ChariotsOfFireThePlayFrontIntroduction

“Chariots Of Fire The Play” is the soundtrack album by Vangelis for the play “Chariots Of Fire On Stage”, a staged version of the 1981 film “Chariots Of Fire” that was performed in 2012 in London to coincide with the return of the Olympic Games. Film director Hugh Hudson came up with the idea to stage a play based on his film, and being good friends with Vangelis, he asked him to revisit his film score and compose new music for the play. 

Released on the 23rd of July 2012, the album includes all of the music as heard in the play, divided in 15 tracks, several of which originate from the original film soundtrack. Two tracks, ‘Abraham’s Theme’ and ‘Jerusalem’, appear in their original version as published in 1981 on the film soundtrack, while two other tracks, ‘Chariots Of Fire’ and ‘Eric’s Theme’ were updated by Vangelis playing additional instruments on top of the original recording. All other tracks are new compositions created specifically for the stage play, which makes the album more like a new studio album than a simple revisit of the film score. A surprising choice is ‘Lord Lindsay’, which completists may recognise as a newly arranged version of the music that Vangelis composed for Hugh Hudson’s ‘Concerto’ (1988) television commercial for British Rail.

No singles were released off the album, but due to the 2012 Olympic Games interest in the film and music of Chariots Of Fire surged. In the booklet Vangelis is quoted saying 'It is very rewarding for me to know that through the years this music seems to have given and still does give so much pleasure and such a feeling of optimism to so many people around the world. As always I am grateful for their love and appreciation'. 

 

ChariotsOfFireThePlayBackTracklist and credits

  1. Chariots Of Fire (3:29)
  2. Physical Energy (3:13)
  3. Home In The Glen (3:52)
  4. Eric's Theme (4:06)
  5. Abraham's Theme (3:02)
  6. Harold's Despair (2:25)
  7. Belief (4:11)
  8. Ballad (3:10)
  9. Aspiration (8:09)
  10. Eric's Pleasure (5:07)
  11. Lord Lindsay (1:36)
  12. At The Starting Blocks (3:56)
  13. Epilogue (4:26)
  14. After The Race (4:37)
  15. Jerusalem1 (3:05)

1 Composed by Hubert Parry, arranged by Harry Rabinowitz, directed by John McCarthy and performed by The Ambrosian Singers.

  • Music composed, arranged, produced and performed by Vangelis, except 1.
  • Tracks 1 and 4: engineered by Raphael Preston, John Walker, Raine Shine and Vangelis Saitis.
  • Tracks 5 and 15: engineered by Raphael Preston, John Walker and Raine Shine.
  • All other tracks engineered by Vangelis Saitis.

 

ChariotsOfFireThePlayInsideDiscography

CD

  • 2012 Decca 3710285 Europe, South East Asia and Taiwan
  • 2012 Decca B0017222-02 US

 

Recording studio

The album release does not specify where the music was recorded, but most likely it was recorded at one of Vangelis' home studios in Athens.

 

Links