Mythodea
Mythodea — Music for the NASA Mission: 2001 Mars Odyssey is a
For the 2001 version of Mythodea, Vangelis expanded and reorchestrated the original composition. It was first recorded and then played live on-stage by: Vangelis on synthesizers and keyboards, the
First concert: 1993
The world premiere of Mythodia (original spelling) took place on July 13, 1993 as a public performance at the
Mythodia was then a piece in seven movements.[4] Vangelis not only composed the music, he also wrote the lyrics[5] in Ancient Greek.[6] In a 2001 interview with KLEMblad magazine, Vangelis stated,
- "This piece was composed in an hour. Yes, it took me an hour. […] I'm not using the technology in the conventional way. I'm not using computers."[3]
For the
Second concert: 2001
Mythodea would remain unheard in public for the next eight years, but Vangelis kept a recording of the 1993 concert for himself. Around the year 2000,
With the approval of Vangelis to record Mythodea with a full orchestra as Gelb had suggested,[3] Sony Classical developed a marketing plan of Mythodea that with the help of Vangelis' friend and colleague, Dr. Scott Bolton, grew to include a promotional tie-in with NASA, a dedicated website, an audio CD and a live concert that involved the Greek Government and was broadcast on TV and published on video. The deal with NASA made Mythodea the official music of the mission involving the spacecraft 2001 Mars Odyssey. This mission took the spacecraft to the orbit of Mars on October 23, 2001, and the audio CD of Mythodea was scheduled to be officially released on the same day. Vangelis described the connection he felt between the music and the mission on the 2001 Mars Odyssey official website:
I made up the name Mythodea from the words myth and ode. And I felt in it a kind of shared or common path with NASA's current exploration of the planet [Mars]. Whatever we use as a key — music, mythology, science, mathematics, astronomy — we are all working to decode the mystery of creation, searching for our deepest roots.[7]
The premiere of the new version of Mythodea was held on June 28, 2001.
The concert was filmed by a 20-person camera crew. It was broadcast on TV from November 2001, and it was released on DVD in 2002.[8] The budget for the spectacle was set at US $7 million, split in half between the record company, Sony Classical, and the Greek government,[9] which considered the concert a good promotion for Greece abroad and had it included in the Greek Cultural Olympiad leading to the 2004 Summer Olympics.[10] There were some objections raised, mainly by fellow musician Mikis Theodorakis, over the use of both public money and an archaeological site.[11] Vangelis himself, like in 1993, waived payment for his performance.[9][12]
The spectacle involved 224 musicians on stage: Vangelis, the 75-person
The number of attending spectators to the ticket-paid event was between 2,000,
Mythodea was expected to be performed by other orchestras, without Vangelis' participation,[13] but as of 2019[update] that had not happened.
Album
Mythodea — Music for the NASA Mission: 2001 Mars Odyssey | ||||
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Sony Classical | ||||
Producer | Vangelis | |||
Vangelis chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Filmtracks.com | [20] |
Sputnikmusic | [21] |
The album was recorded at the Athens Concert Hall (Athens Μέγαρο Μουσικής - Megaro Moussikis), chosen for its excellent acoustics.[22] For the recording, Vangelis expanded the original composition of 1993 by adding two movements, extending two more and inserting some new cues throughout. The chorus parts were also touched upon, with lyrics and melodic changes.[13]
Except for Vangelis, none of the performers of the 1993 concert reprised their roles. Instead, Vangelis was accompanied by the
Although the album was finished by the date of the concert in June 2001, its release was held back until October 23, 2001 to coincide with the entry of the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft in the orbit of Mars.
Vangelis noted that "it's really the music that manages to speak to all. In Mythodea, everyone can find something to identify with, because it's in this shared language".[8]
Track listing
- "Introduction" – 2:43
- "Movement 1" – 5:41
- "Movement 2" – 5:39
- "Movement 3" – 5:51
- "Movement 4" – 13:42
- "Movement 5" – 6:35
- "Movement 6" – 6:27
- "Movement 7" – 4:58
- "Movement 8" – 3:07
- "Movement 9" – 5:00
- "Movement 10" – 3:03
Two CD-singles were also released, both featuring a track called "Mythodea Special Edit" (3:57) which combined parts of "Movement 9" and "Movement 1", plus either "Movement 1" or "Movement 7". They were not widely available, so their original purpose may have been purely promotional, as were specifically a number of other CD-single releases.[15]
There were variations on the track listing: some releases of the album carried alternative titles "Movement 1" through "Movement 11", and "Mythodea Special Edit" was sometimes included either as a bonus or as a hidden track.
The audio CD is CD-Text-enhanced, with the following header appearing on compatible players: Mythodea - Music for the NASA Mission: 2001 Mars Odyssey - Kathleen Battle, Jessye Norman, Vangelis. Text for tracks appears like this one for track 4: Movement 3 / Vangelis - London Metropolitan Orchestra - Athens Opera Choir - K.Battle - J.Norman.
Sales and awards
The album reached #1 in the sales charts of Greece, where it attained platinum certification[24] and was nominated for the 2002 "Arion" Greek music awards, in the category "Best instrumental music". In Portugal, the album reached #2 in the charts and attained silver certification for over 10,000 sales.[25] The album reached #39 in Italy, #46 in Germany and #75 in Switzerland.[26] At the Billboard Classical Albums chart peaked at #12 position, charting 22 weeks,[27] while #4 position on Top Classical Albums chart.[28][29]
Other appearances
A remixed version of "Movement 1" is included in the Vangelis compilation Odyssey: The Definitive Collection (2003). The opening march starts with less sound effects, instruments join in one by one more clearly, and an initial spoken countdown is absent.[30] The same "Movement 1" was used as the title theme of reality TV series Der Maulwurf (lit. The Mole), which was broadcast by German station Pro7 in 2001. It was also used in the soundtracks of the trailers for the Hollywood films X-Men (2000) and The Scorpion King (2002).[25] Finally, "Movement 9" is included in the compilation album Classic Kathleen Battle /A Portrait.
Video
A one-hour condensed edit of the concert was made available for broadcast by TV stations and later released on video, cutting the intervals and leaving just the first encore, for a total running time of 76 minutes. More significantly, the live playing and singing were replaced by the album version mixed with live applause, except the encore which retained the original full-live recording. The synchronization of the live performance with the album recording was achieved with a click track being played to the performers.
The DVD-Video and VHS were released on February 17, 2002.[25] The DVD featured PCM stereo and 5.1 Dolby Digital sound, 16:9 non-anamorphic image, and had as extras: artist biographies, "Making of Mythodea", music video, an introduction by NASA, and written notes by Vangelis. The DVD-video reached gold status in Portugal, for over 14,000 sales.[25]
Personnel
1993
Music composed, arranged and produced by Vangelis
Concert conceived, designed and directed by Vangelis
- Vangelis: synthesizers, keyboards
- Markella Hatziano, mezzo-soprano
- Lucienne Deval, soprano
- percussion of the Greek National Opera, Yvan Cassar: conductor
2001
Album composed, arranged and produced by Vangelis
Concert conceived, designed and directed by Vangelis
- Vangelis: synthesizers, keyboards
- Kathleen Battle, Jessye Norman: sopranos
- London Metropolitan Orchestra, Blake Neely: conductor
- Greek National Opera Choir, Fani Palamidi: conductor
- Greek National Opera percussion ensemble (album only)
- Seistron, Typana: percussion ensembles (concert only)
- Frederick Rousseau: sound engineer and coordinator
References
- ^ "2001 concert program". Retrieved 2006-08-15.
- ^ a b 1993 concert program.
- ^ a b c d e f Vangelis (October 2001). "KLEMblad magazine, issue 107". Retrieved 2006-08-15.
- ^ a b c Lodewijks, Dennis (Jan 2005). ""Elsewhere": Vangelis' Concerts". Retrieved 2006-08-15.
- ^ Vangelis. "Lyrics of Mythodea in Greek". Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 2006-08-15.
- ^ de Vries, Ivar. "Album review". Movements. Retrieved 2006-08-15.
- ^ "Vangelis: Mythodea". NASA. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
- ^ ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
- ^ a b "A symphony for alien ears". Telegraph.co.uk. 2001-10-18. Archived from the original on 2007-03-13. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
- ^ ISBN 9781456608088.
- ^ a b c Lodewijks, Dennis (Jan 2005). ""Elsewhere": Vangelis' concerts/Mythodea". Retrieved 2006-08-15.
- ^ Manolopoulou, Fouli (Vangelis production manager) (June 2002). "Vangelis Papathanasiou, the International Greek". Status magazine. Retrieved 2006-08-15.
- ^ a b c d e Lodewijks, Dennis (2001-10-14). "Blake Neely interview". Retrieved 2006-08-15.
- ^ a b Van Houtert, John. ""Elsewhere": Concert review". Retrieved 2006-08-15.
- ^ a b c Lodewijks, Dennis. ""Elsewhere": Vangelis' albums". Retrieved 2006-08-15.
- ^ Lodewijks, Dennis (June 2001). ""Elsewhere": News". Retrieved 2006-08-15.
- ^ Gomez, Samuel. ""Elsewhere": concert review". Retrieved 2006-08-15.
- ^ "Allmusic review".
- ^ Nick Joy (January 22, 2002). "CD Reviews: K-Pax, Mythodea and Bruce Broughton Concert Work". Film Score Monthly. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
- Filmtracks.com. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
- ^ "Vangelis - Mythodea". sputnikmusic.com. February 2, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
- ^ "Vangelis interview". Greek newspaper Ta Nea. June 23, 2001. Retrieved 2006-08-15.
- ^ Fennimore, Don. "Vangelis Collector". Retrieved 2006-08-15.
- ^ "Vangelis Papathanasiou, the International Greek". Status magazine. June 2002. Retrieved 2006-08-15.
- ^ a b c d "Dennis Lodewijks' Elsewhere". Retrieved 2006-08-15.
- ^ "Vangelis - Mythodea charts". italiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
- ^ "Vangelis Chart History - Classical Albums chart". Billboard. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
- ^ "Billboard Top Classical Albums". Billboard. Vol. 113, no. 47. November 24, 2001. p. 78. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
- ^ "Vangelis chart results". Billboard Biz. Billboard. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
- ^ Lodewijks, Dennis (2003-09-24). ""Elsewhere": Earlier news updates: 2003". Retrieved 2006-08-15.