a look at the music of Vangelis Papathanassiou

Introduction
Henry Chapier (sometimes also referred to as Henri Chapier) is known to many as the director of some of the earliest films that Vangelis scored in the early seventies in France. But there is more to this familiar but at the same time unknown name than meets the eye. In France Henry Chapier (1933) is well known as a journalist, cinema critic and TV personality. Outside of France however his name is mostly associated with Vangelis, who made the filmscores to three of his four contributions to French filmmaking in the early seventies.

All of the films that Henry Chapier directed are mysterious in the sense that they have been unreleased for decades after their initial production, and it took about 40 years before they actually received a deserved release (on DVD). Some of the films were shown on film festivals, and at least "Sex Power" and "Amore" have played in French cinemas at the time. .

Vangelis' scores for the three films he cooperated on with Henry Chapier are relatively unknown as, even though the score for "Sex Power" was released on LP by Philips in 1970, all music made for "Salut Jerusalem" and "Amore" remains unreleased until now.

Biography
Born in Bucarest, Romania Henry moved with his parents to France in 1947. In 1959 he wins the first prize for the best upcoming journalist in France while publishing for "Lexpress" and "Les lettres nouvelles". At the end of the sixties while establishing a name as a controversial crtitic, Henry follows his love for the cinema and sets out to direct two short films and two movies.

In 1974 Henry Chapier takes the position of chief-editor at "Quotidien de Paris", while in 1978 he moves on to the French television channel FR3 as an director and editor. There he establishes a name as "Monsieur Cinema".

From 1987 to 1995 Henry Chapier hosts a TV-show "Le Divan" where he interviews mostly French but also some international celebrities. Vangelis also appeared on this show, in 1991. Then in 1996 Henry joins the jury of the film festival in Cannes, while in the same year taking on the position of president of the European House of Photography (MEP). More recently, in 2003 Henry Chapier presented a show on CANAL+ titled "Merci pour l'info".

Henry Chapier died on January 27th 2019 in Paris, France.

Filmography

Media
It took 40 years after their original production for Sex Power, Salut Jerusalem and Amore to receive an official release on DVD!

DVD

Note: films marked with years in orange are confirmed to contain Vangelis' music.

Movements