* * * * * * * kdm

Purcell, Vivaldi, Bach, Händel, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert...

"Klassische Musik" kannten die damals noch nicht.

Meine Antipathien sind einfacher Art: Ich verabscheue Dummheit, Unterdrückung, Verbrechen, Grausamkeit, Musikberieselung.(Vladimir Nabokov)

"Something like that..."
...we have seen today while we walked through Berlin Lankwitz's deserted garden plot (Schrebergärten). Thousands of starlings have made a stop to catch some food from the autumnal garden trees, and then - as if on command - they all flew up like one body, into the blue sky, dancing...

A government-supported artist is an incompetent whore.

Staatskünstler sind inkompetente Huren.(Robert A.Heinlein)

Hatte ich dieses Album eigentlich hier schon erwähnt? (*)
.

Was ist eigentlich aus den vielen Mitarbeitern der Stasi, den Jungoffizieren der NVA und den in der DDR zu Journalisten Ausgebildeten geworden?

- Gedichte auswendig lernen;
- einer Dame die Hand küssen;
- einen Stammtisch besuchen;
- Briefmarken ablösen;
- in die Pilze gehen;
- mit dem Bleistift in der Hand lesen;
- einen Diener machen;
- jemanden hinauskomplimentieren;
- etwas im Lexikon nachschlagen;
- sich eine Nelke ins Knopfloch stecken;
- einer Dame den Hof machen;
- in einem Séparée soupieren;
- zum Abschied mit dem Taschentuch winken;
- sich auf den Tod vorbereiten;
- [und überhaupt:] leise leben...

(Alexander Pscheram, "Vergessene Gesten", 2018)

Die GEZ oder wie immer sie jetzt euphemistisch heißen mag, ist ein selten (Adjektiv) Verein.
Andauernd bekommt Julia von denen bürokratisch verfasste Briefe in denen sie aufgefordert wird, GEZ zu zahlen. Und jedesmal teile ich denen die simple Tatsache mit, dass Julia meine Gattin ist, dass sie hier mit mir & ordentlich gemeldet in meiner Wohnung lebt und dass ich seit Jahren und regelmäßig bereits zahle.
Sie begreifen es nicht.
Wie soll man diesen armen Menschen, die dort in Köln sicherlich für einen Hungerlohn arbeiten müssen und gezwungen werden, vorgestanztes Bürokratendeutsch an unschuldige Mitmenschen zu verschicken, nur damit die medialen Propagandaschleuderer (wie man so en passant mitbekommt; ich selbst & Julia, wir schauen sowas nicht) noch mehr Kohle in den... Äh, wie soll man denen ...helfen? beikommen? Vielleicht in "einfacher Sprache"? (hab' ich auch schon versucht).

Wenn es nicht so absurd wäre könnte man...

Kalt is draus, des miasma ausnützen, bleima herinn.(Gerhard Polt)

In autumn 1978, when the double album "X" was released, we could not foresee that it will be a historic milestone ...today, 40 years after.
Two reviews, printed in The KS Circle no. 82, when "X" had its 25th anniversary:

(*****) Electronic Music's Greatest Masterpiece.
The influence "X" has had on the current two generations of electronic artists/composers is beyond words but completely understandable. With this 1978 double album, Schulze reached the height of his creative powers, producing a work which bridges the gap between the so-called "progressive" jazz-rock of the day to some of the most original and profound electronic ambient music ever made. Officially titled "Sechs Musikalische Biographien", it moves from high-speed trance sessions like "Friedrich Nietzsche" and "Frank Herbert" to pieces inspired by the Western classical tradition ("Friedemann Bach" and "Ludwig II von Bayern"), to the unfathomable nightmare of "Heinrich von Kleist", which is arguably Schulze's finest half-hour ever. Fellow electronic composer Steve Roach has sited this album along with Schulze's "Timewind" for inspiring him to make a career out of making electronic music and it's simply no wonder as to why. Without question one of the truly great recordings of the past quarter-century in ANY field of music.

(*****) A Relentlessly Dark Oppressive Provisional Masterwork.
There are two rules to KS albums: 1) His best work is completely bleak 2) Almost ALL his compositions run far too long.
Nevertheless, "X" is arguably as good as he gets. If there is soundtrack to hell, personal or universal, this is it.
It all starts with "Friedrich Nietzsche", a 24 minute head rush that would have been just fine at ten or twelve minutes. I keep getting images of the "Dawn of Man" segment from "2001" in it's first few mintues. Still strikeing. "Frank Herbert" may be the ultimate road-rage soundtrack. "Ludwig II von Bayern" makes fantastic use of a full string orchestra in its first several minutes and is probably the best thing Schulze ever recorded. In fact, it's SO good I kept wondering why he never utilized more orchestral arrangements in his later albums. He seems a far better composer than performer. (Another curious note, none of the musicians for the orchestral sections of "X" are credited... seems a bit wrong.)
Those are the highlights.
I recommend this for those looking for some kind of Heavy Metal/Ambient/Neo Classical hybrid. (How's that for a description?) It's definately one-of-a-kind.

PS: The list with the names of the orchestra members were printed in the 'Circle'. Here it is again. The solo violin was played by B.Dragic and the orchestra was conducted by Wolfgang Tiepold.