Klaus Schulze

Composer, musician, producer, and electronic music pioneer Klaus Schulze was born in Berlin, Germany on August 4, 1947. And original member of ground-breaking groups Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel, he released his debut solo album, Irrlicht, in 1972. While his solo excursion was meant to be a temporary hiatus from Ash Ra Tempel, it turned into a prolific and influential career that included 1973’s Cyborg, the first album to feature the EMS Synthi A synthesizer. Klaus Schultz also pioneered ambient music with works such as Blackdance (1974) and Moondawn (1976). The use of Moog synthesizers, acoustic instruments and voice gave way to digital sequencers and samples in the 1980s before a period focused on jazz and classical music. Klaus Schulze also recorded under the name of Richard Wahnfried and collaborated on various projects including film soundtracks. He collaborated with many artists including Dead Can Dance vocalist Lisa Gerrard, recording four albums together: Farscape (2008), Rheingold (2008), Dziękuję bardzo (2009), and Big in Europe (2014). A long collaboration with Pete Namlook  resulted in eleven volumes of The Dark Side of the Moog series, spanning the years 1994 to 2008. Klaus Schulze’s La Vie Electronique series included 16 volumes released between 2009 and 2015. Further solo albums included Shadowlands (2013), Eternal: The 70th Birthday Edition (2017) and Silhouettes (2018). During his 50-year solo career, Klaus Schulze released over 60 albums and influenced several generations of electronic, ambient, and new age musicians. After completing work on his Deus Arrakis album, Klaus Schulze died on April 26, 2022.