BeaubourgFrontIntroduction

In July 1978 Vangelis released “Beaubourg”, his fourth and last studio album for RCA Records. As with the earlier albums for RCA, “Heaven And Hell” (1975), “Albedo 0.39” (1976) and “Spiral” (1977) the music for this album was recorded in Vangelis’ own Nemo Studios in London.

Beaubourg is the area in the centre of Paris where in 1977 the Centre Pompidou opened, a modernistic building constructed to house the National Museum of Modern Art and the public library. The building, named after Georges Pompidou, the president of France from 1969 to 1974 who commissioned the building, is commonly also referred to as ‘Beaubourg’.

In 1977 Vangelis visited the experimental building with its industrial “inside-out” design and he was very impressed. After returning to London he spontaneously recorded the album Beaubourg, completing recordings within a month. The music of Beaubourg is some of the most experimental and abstract music released by Vangelis, mainly improvised on a Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer and a ring modulator.

RCA Records did not release any singles to promote the original release of the album, which sleeve was designed by Vangelis based on a photo by his then partner Veronique Skawinska. The photo was taken inside Vangelis’ studio, and shows the ear of a model of a head. A different album cover was made for the North-American market showing the front face of a statue inside the studio.

In 2013 Beaubourg received a re-release which was personally remastered by Vangelis. Due to the added reverb this version is a different listening experience compared to the original release, and for that some may prefer the original master of the album. If looking for a copy of the album, best avoid the first print of the European CD (1990), the US CD (Windham Hill 1997) and the Music On Vinyl reissued LP (2020) as these are badly mastered.

 

BeaubourgLPTracklist and credits

  1. Beaubourg part I
  2. Beaubourg part II

 

  • Composed, arranged and produced by Vangelis.
  • All instruments performed by Vangelis.
  • Recording engineer: Keith Spencer-Allen
  • Assistant engineer: Marlis Duncklau
  • Photography by Veronique Skawinska.
  • Sleeve design by Vangelis.

 

Discography

LP

  • 1978 RCA, released worldwide.
  • 2020 Music On Vinyl MOVLP2578 (coloured vinyl)

BeaubourgCDCD

  • 1990 RCA ND70010 UK & Europe
  • 1990 RCA BVCP-5027 Japan
  • 1997 Windham Hill 01934-11235-2 US
  • 2006 RCA BVCM-37681 Japan (Papersleeve collection)
  • 2008 RCA  88697-38938-2 Japan (SHM-CD)
  • 2013 Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2424 UK & Europe (remastered by Vangelis)
  • 2022 Music On CD MOCCD-14239 Europe
  • 2022 RCA – SICP 31560 Japan (Blu-Spec CD2 remastered reissue in papersleeve)

 

Recording studio

The album was recorded in Vangelis’ Nemo Studios in London.

 

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