Vasilis Polydouris - Composer of cinema music

"CONAN" THE GREEK

Vasilis Polydouris, known as Basil Poledouris, was born in Kansas City, Missouri on August 21st, 1945 by Messinian parents. His father was an amateur violinist and his mother a pianist. Influenced by his Greek Orthodox origins, he used to attend church services and "travel" with the singing of the choir. At the age of 7 he played the piano and at the age of 12 the saxophone. Later, he studied film and music at the University of Northern California. There he met directors John Miles and Randall Clizer, with whom he later collaborated. He married his wife Bobbie in 1969, and they had two daughters, Zoe and Alexis.

Polydouris became a famous film music composer thanks to the epic style of his orchestral compositions, as well as his complex thematic motifs. He wrote musical themes for many famous films such as "The Blue Lake" (1980), "Conan the Barbarian" (1982), "Conan the Exterminator" (1984), "Robocop" (1987), "Liberate Will" (1993). ), "Soldiers of the Universe" (1997), "In Love with the Game" (1999) e.t.c. On television he wrote the music for many series, including popular in Greece "Twilight Zone" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". He wrote music for 88 films and television series in total.

The musical theme of Conan the Barbarian is considered to be one of the best at cinematography to date. It is, in fact, one of the 50 best-selling music themes in the history of this category of music. Polydouris' genius strongly appears in this film, in which, in order to infuse his music into the film's atmosphere, in addition to the 90-member orchestra and the 24-member choir, he added sounds of metal cymbals and a French horn. So, he managed to create an almost Medieval sound, unprecedented for Hollywood and the, then, time.

In 1989, he won the Emmy Award for “Lonesome Dove”, for which he composed amazing traditional country music, replacing the harmonica melody with the accordion. In 1996, he composed the opening hymn of the Atlanta Olympics under the title: "The Tradition of the Games". It is a six-minute composition that, among other things, features a strong Greek element with Byzantine tones.

A few months before the end of his life he was honored at the International Film Festival of the Spanish city of Ubeda. He died on November 8th, 2006, in Los Angeles, at the age of 61, due to complications from cancer. The tradition continues with his daughter Zoe Polydouris, who is also a film music composer.