The towering synthesizer composer, musician, and adventurer in solo work and with Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, and the Cosmic Jokers, has died aged 74. It’s time to trance out with synths and collect remembrances and interviews to mark his passing.
It’s been a rough couple of years for musical heroes here in Germany as elsewhere. Again we get an outpouring of music and memories. I’ve little I feel I can add, so I’ll instead point to excellent write-ups elsewhere, and sounds and reading. (Some of these live performances are particularly moving.) And of course, the Dark Side of the Moog is its best side.
Here’s the official statement on the artist’s Facebook site (in German and English):
Liebe Fans,
in tiefer Trauer müssen wir Euch leider darüber informieren, dass Klaus gestern am 26. April 2022 im Alter von 74 Jahren nach langer Krankheit, aber dennoch plötzlich und unerwartet von uns gegangen ist.
Er hinterlässt nicht nur ein großes musikalisches Erbe, sondern auch eine Ehefrau, zwei Söhne und vier Enkelkinder.
In seinem Namen und im Namen der Familie möchten wir Euch für Eure Treue und Unterstützung über all die Jahre danken – es hat ihm viel bedeutet!
Seine Musik wird bleiben, und unsere Erinnerungen…
Es gäbe noch so viel zu schreiben über ihn als Mensch und Künstler, aber er hätte jetzt wahrscheinlich gesagt: nuff said!
Der Abschied wird im engsten Familienkreis stattfinden, so wie er es sich gewünscht hat. Ihr wisst ja wie er war: seine Musik sei wichtig, nicht seine Person…
Maximilian Schulzeauch
im Namen der Familie und des Klaus Schulze-Teams*
Dear Fans,
In deepest sorrow we have to inform you that Klaus has passed away yesterday on April 26, 2022 at the age of 74 after a long disease but all of a sudden.
He leaves behind a huge musical legacy and is survived by his wife, two sons and four grandchildren.
In his name and in the name of the family we would like to thank you for your loyalty and support over all these years – it has meant a lot to him!His music will remain, and our memories…
There’s a lot more to write about him as person and artist but he probably would have told us: nuff said!
According to his wishes we will bid farewell to him in the closest family circle. You know him and what he always said: my music is important, not my person…
Maximilian Schulze
also in the name of the family and the Klaus Schulze-Team
Klaus lives – there is new music to watch out for from Maestro Schulze coming up in June, no less:
See also the official website.
Obituaries and articles
There are some beautiful obituaries composed, most importantly from our friends at AMAZONA.de (in German, but even nonspeakers will likely be able to navigate the timeline):
Synthesizer-Legende Klaus Schulze gestorben [Amazona.de]
Ben Beaumont-Thomas has an eloquent obit, noting that “his epic electronic soundscapes are seen as a foundation of ambient and new age music, while his sense of rhythm, expressed in sequenced electronic phrases, pointed the way to techno, trance and other dance music genres.”
Klaus Schulze, German electronic music pioneer, dies aged 74 [The Guardian]
Influence is hard to overstate. But I would tend to say the ambient and cosmic elements are enough, actually, rather than force the connection to club music – as Berlin’s own RBB did inexplicably, calling him a “godfather of techno.” To me, it’s more likely that club artists turn to Schulze for inspiration in finding spaced-out textures that contrast with Detroit’s harder sounds and their lineage in Black music. But those kinds of diverse musical influences are themselves important, rather than try to make everything connect to individual artists. Schulze is on some cosmic level, anyway – better to drift into galaxies with his music rather than try to make him some sort of electronic Richard Wagner or something!
This is also beautiful, from echoes, who also promise a radio show dedicated to the artist:
Klaus Schulze Leaves the Planet April 26, 2022 [echoes: online & on the radio]
Also worth reading:
Daniel Kreps for Rolling Stone
Phil Freeman has a deep interview with Schulze from September 2018 for The Wire which you can read in its full layout online:
A Cyborg Manifesto: Klaus Schulze
Geary Yelton has my favorite recent article, for Electronic Musician (I think, even though the site pulls it from EM). Fan blogs as usual do a better job out of labors of love than our corporate overlords, so this comes from the very-cool brainvoyagermusic.com, full of sci-fi and music:
Going deep with a founding father of electronic music, Klaus Schulze
Electronic Musician and Keyboard among others have had their archives gutted by corporate owners (cough). I want to actually reproduce this story here as it’s unclear what the original authorship was – this is the full story and scan as it appeared in August 1987 Sound on Sound, but you’ll notice SOS were themselves reproducing it (minus byline) from EM.
It’s an essential read, a great interview, and I’d love to reproduce it with the proper credit. (via)
http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/klaus-schulze/2482#
Personal remembrances
Devastated to hear of the passing of Klaus Schulze. More than any other musician he inspired me to start my long musical journey into Electronic Music. I'll never forget hearing the closing section of Wahnfried 1883 on local radio in the mid 1970's – music from another universe.
— Ian Boddy (@ianboddy) April 27, 2022
Videos
On into the cosmos; we are all star stuff.
