It is with great sadness that we’ve learned the other day that Klaus Schulze has passed away. His legacy will however live on and continue to inspire for generations to come.
Klaus Schulze was known for his early work with Tangerine Dream, the krautrock band Ash Ra Tempel, and especially his electronic music solo work as part of the so-called Berlin School in the 1970s. He used a wide array of analog synthesizers during this period, but in the ensuing decades he embraced new technologies, including MIDI, computers for music, virtual instruments, and more. He also explored various styles and techniques in his later music.
Schulze was extremely prolific, releasing dozens of solo albums; 50+ albums that collect his live work and previously unreleased work; work with Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel; collaborations with Pete Namlook, Lisa Gerrard and many others; and a series of releases under the Richard Wahnfried moniker.
His final album, Deus Arrakis, will be released in June of 2022.
Born August 4th 1947 in Berlin, died April 26th 2022, was a german electronic pioneer, composer and musician. Schulze initially made his mark as a drummer, first with the group Psy Free, later with Tangerine Dream (he played on their first album “Electronic Meditation” before he quit) and Ash Ra Tempel (with Manuel Göttsching). In 1971 Schulze started a solo career as an electronic musician and released a couple of heavily experimental albums, ‘Irrlicht’ and ‘Cyborg’. 1973’s ‘Cyborg’ was the first release where he used a ‘real’ synthesizer, the legendary VCS 3 and later in the 70’s he would record albums such as ‘Moondawn’, ‘Mirage’ and ‘X’ and embark on several tours, documented across a number of live albums.
In 1978 he set up the label Innovative Communication and the following year he also launched the pseudonym/project Richard Wahnfried. In the 1980’s Schulze continued his hectic release schedule as well as recording several soundtracks and rebuilding his studio (he “went digital” in 1986). In summer 1983 Klaus Schulze ‘sold’ Innovative Communication.
In the 1990’s Schulze recorded several electronic interpretations of works by classical composers (most notably Wagner) as well as collaborating with opera singers and other classical music performers on his own albums. He also started collaborating with German ambient/techno artist Pete Namlook in the series ‘The Dark Side Of The Moog’ on the latter’s Fax label, and steered the Wahnfried project into a more modern techno- and trance-inspired direction.
Schulze ‘…passed away on April 26, 2022 at the age of 74 after a long disease but all of a sudden’. – statement from his social media pages.