Klaus Schulze Has Passed Away

Klaus Schulze passed away yesterday at the age of 74.

via Discogs

"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."

You can find numerous posts mentioning Klaus Schulze over the years here. Below are a few better known performances featuring his work from early on to a more recent performance with Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard.

Klaus Schulze with his rack of Quasimidi Polymorphs built to his specifications.
Klaus Schulze Live 1977 better image & sound

video upload by Relena Bonasoro

Klaus Schulze Live - WDR Köln 1977

Klaus Schulze Live - WDR Köln 1977 video upload by

Klaus Schulze talks about, and demonstrates, his first synth an EMS Synthi A

video upload by Synthasy2000

Klaus Schulze - A few Minutes after trancefer

video upload by Electronic Progression

Klaus Schulze Feat. Lisa Gerrard - Rheingold

video upload by Ioannis Gourgoulidis

via @moogmusicinc

"A pioneer of electronic sound, Klaus Schulze and his contributions to the synthesizer community and modern music as we know it will continue to inspire for generations.

Thank you, Klaus, for showing the world how truly human electronic music can be.

❤️"

Photo credit: Klaus D. Mueller
Source: klaus-schulze.com

This image was taken in Berlin in 1976 according to Till Kopper @realqwave. That would have made him 28 or 29 at the time depending on the month taken.



Update: also see Klaus Schulze: A tribute to his music and legacy