Vangelis

Beaubourg (1978) ...

Expressionist solo synthesiser tone poem unlike Vangelis's earlier work of the 1970s ...

Beaubourg ... 

You have interpreted Beaubourg – when did you go there?

I went there two years ago. I visited the entire area and I was very impressed. I returned to London and I recorded my album ‘Beaubourg’ quickly, spontaneously. So I ‘felt’ Beaubourg, but that does not mean that Beaubourg is only this: I can redo ‘Beaubourg’ in 30 different ways.

The key, it seems to me, is to hear this electronic music.

Yes. I needed courage to release this record. It is interesting to see this album in context with my previous ones. This album created a scandal: some people returned the disc to me and others praised me. It was very important to distribute it in shops that specialised in ‘contemporary’ music.

I have the impression that memory plays an important role in listening to this composition: I tend, more and more, to identify with the track and narrow down the track, to bring the beginning closer to the end. Perhaps this is because of the unusual brevity of the ‘melodies’?

That is certainly the case. I will ignore the ‘ideal’ way of listening to the music: each person has his or her own way. I have seen people unable to listen to this record who now appreciate it more and more, but I do not regard this as a compliment. It is a record that can be played in the background. (He smiles) I cannot force anyone to listen to it and I cannot force myself to record it!.. Interview 1979 ...

Beaubourg part 1 ...

 For me however, the work this album most closely resembles is the ground breaking soundtrack to the 1956 Sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet by Louis and Bebe Barron reputed to be the first all-electronic score for a major Hollywood movie. Likewise, when immersed in Beaubourg's otherworldly sounds it's not difficult to conjure up similar mental images such as a small group of astronauts stranded on a remote planet being stalked by an unseen menace. There is even a droning sound near the beginning that could readily pass for a landing spacecraft. Incidentally, just 4 years later Vangelis would create his own music for a sci-fi film with the (underrated) soundtrack to Ridley Scott's much debated Blade Runner which, by the way, sounds nothing like Beaubourg... Geoff Feakes review ...