Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, known professionally as Vangelis, is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, and orchestral music. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning score for the film Chariots of Fire, composing scores for the films Blade Runner, Missing, Antarctica, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, and Alexander, and the use of his music in the PBS documentary Cosmos: A Personal Voyage by Carl Sagan.

Rosetta is a brand new studio album by the Greek composer. Released on 23rd September, 2016 by Decca Records it is dedicated to the Rosetta space probe mission, launched in 2004.

The project is a result of a 2014 video call made between ESA astronaut André Kuipers and Vangelis, during Kuipers' mission on board the International Space Station. After their conversation, Vangelis was inspired to write an album dedicated to the first mission. In November 2014 three videos with three compositions were released on the ESA official YouTube channel in celebration of the first ever attempted soft landing on a comet by the mission: "Arrival", "Philae's Journey", and "Rosetta's Waltz".

It is actually one of several works by Vangelis which were inspired by space travel (Albedo 0.39), or produced in collaboration with space missions (Mythodea).

01. ‘Origins (Arrival) 02. ‘Starstuff’ 03. ‘Infinitude’ 04. ‘Exo genesis’ 05. ‘Celestial whispers’ 06. ‘Albedo 0.06’ 07. ‘Sunlight’ 08. ‘Rosetta’ 09. ‘Philae’s descent’ 10. ‘Mission accomplie (Rosetta’s Waltz)’ 11. ‘Perihelion’ 12. ‘Elegy’ 13. ‘Return to the void’

As it opens with 'Origins (Arrival)' it musically summons up all things above us in a mystical, huge landscape of a manner that is very, very building powerful. 'Starstuff' is more a testing of the water track, before both 'Infinitude' and 'Exo Genesis' set out to explore and discover. 'Celestial Whispers' is one of my own personal favorites, as the man works his magic on a track that evokes a sense of explorative happiness, and that's backed by a more Vangelis sounding track, 'Albedo 0.06.'

'Sunlight' and the title track 'Rosetta' are plucky little musical moments, with the euphoric 'Philae's Descent' backed by the sprawling 'Mission Accomplie (Rosetta's Waltz)'. The electro vibe of most 80's movie soundtracks is brought to the fore on 'Perihelion', before the album finally rounds out with the tranquil 'Elegy', before we head back to the start (where else) for more of the same time and space sounds on 'Return To The Void'.

Vangelis has gone on to actually dedicate the album to everyone who made ESA's ongoing Rosetta Mission possible, and 'Mission accomplie (Rosetta’s Waltz)’ shows his genuine appreciation to the mission team.