"Conquest of Paradise" is a song recorded by Greek composer

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (, ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; , ), was a Greek musician, composer, and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music. He composed ...

. It was the soundtrack from

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

's 1992 film '' 1492: Conquest of Paradise'' and the lead

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from the album of the same name. The song achieved success in many territories, including

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland where it topped the singles chart, but was a relative failure in UK where it only peaked at number 60. The song's popularity had been boosted in Germany by boxer

Henry Maske Henry Maske (, ; born 6 January 1964) is a German former professional boxer and one of Germany's most popular sports figures. He held the IBF light heavyweight title from 1993 until 1996. Amateur career Maske was born in Treuen ...

using it as his theme song.swisscharts.com
(Retrieved 21 September 2010) Its

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...

is based on the old

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

theme '' La Follia''.

Track listings

CD single #"Conquest of Paradise" – 4:47 #"Moxica and the Horse" – 7:12 CD maxi-single #"Conquest of Paradise" – 4:47 #"Moxica and the Horse" – 7:12 #"Line Open" – 4:43 #"Landscape" – 1:37 * Includes two songs ("Line Open" and "Landscape"), which were not included in the album.

Lyrics

Throughout the whole song, the following lyrics in Pseudo-Latin were repeated several times: One time this refrain is:

Credits

*Choir: The

English Chamber Choir The English Chamber Choir is a choir based in England. History The English Chamber Choir came into existence in 1972; its earliest engagements included Haydn's ''Nelson Mass'', Fauré's ''Requiem'' and Kodály's ''Laudes Organi'' with He ...

*Composed and arranged by

*Choir conductor:

Guy Protheroe Guy Protheroe is a British conductor, musical director, composer and musicologist/forensic musicologist. He has been conductor and musical director of the contemporary music ensemble Spectrum and the English Chamber Choir throughout his career. ...

*Produced by

Frederick Rousseau Frederick Rousseau (born 1958 in Paris) is a New Age instrumentalist. His musical research is based on electronic sounds that he mixes with ethnic instruments, classical orchestras, and vocals. Career After a classical training in piano, Roussea ...

*Recorded and mixed by Philippe Colonna, at Epsilon Laboratory, Paris

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

In popular culture

Covers

The song has been covered by many artists, including

Blake Blake or Blake's may refer to: People * Blake (given name), a given name of English origin (includes a list of people with the name) * Blake (surname), a surname of English origin (includes a list of people with the name) ** William Blake (1757 ...

Klaus Schulze Klaus Schulze (4 August 1947 – 26 April 2022) was a German electronic music pioneer, composer and musician. He also used the alias Richard Wahnfried and was a member of the Krautrock bands Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, and the Cosmic Jokers ...

, Free the Spirit, the Vienna Symphonic Orchestra Project,

Kati Kovács Kati Kovács (born Katalin Anna Sarolta Kovács 25 October 1944), is a Ferenc Liszt and Kossuth Award-winning Hungarian pop-rock singer, performer, lyricist and actress. She is one of the most famous singers of Hungary with dozens of recorded ...

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

and the

Boston Pops Orchestra The Boston Pops is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Symphony Orc ...

(1996),

Daylight Daylight is the combination of all direct and indirect sunlight during the daytime. This includes direct sunlight, diffuse sky radiation, and (often) both of these reflected by Earth and terrestrial objects, like landforms and buildings. Sunlig ...

(1997),

Daniel Hůlka Daniel Hůlka (born 1 June 1968) is a Czech actor and baritone who is known for his performances in musical theatre, film, and opera. He has won both the Český slavík and the Anděl Award multiple times and has released several recordings on ...

(1998),

Dana Winner Dana Winner (born Chantal Ernestine Vanlee on 10 February 1965) is a Belgian singer. She mainly sings in Dutch, but has also released singles in English, French, German and Afrikaans. Biography Vanlee was born in 1965 in Hasselt, Belgium. In 1 ...

(2002),

The Ten Tenors The TEN Tenors (also known as TTT) are an Australian music ensemble, first formed in 1995. Current members *Cameron Barclay *Sam Ward *Michael Edwards *Adrian Li Donni *Ammon Bennett *Jared Newall *Boyd Owen *Joe Naim *Daniel Belle *JD Smith Ba ...

(2004), Rhydian (2009) and Gregorian (2012).

At sport events

"Conquest of Paradise" is played at home games for the New Zealand Super Rugby team

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

, Rugby Premiership team

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

and Super League teams

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the RFL Championship, Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at DCBL Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twe ...

and

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

. These days it is the unofficial theme tune for the city of Christchurch where the

rugby team is based. English football club

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

also play Conquest of Paradise prior to their theme tune before kick off. "Conquest of Paradise" was also played at the Cricket World Cup (2011) and (2015) just before the national anthems of the two contesting national teams were played at the start of every match. It was also played during the 2010 and 2014 cricket

World Twenty20 The ICC Men's T20 World Cup, formerly the ICC World Twenty20, is a biennial world cup for cricket in Twenty20 International (T20I) format, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was held in every odd year from 2007 to 2009, ...

championships to uphold International Cricket Council's "spirit-of-cricket" concept just before the national anthems of the two playing teams. The

Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc The Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) is a mountain ultramarathon race, first held in 2003, that follows the route of the Tour du Mont Blanc. It has been regarded as the most competitive trail ultramarathon in the world. Renamed in 2023 as UTMB W ...

series uses "Conquest of Paradise" at the start, finish and prize ceremonies of its various

ultramarathon An ultramarathon is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of . The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running. Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the ...

races. It is also used by the

Engadin Skimarathon The Engadin Skimarathon is an annual cross-country skiing race (ski marathon) held on the second Sunday of March in the upper Engadine valley (Switzerland), between Maloja and S-chanf. It debuted in 1969 and has been a part of Worldloppet as l ...

to introduce the start of the competitors waves. At least in the years 2010–2013. Usually every minute it is interrupted to announce the time until "go!". German boxer

used it as his theme song. At the long-distance sled-dog race Finnmarkslopet in Norway, the song is played every time a dog team crosses the finish line.

In TV shows and cinema

It was used for many years in the

Jeux Sans Frontières ''Jeux sans frontières'' (; "Games Without Frontiers" in French) is an international television competition organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for thirty seasons, from 1965 to 1999, between members of the union who participated ...

, using it during the credits. The single "Conquest of Paradise" has also been inserted in the 2007 Chinese television drama series ''

Soldiers Sortie ''Soldiers Sortie'' () is a 2007 Chinese TV drama{{Cite web , title=The Spirit of Xu Sanduo: The Influence of China’s Favorite Soldier , url=https://jamestown.org/program/the-spirit-of-xu-sanduo-the-influence-of-chinas-favorite-soldier/ , access ...

'', and is used as the theme song in the Hindi film, ''

Koyla ''Koyla'' ( Coal) is a 1997 Indian Hindi-language action film, action thriller film directed, co-written and produced by Rakesh Roshan starring Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Amrish Puri in lead roles with Johnny Lever, Ashok Saraf, Salim Gh ...

'' (1997), ''

Kaalapani ''Kaalapaani'' () is a 1996 Indian Malayalam-language epic historical drama film written by T. Damodaran and directed by Priyadarshan. Set in 1915, the film focuses on the lives of Indian independence activists incarcerated in the Cellular Ja ...

'' (1996) and a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

film, '' Sundara Purushan'' (1996). The song was also used in the trailer for ''

Mission to Mars ''Mission to Mars'' is a 2000 American science fiction adventure film directed by Brian De Palma, written by Jim and John Thomas, and Graham Yost, and suggested by Disney's theme park attraction of the same name. The film depicts the first ...

'' (2000). It's also part of the soundtrack of ''

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents Napoleon Solo, played by Robert Vaughn, and Illya Kuryakin, p ...

'' (2015), by

Guy Richie Guy Stuart Ritchie (born 10 September 1968) is an English film director, producer and screenwriter known primarily for British comedy gangster films and large-scale action-adventure films. Ritchie left school at the age of 15, and worked in e ...

In ice shows

"Conquest of Paradise" was used for a collaboration program performed by two-time Olympic

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...

champion

Yuzuru Hanyu is a Japanese figure skater and ice show producer. Universally regarded as one of the greatest figure skaters in history for his well-rounded skills, achievements, innovations, longevity, popularity, and impact on the sport, he started skat ...

and three-time Olympic

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

champion Kohei Uchimura, merging the two Olympic sports to a new

performing art The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Pe ...

genre. The program was inspired by the theme of challenge to the unknown. Hanyu's solo skating part was choreographed by Canadian choreographer David Wilson. The program was performed at the ice show

Yuzuru Hanyu Notte Stellata is an annual ensemble ice show led by Japanese figure skater and two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu, and organized by Nippon TV and its local station Miyagi TV. The show is a commemoration event of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami ...

, held on 10–12 March 2023, at Sekisui Heim Super Arena in

Rifu is a town located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 36,014, and a population density of 800 persons per km2 in 13,568 households. The total area of the town is . Rifu is known for its nashi pears. Recently, ...

, Miyagi. It was a commemoration event on the 12th anniversary of the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

, also known as the "Great East Japan Earthquake" or "3.11". At graduations The song is also played as the opening song at some primary school, secondary school, high school and university graduation ceremonies in Turkey.

References

{{authority control 1992 songs 1992 singles 1994 singles 1995 singles Vangelis songs Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles Number-one singles in Germany Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Number-one singles in Switzerland Film theme songs Songs with music by Vangelis Song recordings produced by Vangelis East West Records singles Songs about Christopher Columbus