Decca Records has announced a new album by Academy Award-winning composer and synthesist Vangelis, Juno to Jupiter.
The album is inspired by NASA’s ground-breaking Juno space probe mission, and its ongoing exploration of Jupiter.
“I thought to put emphasis on the characteristics of Jupiter/Zeus and Hera/Juno that according to the Greek Theogony, had a special relationship,” explains Vangelis. “I felt that I should present Zeus/Jupiter only with sound, as the musical laws transform chaos into harmony, which moves everything and life itself.”
“For Hera / Juno, I felt the need for a voice. Angela Gheorghiu, represents in this historical depiction of the mission to the planet Jupiter, Hera / Juno, in a breathtaking way.”
Here’s a preview of Juno To Jupiter, the track In The Magic Of Cosmos:
Vangelis’ music is often linked to themes of science, history and exploration. Alongside his Academy Award-winning score for Chariots of Fire and his acclaimed Blade Runner music, he has written the choral symphony Mythodea for NASA’s 2001 Mission to Mars, as well as films including Antarctica, 1492: Conquest of Paradise and Alexander.
Vangelis also collaborated with the European Space Agency (ESA) on his album Rosetta to mark the culmination of the Rosetta Mission to land a probe on a comet for the first time in history, as well as for the broadcasting by ESA into space of his CD single dedicated to the late Professor Stephen Hawking.
His music has also been used in the documentary series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage by Carl Sagan.
Decca notes:
“Vangelis’ position and strongest wish is that we shouldn’t forget that Space, Universe, Cosmos, in whichever name we call it, is our hope and future and we need to be careful not to make the same mistakes in space that we constantly made in our planet, as it is the only chance we have – our future.”
The album will be available Sept 24th, 2021, on CD and digital formats, with vinyl and a limited edition box set to follow.
Tracks:
1. ATLAS’ PUSH
Spoken word samples courtesy of NASA
2. INSIDE OUR PERSPECTIVES
3. OUT IN SPACE
4. JUNO’S QUIET DETERMINATION
5. JUPITER’S INTUITION
6. JUNO’S POWER
7. SPACE’S MYSTERY ROAD
8. IN THE MAGIC OF COSMOS
9. JUNO’S TENDER CALL
Angela Gheorghiu, soprano, as Juno
10. JUNO’S ECHOES
11. JUNO’S ETHEREAL BREEZE
12. JUPITER’S VEIL OF CLOUDS
13. HERA/JUNO QUEEN OF THE GODS
Angela Gheorghiu, soprano, as Juno
14. ZEUS ALMIGHTY
15. JUPITER REX
16. JUNO’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Angela Gheorghiu, soprano, as Juno
17. APO 22
Spoken word samples courtesy of NASA. (*)
18. IN SERENITATEM
Oh… my… gourd. If the rest of the album is anything like that track, gonna have to get it. Majestic stuff.
When i saw the title, I thought he was using classic Roland gear, with maybe a 303 lol.
The rest of the album is relatively different from this track, since this is the most melodic piece on it. But the other tracks are not less good imho, and quite diverse: from electro-ambient and ethno to his e-symphonic usual style (in a more dark way than usual though). So for sure a release to look forward to.
Now I am really psyched to get this!
This sounds like it may blend his more ‘spacey’ and synthy 70s sound and his more bombastic virtual orchestra sound starting in the 90s.
Where did you get to preview this?
The album was very briefly put for sale last year on a certain e-shop, in its digital format, but this was mistakenly, and it was retracted after a few days. Now finally it gets an official release date :-). It indeed mixes imo the 1970s atmosphere with the quasi symphonic style V has practiced in the last 2 decades, together with some electro touches very similar to what we could hear in the 3d disk of the BR 25th edition (BR25). 3 tracks also include vocals by famous soprano Angela Gheorghiu (those are together with the one on preview here, the most “melodic” ones, kinds of arias like the ones we could hear on Mythodea. One of those 3 tracks with Gheorghiu is a slightly reworked version of Sunlight from the 2016 Rosetta album). Don’t want to spoil it any further, but be confident it is a great album, that each and every V’s fan should buy (the later to be released 2LP version will have a bonus track, not on the CD). I will definitely buy the ‘boxset’ version as soon as it will be available.
I will be launching into space on Sept. 24th!!!
YES. thank you Vangelis.
The stereo width, and the blooming of the reverb on those low elements is very satisfying.
Oh, so not fair! A drop of water for someone in the desert, and then we must wait.
Wow
i love those videos showing vangelis composing on the spot with his multiple keyboards and synth layers
If you like this, highly recommend this by Michael Garrison “In the Regions of Sunreturn” classic space synth from 1979. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcooicBppzA The CD reissue added 3 tracks.
“God goes by only one name. So does Vangelis.”
This album will definitely keep Halley’s Comet from destroying the earth.
This video isn’t great – but about halfway through, there are a lot of shots of Vangelis in action with his current rig:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qltu6XbyZ9Y
If we asked top Movie composers John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Rachel Portman, Danny Elfman,
Thomas Newman, Anne Dudley, Howard Shore, Alan Silvestri, Christian Hensen,
about Vangelis
they will all put their hands up shake their heads and say
Vangelis is just another level somewhere far away.
Opera singers Jesseye Norman, Montserrat Caballé have said there is something so deep in Vangelis music.
Vangelis is the finest composer of Classical merged with Electronica we ever had.
Pre Order, done.
Gotta share this story with you guys… In the mid 1980’s I worked at a well-known synth repair shop in Venice CA. We did a lot of servicing for many A level musicians and it was a cool hangout too. One day I came in, there was. Prophet VS KB sitting there, plugged in – I didn’t know who worked on it or what the story was. Started playing it and the patches, OMFG! The VS is a powerful synth waaaay ahead of its time, but this thing was God On Drugs. I remarked later to the shop manager and he was all “Oh yeah that belongs to Vangelis”.