Irrlicht (album)

Irrlicht is the first album by Klaus Schulze. Originally released in 1972, in 2006 it was the sixteenth Schulze album reissued by Revisited Records as part of a series of Schulze album reissues. Recorded without a synthesizer, Irrlicht's set of "early organ drone experiments" is "not exactly the music for which KS got famous".[2]

Irrlicht
Studio album by
Klaus Schulze
ReleasedAugust 1972
RecordedApril 1972 in Berlin
Genre
Length50:27 (original)
74:27 (2006 reissue)
LabelOhr
ProducerKlaus Schulze
Klaus Schulze chronology
Irrlicht
(1972)		 Cyborg
(1973)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Overview

The album's complete title is: Irrlicht: Quadrophonische Symphonie für Orchester und E-Maschinen (German: "Will-o'-the-wisp: Quadraphonic Symphony for Orchestra and Electronic Machines"). Its atmospheric drone music tone is similar to Tangerine Dream's album Zeit (released the same month) as it stemmed from a common idea that Schulze and Edgar Froese couldn't agree on and parted ways over.

In 2005, Schulze said, "Irrlicht still has more connections to Musique concrète than with today's electronics. I still never owned a synthesiser at the time."[3] Schulze mainly used a broken and modified electric organ, a recording of a classical orchestra rehearsal played backward, and a damaged amplifier to filter and alter sounds that he mixed on tape into a three-movement symphony.[3]

Irrlicht, despite its highly unconventional nature, was originally released on the krautrock label Ohr. Because Schulze was signed to them while a member of Tangerine Dream, the label asserted that his solo album belonged to them too;[3] Schulze's reaction was, "I was just glad that Irrlicht was released at all. Any other company would have probably turned me away with this record."[3]

Track listing

All tracks composed by Klaus Schulze.

No.TitleLength
1."1. Satz: Ebene"23:23
2."2. Satz: Gewitter (energy rise—energy collapse)"5:39
3."3. Satz: Exil Sils Maria"21:25
4."Dungeon" (reissue bonus track)24:00

Notes
  • On vinyl, "Ebene" and "Gewitter" were combined into one 29:00 long track.
  • "Satz" is the German word for the musical term "movement", therefore "1. Satz" is German for "1st Movement".[3] Translated, the titles mean:
    • 1st Movement: "Plain" (as in the flat plains of Sils)
    • 2nd Movement: "Thunderstorm"
    • 3rd Movement: "Sils Maria exile" (possibly a reference to Nietzsche)
  • The 3rd Movement "Exil Sils Maria" was recorded backwards. The recording can be heard the way it was originally recorded by being played in reverse.

Personnel
  • Klaus Schulze – "E-machines", organ, guitar, percussion, zither, voice, etc.
  • Colloquium Musica Orchestra (4 first violins, 4 second violins, 3 violas, 8 cellos, 1 bass, 2 horns, 2 flutes, 3 oboes)[4] – recorded as raw material then post-processed and filtered on tape.[3]

References
  • Irrlicht CD booklet, 2006, Revisited Records, SPV 304962 CD

Notes
  1. Allmusic review
  2. Both quotes from re-release producer Klaus D. Mueller (from the website and the booklet, respectively).
  3. Irrlicht CD booklet.
  4. Original 1972 LP booklet as quoted at Discogs.
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