I
have been trying for many years to track this down without
success. There were reports going around that Vangelis provided
music for a series of tapes for medical students in Greece, and that
these tapes were sold to students of a surgeon. It was not
clear who the surgeon was. It took a great deal of research to
finally track down a piece of the name: Tegos. I remember
finding this information at the EMI Publishing website some time ago,
when it used to list all the songs that Vangelis had registered.
That site identified "Tegos Case 1-35."
Based
on that, I asked around to friends in Greece about it, and it was
learned that there was a neurosurgeon by the name of Dr. Stergios
Tegos in Athens. Despite that, finding the tapes was another story
and they were not located. I had pretty much given up on the prospect.
And
then this year (2011), my wife and I decided that we needed to go to
Greece for our much-planned vacation. My plan was not to do it that
way though. We had saved the money and were waiting for a
concert. I still have a great deal of regret from 2001, missing
the Mythodea event. I had hoped for a concert, but 10 years
have passed. So, we decided it was time to get going and visit the
land where Vangelis came from. A few weeks prior to leaving, I
started researching these tapes again, wondering if they could be
found. Lo and behold, this time I located a possible lead by
conducting my search in Greek characters instead of English. I
found the publication, but there was no information about Vangelis.
The cost was not cheap either, and despite sending e-mails to the
publisher, I did not get a reply. The only saving grace here
was that the bookstore where I located the item was in Athens, and I
was going to be there. And so, on September 14th, my wife and I
hit the streets of Athens. We actually arrived in Athens on September
12th and had been exploring this great city during that time, but
this journey was a bit different. While we were staying in the
Plaka, this required a trip near the Ampelokipi section of Athens,
not frequented by the tourists. Off we went, taking the subway
as close as we could and then walking a good mile to the spot. And we
arrived. The lady was very kind, looked and my printout, and said
"I'm sorry, we don't have it." My heart sank instantly, but
then she looked at me and said, "Let me make a call."
She called somebody and had a conversation in Greek, during which
time she pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down the address of
another bookstore. She said they have it, and 70 euros cheaper than I
expected. When I asked if it was close, she said it wasn't, but the
good news is that it was in Athens! And even better yet, it was close
to where we were staying! So we headed on back and made a trip to
Central Athens, Omonoia Section. We were really exhausted! And on a
small side street, we found the bookstore. Now, it is kind of funny,
because in all of Greece, we met some very nice people, all polite.
But we met the rudest clerk in this store! I was a bit nervous that
there was going to be some issues. I asked to see the book, and it
was brought to me. I nervously opened a very large, 10 cm x 37 cm
case and the first thing I see is this:
"Every
human being, animal, plant or mineral carries the imprint of the
cycle of Creation. Sound has always followed the sequences of
change in this cycle, like a code carrying the function and dimension
of the universe, being at the same time its generator. Let us
go deep into our memory (and remember), by doing this, we will be
able to decode the code of the Creation of the universe and,
therefore, our own. What an extraordinary and divine key is
music!" - Vangelis
I
struck gold. I asked the clerk if she could ship this to the USA, as
it had some weight to it, plus I had many more days of vacation to go
and I was concerned about dragging it around Greece. She said
no. Having no choice, I decided to buy it right there and take
it with me. 350 euros later, it was mine.
And
so for the next several days, until September 22, I carried this
treasure around with me until we returned to the USA. Inside
this wonderful case was a 253 page book that contains a forward by
Dr. Tegos and a detailed description of 35 cases involving
microneurosurgery performed and recorded on the enclosed three
videotapes. In the forward, it is explained by Dr. Tegos that
Vangelis had recorded music specifically for these tapes, as the
subject matter can be "monotonous." He also describes
their friendship and the special requests he had made of Vangelis for
this project. The amazing thing here is that each videotape is
4 hours long. It took a few moments for this to sink in with
me...is there really 12 hours of previously unheard Vangelis here?
Yes
indeed.
If
you want to try and get one, click here [disabled],
and good luck. |