening moments of Prelude slowly unfold.  There is a mix  of sound effects, synthesizer sounds and faraway voices.  This dreamlike mix continues for nearly one minute.  Vangelis then introduces the piano.  The synthesizer transitions to the background, creating a musical foundation for the piano to take the lead.  Vangelis spends the rest of the song laying down variations on a moody piano motif.  The song evokes in me feelings of mystery and melancholy. However, within the notes that Vangelis plays on the piano there is a sense of hope.  The pacing of the song is perfection.  Vangelis takes his time with the notes, there is no rush.  With a soft touch, he deliberately lays down each note with a sense of purpose.  The beauty of the song is in its subtlety.  The dynamics are kept low.  There are no grand flourishes, just well placed notes with plenty of space between to let each one breath.  As the song progresses the sense of hope slowly grows.  The song’s running time is effective. Vangelis says what he has to within the song’s length.  That said, he creates a musical world that I could get lost in for a long time.  You may have to put the song on repeat so that you can be fully immersed into this wonderful musical moment.

Years ago when I first explored some of the music of Vangelis, beyond Blade Runner, I was initially disappointed.  There was an expectation that more of his music would sound just like the music of Blade Runner.  What I discovered is the music of Blade Runner is just one facet of the output of Vangelis.  When listening to his discography there are moments and songs that are similar to the sounds of Blade Runner.    Much of his music tends to be more upbeat and not as dark as Blade Runner.  Vangelis has proven himself to be a highly talented and multi-faceted composer.  His music evokes many different colors, shades and moods.  The music of Blade Runner is special to me, so it is always a joy when I  find more music in that mode. The song Prelude definitely falls into this category.

Troy T.