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
Released	August 1972
Recorded	April 1972 in Berlin
Genre	Electronic musique concrète space drone
Length	50:27 (original) 74:27 (2006 reissue)
Label	Ohr
Producer	Klaus Schulze
Klaus Schulze chronology
Irrlicht (1972) Cyborg (1973)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Overview

The album's complete title is: Irrlicht: Quadrophonische Symphonie für Orchester und E-Maschinen (in English: "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).

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.	Title	Note	Length
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.

External links

• Irrlicht at the official site of Klaus Schulze
• Irrlicht at Discogs (list of releases)