Which Greek composer is credited in Cosmos: A Personal Voyage?

The Greek composer credited in Cosmos: A Personal Voyage is Vangelis.

Vangelis, born Evangelos Odessey Papathanassiou, supplied the electronic music associated with the series, especially the distinctive main theme drawn from “Heaven and Hell, Part I.” His synthesizer-based sound gave the program an immediately recognizable musical identity that matched its vast astronomical subject matter.

Cosmos first aired in 1980, but its soundtrack was released commercially in 1981. Music from Vangelis appears alongside works by composers including Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Dmitri Shostakovich, Igor Stravinsky, and Alan Hovhaness. The program therefore used a broad mixture of classical, traditional, rock, and electronic music rather than a score written entirely for the series.

The wording can cause a small confusion: Vangelis is credited for music used in Cosmos, but he was not the show’s presenter, writer, or scientific adviser. Those central roles belonged chiefly to Carl Sagan and the program’s production team.