The opening theme of the film, called "Titles" on the album track listing but widely known as "Chariots of Fire", was released as a single; on the Billboard Hot 100 it reached #1 and stayed there for one week.
About the score, the film's director, Hugh Hudson, chose Vangelis to compose the film's music, after becoming impressed with his albums Opera Sauvage and China and having worked with Vangelis on commercials in Paris during the 1970s. A Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer was used on the recording. Vangelis played all the instruments, including synthesizers, acoustic piano, drums and percussion, and recorded the score in his Nemo studio in London, which he had set up in 1975. The music that he came up with, mostly electronic for a period film, initiated a new style in film scoring. The use of synthesizers in film scores beyond mere textures, and their convenience in allowing directors, producers, and studios to hear preliminary versions of full scores found its roots in Chariots of Fire.
Vangelis told about the way he set about producing the music for: "I didn't want to do period music. I tried to compose a score which was contemporary and still compatible with the time of the film. But I also didn't want to go for a completely electronic sound." The score album was almost all re-recorded, and sounds different from the music heard on film, with often richer arrangements, particularly in the "Titles" track. The second part of the album is a one-track suite including music from and inspired by the score. Some original themes from the film did not make it to the album. Although Vangelis had already done a number of film scores, including those for animal documentaries by Frédéric Rossif.
In addition to Vangelis' original music, the album includes an arrangement of "Jerusalem", sung by the Ambrosian Singers, as performed at the 1978 funeral of Harold Abrahams, the event which bookends the film and inspired its title. This famous choral work is a 1916 setting by Sir Hubert Parry of William Blake's poem.
Of the pieces of Vangelis's music that did not end up on the film's soundtrack album is the background music to the race Eric Liddell runs in the Scottish highlands. The title of this piece is "Hymne", and it is a new arrangement for the film from Vangelis' 1979 album, Opéra sauvage. The original version is also included on Vangelis's compilation albums Themes, Portraits, and Odyssey: The Definitive Collection.
Director Hugh Hudson's original choice for the famous slow-motion running sequences on the beach was the track "L'Enfant" from Opéra sauvage. Vangelis had to persuade Hudson to let him create something original for the scene, using the same tempo as "L'Enfant." The result was the "Chariots of Fire" title track, "Titles".
The film score combined styles from across the musical spectrum including prog-rock, symphonic classical music and new age. Over the years, the "Titles" track of Chariots of Fire has been used in innumerable parodies in films and television shows, especially in slow-motion sequences. It is used in the Olympic-themed video game Track & Field.
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