Klaus Schulze
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox musical artist
Klaus Schulze (4 August 1947 – 26 April 2022)<ref name="Deaux 2022">Template:Cite web</ref> was a German electronic music pioneer,<ref>Template:AllMusic</ref> composer and musician. He also used the alias Richard Wahnfried and was a member of the Krautrock bands Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, and the Cosmic Jokers before launching a solo career consisting of more than 60 albums released across six decades.
Early life
Schulze was born in Berlin in 1947. His father was a writer, and his mother a ballet dancer.<ref name="Pareles" /> After graduating from high school, he delivered telegrams and studied German at Technische Universität Berlin.<ref name="Dallach 2022">Template:Cite web</ref> He and his wife Elfie had two sonsTemplate:Snd Maximilian and Richard.<ref name="Beaumont-Thomas-2022">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Pareles">Template:Cite web</ref>
Career
1970s
In 1969, Schulze was the drummer of one of the early incarnations of Tangerine Dream – one of the most famous bands that got the nickname "Krautrock" in English speaking countries (others included Kraftwerk and Popol Vuh) – for their debut album Electronic Meditation.<ref name="am">Template:AllMusic</ref> Before 1969 he was a drummer in a band called Psy Free. He met Edgar Froese from Tangerine Dream in the Zodiac Club in what was then West Berlin.<ref name="Dallach 2022" /> In 1970 he left this group to form Ash Ra Tempel<ref name="am" /> with Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke. In 1971, he chose again to leave a newly formed group after only one album, this time to mount a solo career. In 1972, Schulze released his debut album Irrlicht with organ<ref name="Beaumont-Thomas-2022" /> and a recording of an orchestra filtered almost beyond recognition. Despite the lack of synthesizers, this proto-ambient work is regarded as a milestone in electronic music.<ref>Template:AllMusic</ref> His follow-up album, Cyborg, was similar but added the EMS VCS 3 synthesizer.<ref name="ZEIT ONLINE">Template:Cite news</ref>
Since this point, Schulze's career was the most prolific, such that he could claim more than 40 original albums to his name since Irrlicht. Highlights of these include 1975's Timewind, 1976's Moondawn (his first album to feature the Moog synthesizer), 1979's Dune, and 1995's double-album In Blue (which featured one long track called "Return to the Tempel" with electric guitar contributions from his friend Manuel Göttsching of Ash Ra Tempel). In 1976, he was drafted by Japanese percussionist and composer Stomu Yamashta to join his short-lived "supergroup" Go,<ref name="am" /> also featuring Steve Winwood, Michael Shrieve, and Al Di Meola. They released two studio albums (Go in 1976 and Go Too in 1977) and one live album (Go Live from Paris, 1976).<ref name="Yamashta 1976 p. ">Template:Citation</ref>
Throughout the 1970s he followed closely in the footsteps of Tangerine Dream, albeit with far lighter sequencer lines and a more reflective, dreamy sheen, not unlike the ambient music of his contemporary Brian Eno.<ref name="Trinks" /> On occasions he would also compose film scores, including horror and thriller movies such as Barracuda (1977) and Next of Kin (1982).<ref name="Trinks">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Taurus Press">Template:Cite web</ref> Some of his lighter albums are appreciated by new-age music fans, despite the fact that Schulze has always denied connections to this genre.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By mid-decade, with the release of Timewind and Moondawn, his style transformed from Krautrock to Berlin School.<ref name="Brzezinski 2020 p. 278">Template:Cite book</ref>
Schulze had a more organic sound than other electronic artists of the time. Often he would throw in decidedly non-electronic sounds, such as acoustic guitar and a male operatic voice in Blackdance, or a cello in Dune (1979) and Trancefer. Schulze developed a Minimoog patch that sounds uncannily like an electric guitar. Schulze often takes German events as a starting point for his compositions, a notable example being on his 1978 album "X" (the title signifying it was his tenth album), subtitled "Six Musical Biographies", a reference to such notables as Ludwig II of Bavaria, Friedrich Nietzsche, Georg Trakl, and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. His use of the pseudonym Richard Wahnfried is indicative of his interest in Richard Wagner, a clear influence on some albums like the aforementioned Timewind.<ref name="musikreviews.de 2021">Template:Cite web</ref>
Schulze built a record studio in Hambühren, Germany.<ref name="Pareles" />
1980s
In the 1980s Schulze started using digital instruments besides the usual analog synthesizers, and his work accordingly became less experimental and more accessible. Although the switch to using digital equipment is audible in the style of Dig It (1980), it was not until the release of Trancefer (1981) that the shift in style became evident.<ref name="Sound On Sound 2022">Template:Cite web</ref>
This newer style can also be found in Schulze's next release Audentity.<ref name="Musikreviews.de 2021">Template:Cite web</ref> Both "Cellistica" and "Spielglocken" are composed in a similar sequencer-based style as on Trancefer, but this is certainly not the case of all of AudentityTemplate:'s tracks; indeed, "Sebastian im Traum" hints towards the operatic style to be found in some of Schulze's much later works. The predominance of sequencing can also be found in the follow-up live album Dziękuję Poland Live '83,<ref name="radioeins 2007_2">Template:Cite web</ref> although many of its tracks are re-workings of those to be found on Audentity. Schulze's next studio-based album was Angst (soundtrack to the namesake 1983 film).<ref name="Lupari 2003">Template:Cite web</ref> The cold yet haunting electronic rhythms generate an alienated atmosphere.<ref name="Edwards 2020 p. 54">Template:Cite book</ref> Typical are the Fairlight synth and Linn electronic drums sounds.<ref name="radioeins 2007">Template:Cite web</ref>
Another highlight of this era was En=Trance with the dreamy cut "FM Delight".<ref name="Terrorverlag 2013">Template:Cite web</ref> The album Miditerranean Pads marked the beginning of very complex percussion arrangements that continued through the next two decades.<ref name="Solutions_2">Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1989, German band Alphaville released their album The Breathtaking Blue, on which Klaus Schulze was both a contributing musician and the album's producer.<ref name="Frauwallner 2021">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
1990s
Starting with Beyond Recall, the first half of the 1990s was his "sample" period, when Schulze used a wide variety of prerecorded sounds such as screeching birds and sensuous female moans in his studio albums and live performances.<ref name="FAMOUS COMPOSERS 2014">Template:Cite web</ref> Sampling heavily died down with his 1995 album In Blue.<ref name="FAMOUS COMPOSERS 2014" /> The decade also saw the release of copious amounts of previously unreleased material, of varying quality, in several limited-edition boxed sets.<ref name="made in germany music 2013" />
2000s
In 2005 he began re-releasing his classic solo and Wahnfried albums with bonus tracks of unreleased material recorded at roughly the same time as the original works. In the latter part of the decade, Schulze produced albums and staged numerous live appearances with Lisa Gerrard.<ref name="Klaus Schulze feat. Lisa Gerrard: Rheingold (Review/Kritik) 2021">Template:Cite web</ref>
2010s
Big in Japan: Live in Tokyo 2010 was Schulze's fortieth album, and its release in September 2010 marked the beginning of his fifth decade as a solo musician.<ref name="ROCKTIMES 2010">Template:Cite web</ref> The Japan concerts were to be his last live performances.<ref name="Groove 2022">Template:Cite web</ref>
His next album, Shadowlands, was released in February 2013, quickly to be followed by the release of The Schulze–Schickert Session 1975, a rare long-unreleased collaboration, in March 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After a hiatus of several years, he returned to the studio in 2018 for another album, Silhouettes. Much of the album was recorded in a single take.<ref name="Willman-2022" />
Death
Schulze died on 26 April 2022 following years of kidney disease and kidney dialysis.<ref name="Willman-2022" /><ref name="Sweeting 2022" /><ref name="SGum">Template:Cite news</ref> His final album, Deus Arrakis, was released on 1 July 2022.<ref name="Willman-2022">Template:Cite web</ref>
Richard Wahnfried
Richard Wahnfried, then simply Wahnfried after 1993, is the longtime and only real alias for Klaus Schulze – originally a pseudonym, later an official side project name. Seven albums were released under this name between 1979 and 1997.<ref name="FAMOUS COMPOSERS 2014" />
The main characteristics of the Wahnfried albums (as opposed to Schulze's regular works) are:
- Often being oriented towards more mainstream genres (some would say "more commercial"), such as rock, dance, techno, and trance.<ref name="FAMOUS COMPOSERS 2014" />
- Always allowing for collaborative and less electronic albums, with known or unknown guest musicians performing along with Schulze's synths.<ref name="♫ EER-MUSIC.com MUSIC REVIEW SITE JAZZ FUSION PROGRESSIVE ROCK ECLECTIC MUSIC">Template:Cite web</ref>
The pseudonym's etymology stems from Schulze's love for Richard Wagner:
- Richard, evidently from Wagner's first name. Richard is also the name of Schulze's first son.
- Wahnfried ("Peace from delusion and/or madness", in German), from the name Wagner gave to his villa in Bayreuth (and where he was later buried).<ref name="FAMOUS COMPOSERS 2014" />
In his 1975 album Timewind (four years before the first alias use), Schulze had already named a track "Wahnfried 1883" (in reference to Wagner's death and burial in his Wahnfried's garden in 1883). The other track on Timewind is called "Bayreuth Return".<ref name="Klaus Schulze: Timewind (1974) (Review/Kritik) 2021">Template:Cite web</ref> After 1993, the albums are simply credited to "Wahnfried", and namedrop Schulze ("featuring Klaus Schulze", "Produced by Klaus Schulze").<ref name="Klaus Schulze_5">Template:Cite web</ref>
"Wahnfried" is the only known alias of Schulze (although on the 1998 Tribute to Klaus Schulze album, among 10 other artists, Schulze contributed one track barely hidden behind the "Schulzendorfer Groove Orchester" pseudonym).<ref name="Klaus Schulze_4">Template:Cite web</ref>
Discography
Albums
Schulze's concert performances are original compositions recorded live and thus listed as albums. An intensive reissue program of Schulze CDs began in 2005, with most releases having bonus tracks, and sometimes additional discs. They are published by the label Revisited Records (a division of German company InsideOut Music), and distributed by SPV.<ref name="Sweeting 2022">Template:Cite web</ref>
Source:<ref name="Klaus Schulze_2">Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Div col
Singles
| Year | Title | Reissued |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | "Macksy"<ref name="Progarchives.com">Template:Cite web</ref> | The Ultimate Edition (CD38); extended version on Inter*Face reissue |
| 1994 | "Conquest of Paradise"<ref name="Musik-Sammler.de_8">Template:Cite web</ref> | Partially reissued on La Vie Electronique 14 |
(Richard) Wahnfried albums
Composed by Schulze and performed with guest artists under alias Richard Wahnfried or later just Wahnfried:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
| Year | Title | Reissued |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Time Actor | 2011 |
| 1981 | Tonwelle | 2012 |
| 1984 | Megatone | 2021 |
| 1986 | Miditation | 2012 |
| 1994 | Trancelation | 2019 |
| 1996 | Trance Appeal | 2007 |
| 1997 | Drums 'n' Balls (The Gancha Dub) | 2006 |
| 2000 | Trance 4 MotionTemplate:Ref | 2018 |
- Notes
- Template:NoteThis album was originally issued as the third disc of Contemporary Works I.
Boxed sets
Between 1993 and 2002 Klaus Schulze released several limited edition boxed sets, all composed of non-album material.<ref name="made in germany music 2013">Template:Cite web</ref>
| Year | Title | Discs | Copies |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Silver Edition | 10 | 2000 |
| 1995 | Historic Edition | 10 | 2000 |
| 1997 | Jubilee Edition | 25 | 1000 |
| 2000 | The Ultimate Edition | 50Template:Ref | |
| 2000 | Contemporary Works I | 10 | |
| 2002 | Contemporary Works II | 5Template:Ref | 2002 |
- Notes
- Template:NoteCollecting Silver, Historic, and Jubilee sets, with additional 5 discs.
- Template:NoteA bonus sixth disc included with the first 333 copies.
Reissues from sets
Sources:<ref name="Solutions">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Musik-Sammler.de_2">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Klaus Schulze 2013">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Solutions 2002">Template:Cite web</ref>
"The Dark Side of the Moog"
"The Dark Side of the Moog"<ref name="FAMOUS COMPOSERS 2014" /> is a Klaus Schulze collaboration with Pete Namlook (joined also by Bill Laswell on volumes four to seven).<ref name="4 (Limited Box-Edition) (Review/Kritik) 2021">Template:Cite web</ref> Each title is a distortion of Pink Floyd song and album titles.
Source:<ref name="Kemker">Template:Cite web</ref>
| Year | Title | Pink Floyd Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | The Dark Side of the Moog: Wish You Were There | "Wish You Were Here" |
| 1994 | The Dark Side of the Moog II: A Saucerful of Ambience | "A Saucerful of Secrets" |
| 1995 | The Dark Side of the Moog III: Phantom Heart Brother | "Atom Heart Mother" |
| 1996 | The Dark Side of the Moog IV: Three Pipers at the Gates of Dawn | The Piper at the Gates of Dawn |
| 1996 | The Dark Side of the Moog V: Psychedelic Brunch | "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" |
| 1997 | The Dark Side of the Moog VI: The Final DAT | "The Final Cut" |
| 1998 | The Dark Side of the Moog VII: Obscured by Klaus | "Obscured by Clouds" |
| 1999 | The Dark Side of the Moog VIII: Careful With the AKS, Peter | "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" |
| 2002 | The Dark Side of the Moog: The Evolution of the Dark Side of the Moog | |
| 2002 | The Dark Side of the Moog IX: Set the Controls for the Heart of the Mother | "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" "Atom Heart Mother" |
| 2005 | The Dark Side of the Moog X: Astro Know Me Domina | "Astronomy Domine" |
| 2008 | The Dark Side of the Moog XI: The Heart of Our Nearest Star | "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" |
The Evolution of the Dark Side of the Moog is a compilation album, containing excerpts from the first eight volumes. The series was announced as officially concluded with volume ten when on 21 March 2005 at 14:52 CET, Pete Namlook sold the Big Moog synthesizer that was the symbol of the series. Volume eleven appeared on Namlook's website on 15 April 2008 (and was included in a complete box set).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Collaborations
Source:<ref name="Klaus Schulze">Template:Cite web</ref>
| Year | Title | Collaborator |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Electronic Meditation | Tangerine Dream |
| 1971 | Ash Ra Tempel | Ash Ra Tempel |
| 1973 | Tarot | Walter Wegmüller |
| 1973 | Join Inn | Ash Ra Tempel |
| 1973 | Lord Krishna von Goloka | Sergius Golowin |
| 1974 | The Cosmic Jokers | The Cosmic Jokers |
| 1974 | Planeten Sit-In | The Cosmic Jokers |
| 1974 | Galactic Supermarket | The Cosmic Jokers |
| 1974 | Sci Fi Party | The Cosmic Jokers |
| 1974 | Gilles Zeitschiff | The Cosmic Jokers |
| 1974 | Planet of Man | Code III |
| 1976 | Go | Go |
| 1976 | Go Live from Paris | Go |
| 1977 | Go Too | Go |
| 1979 | French Skyline | Earthstar |
| 1984 | Aphrica | Rainer Bloss and Ernst Fuchs |
| 1984 | Drive Inn | Rainer Bloss |
| 1984 | Transfer Station Blue | Michael Shrieve and Kevin Shrieve |
| 1987 | Babel | Andreas Grosser |
| 2000 | Friendship | Ash Ra Tempel |
| 2000 | Gin Rosé at the Royal Festival Hall | Ash Ra Tempel |
| 2009 | Come Quietly | Lisa Gerrard |
| 2013 | The Schulze–Schickert Session | Günter Schickert |
| 2021 | Grains of Sand from The Dune Sketchbook<ref name="Motamayor 2021">Template:Cite web</ref> | Hans Zimmer |
Promos
- 2003 Andromeda<ref name="Progarchives.com_3">Template:Cite web</ref>
- 2004 Ion<ref name="Musik-Sammler.de_9">Template:Cite web</ref>
- 2009 Hommage à Polska (with Lisa Gerrard)<ref name="Musik-Sammler.de_10">Template:Cite web</ref>
Compilations
- 1979 Rock On Brain<ref name="Musik-Sammler.de_11">Template:Cite web</ref>
- 1980 Star Action<ref name="Musik-Sammler.de">Template:Cite web</ref>
- 1988 History (for promotional use, limited to 1,000 copies)<ref name="ProGGnosis">Template:Cite web</ref>
- 1991 2001<ref name="Musik-Sammler.de_3">Template:Cite web</ref>
- 1994 The Essential 72–93<ref name="Musik-Sammler.de_4">Template:Cite web</ref>
- 1999 Trailer<ref name="Musik-Sammler.de_5">Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
- Berlin School of electronic music
- Kosmische Musik
- Urs Amann, illustrator of Schulze's early records
References
Further reading
- Template:Cite web
- Template:Cite web
- Template:Cite web
- Template:Cite web
- Template:Cite news
- Template:Cite book
External links
Template:Klaus Schulze Template:Tangerine Dream Template:Authority control