Synth believed to belong to Vangelis becomes most expensive ever sold at £401,465

Synth believed to belong to Vangelis becomes most expensive ever sold at £401,465

A synth believed to have been owned by the late Greek electronic music pioneer Vangelis has been sold for £401,465, setting a new record for the most expensive synth ever sold.

The Yamaha CS-80 was listed on Reverb by an Athens-based seller, who claimed the instrument was previously owned by Vangelis and used on his 1977 album ‘Spiral’. It was also described as the artist’s “very first Yamaha CS-80” in the listing, which has since been removed following the sale.

The synth was said to be “fully functional with its original stand and lid” and in “excellent condition”, aside from a distinctive cigarette burn on one of the A keys and “minimal cosmetic wear”. Music Tech also reports that the instrument had no serial number, having been described as an “early prototype”.

The CS-80 was closely associated with Vangelis, who died in 2022 at the age of 79. In a 1984 interview with Electronics & Music Maker, he described the instrument as “the most important synthesiser in my career” and “the best analogue synthesiser design there has ever been”.

Vangelis was a pioneering figure in electronic music and helped bring synthesizers into the mainstream through film composition works including Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner.

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Informação baseada em material público de DJ Mag, reescrito pela redação ULTRA NOTÍCIAS.