Conquest of Paradise (song)

"Conquest of Paradise"
Single by Vangelis
from the album 1492: Conquest of Paradise
B-side	"Moxica and the Horse"
Released	1992
Format	CD single and CD maxi
Recorded	1992
Genre	Electronic, modern classical, ambient
Length	4:47
Label	East West
Writer(s)	Vangelis
Producer(s)	Vangelis

"Conquest of Paradise" is a 1992 song recorded by Greek composer Vangelis. It was the soundtrack from Ridley Scott's 1992 film 1492: Conquest of Paradise^[1] and the lead single from the album of the same name. The song achieved huge success in many countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland where it topped the singles chart, but was a relative failure in UK where it only peaked at #60. The song's popularity had been boosted in Germany by boxer Henry Maske using it as his theme song.^[2]

Its chord progression is based on the old European theme La Follia.

Track listings

CD single

1. "Conquest Of Paradise" – 4:47
2. "Moxica And The Horse" – 7:12

CD maxi-single

1. "Conquest Of Paradise" – 4:47
2. "Moxica And The Horse" – 7:12
3. "Line Open" – 4:43
4. "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:^[3]

In nòreni per ìpe,
in noreni coràh;
tirà mine per ìto,
ne dominà.

One time this refrain is:

In ròmine tirmèno,
ne ròmine to fa,
imàgina pro mèno,
per imentirà.

Credits

• Choir: The English Chamber Choir
• Composed and arranged by Vangelis
• Choir conductor: Guy Protheroe
• Produced by Frederick Rousseau
• Recorded and mixed by Philippe Colonna, at Epsilon Laboratory, Paris

Charts and sales

Chart successions

In popular culture

Covers

The song has been covered by many artists, including Blake, Klaus Schulze, Free the Spirit, the Vienna Symphonic Orchestra Project, John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra (1996), Daylight (1997), Dana Winner (2002), The Ten Tenors (2004) and Rhydian (2009).

Other uses

At sport events

"Conquest of Paradise" is played at home games for the New Zealand Super Rugby team Crusaders and Super League teams Widnes Vikings and Wigan Warriors. These days it is the unofficial theme tune for the city of Christchurch where the Crusaders rugby team is based. English football club Sheffield Wednesday 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 championships to uphold International Cricket Council's "spirit - of - cricket" concept just before the national anthems of the two playing teams. At the 2011 Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, "Conquest of Paradise" was played when competitors finished the 150 km long race.^[15] It is also used by the Engadin Skimarathon 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 Henry Maske used it as his theme song.^[16]

In TV shows and cinema

It was used for many years in the Jeux Sans Frontières, using it during the credits. The single "Conquest of Paradise" has also been inserted in the 2007 Chinese television drama series Soldiers Sortie, and is used as the theme song in the Hindi film, Koyla (1997) and a Tamil film, Sundara Purushan (1996).

See also

• Con te partirò, another song that became a hit single through Henry Maske's popularity in Germany

References