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

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou ( el, Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; el, Βαγγέλης, links=no ), was a Greek composer and arranger of ...

. It was the soundtrack from

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...

'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 (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-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, ...

, 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 Treuenb ...

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) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

is based on the old

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, 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 ...

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: ''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,''
''imàgine pro mèno,''
''per imentirà. ''

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, arranger, lyricist, singer, writer and musicologist/forensic musicologist. He has been conductor and musical director of the contemporary music ensemble Spectrum and the English Ch ...

*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 is a surname which originated from Old English. Its derivation is uncertain; it could come from "blac", a nickname for someone who had dark hair or skin, or from "blaac", a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin. Another theory, presuma ...

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 (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

and the

Boston Pops Orchestra The Boston Pops Orchestra 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 Symp ...

(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. Sunligh ...

(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 ...

(1998),

Dana Winner Dana Winner (born Chantal Ernestine Vanlee on 10 February 1965 in Hasselt) is a Belgian singer. Biography In 1990 she released her first single ''Op het dak van de wereld'', (Dutch: "On the roof of the world"), a cover of The Carpenters' '' ...

(2002),

The Ten Tenors The TEN Tenors (also known as TTT) are an Australian music ensemble that has toured worldwide, been seen by more than 90 million people and attracted a vast international fan-base by performing a unique combination of classical and contemporary m ...

(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 sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

and Super League teams

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two rug ...

and

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

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

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

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. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

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 (earlier known as ICC World Twenty20) is the international championship of Twenty20. Organised by cricket's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), the tournament consists of 16 teams, comprising t ...

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 single-stage mountain ultramarathon, first held in 2003, that follows the route of the Tour du Mont Blanc. Since UTMB Group's partnership with IRONMAN Group in 2021, UTMB World Series will formally launch ...

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

ultramarathon An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

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 lo ...

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 Borders" in French) is a Europe-wide television game show, based on the French programme ''Intervilles'' which was first broadcast in 1962. In was broadcast from 1965 to 1999 under the auspices of the ...

, 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'' ({{zh, s=士兵突击, t=士兵突擊) is a 2007 Chinese TV drama based on a novel by Lan Xiaolong. It was co-produced by the 8-1 Film Studio, Chengdu Military Region Television Arts Center, Huayi Brothers Film Investment ...

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

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

film, ''

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

'' (1997), ''

Kaalapani ''Kaalapani'' () is a 1996 Indian Malayalam-language epic historical drama film co-written and directed by Priyadarshan. Set in 1915, the film focuses on the lives of Indian independence activists incarcerated in the Cellular Jail (or ''Kāl ...

'' (1996) and a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

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 Thomas, John Thomas, and Graham Yost, and suggested by Disney's Mission to Mars (attraction), theme park attraction of the same nam ...

'' (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 MGM Television, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who wo ...

'' (2015), by

Guy Richie Guy Stuart Ritchie (born 10 September 1968) is an English film director, producer and screenwriter. His work includes British gangster films, and the ''Sherlock Holmes'' films starring Robert Downey Jr. Ritchie left school at age 15 and wor ...

References

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