Conquest of Paradise (song)

"Conquest of Paradise" is a song recorded by Greek composer Vangelis. It was the soundtrack from Ridley Scott's 1992 film 1492: Conquest of Paradise and the lead single from the album of the same name. The song achieved success in many territories, including Flanders, 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 using it as his theme song.

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:

One time this refrain is:

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

Covers
The song has been covered by many artists, including Blake, Klaus Schulze, Free the Spirit, the Vienna Symphonic Orchestra Project, Kati Kovács, John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra (1996), Daylight (1997), Daniel Hůlka (1998), Dana Winner (2002), The Ten Tenors (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 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. The Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc series uses "Conquest of Paradise" at the start, finish and prize ceremonies of its various ultramarathon races. 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. 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, 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), Kaalapani (1996) and a Tamil film, Sundara Purushan (1996). The song was also used in the trailer for Mission to Mars (2000). It's also part of the soundtrack of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), by Guy Richie.

In ice shows
"Conquest of Paradise" was used for a collaboration program performed by two-time Olympic figure skating champion Yuzuru Hanyu and three-time Olympic gymnastics champion Kohei Uchimura, merging the two Olympic sports to a new performing art 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, held on March 10–12, 2023, at Sekisui Heim Super Arena in Rifu, Miyagi. It was a commemoration event on the 12th anniversary of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, 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.