Chariots Of Fire

General Info

Composer: Vangelis
Arranger: Yentl Doggen
Difficulty: Early Intermediate
Cost: $14.99

Instrumentation

Player 1: Xylophone 1
Player 2: Xylophone 2
Player 3: Marimba 1
Player 4: Marimba 2
Player 5: Glockenspiel
Player 6: Vibraphone
Player 7: Drumset
Player 8: Timpani
Player 9: Tambourine
Player 10: Maracas
Player 11: Cowbell
Player 12: Bongos
Player 13: Piano
Player 14: Bass Marimba

Description

The well-known song Chariots of Fire is an instrumental theme written and recorded by Vangelis for the 1981 soundtrack of the film that goes by the same name. Although the initial title was Titles, because of its appearance in the movie’s opening titles, it was later changed to Chariots of Fire to make it easier for listeners and radio DJs to identify the piece. Vangelis was accused of plagiarism as the song was similar to the City of Violets by the Greek composer Stavros Logaidis. He won the case by proving he had already used similar melodies in his earlier compositions before the City of Violets was written.

The first version of the percussion ensemble arrangement of Chariots of Fire was written when I had just started university in 2012. It was the year of the London Olympics. After scrolling around on YouTube, I found Mr Beans’ version as performed at the opening ceremony. Although the video was the main inspiration to write the arrangement, I wanted our performance to be a little funkier, and that’s how Chariots of Funk became the title. We rehearsed this first version a couple of weeks before its first performance on October 2012 with the Drum- & Percussionband Paal.

Between the first and the final version of Chariots of Fire for Percussion ensemble, it underwent multiple transformations. After our first performance, I rewrote its structure, making it about a minute longer than the previous version. Afterwards, I added some extra instruments to fill in the mid-tones. Just last week, about ten years after its first performance, I revised the entire arrangement to make it more suitable to share on the internet. It’s also here that the title changed back from Chariots of Funk to Chariots of Fire.

Arrangements for Percussion by this Arranger

Axel F
Cantaloupe Island
Chariots of Fire - Percussion 14