Farscape (Klaus Schulze & Lisa Gerrard)

Klaus Schulze is a visionary. A dreamer. And he is well known for making his dreams come true. For a long time now he has wanted to collaborate with extremely gifted vocalist Lisa Gerrard. Now he made his wish come true. The result is the new double album called Farscape. Never before have you experienced Schulze – whose oeuvre is full of emotionally gripping music – in a more emotional framework.
Schulze is an institution, a living legend – he was member of electronic pop icons such as Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel and since 1972 he has released a plethora of solo albums. He has provided remixes for a variety of interesting bands and he has collaborated with a variety of other thrilling and innovative artists. The Moog specialist and confessed Wagner fan has been a flickering will-o-the-wisp within the music scene for nearly four decades. “The German electronic genius” – effusively described by music magazine Pop at the beginning of his solo career in the early seventies, is on top of the world in 2008 A.D. Schulze’s elation is the result of having spent just two days last November with the incomparable Lisa Gerrard recording two discs worth of new material now released as Farscape.
Gerrard, born in Melbourne, Australia was once a member of the unique duo Dead Can Dance and has since contributed to a host of movie scores such as Gladiator, Ali and Whale Rider. She owns one of the most remarkable and expressive voices of modern times.
“I have wanted to work with Lisa since the days of Dead Can Dance in the 80’s, but I never had an opportunity for such a collaboration”, Schulze says. “You don’t get her on the phone so easily. But my new manager was able to arrange it within a few weeks. When Lisa called me we spoke for quite a long time and managed to agree on a deal. We both have very similar opinions about art. For example, she says, ‘music is something sacred’, I can understand that very well but try and explain that to a normal human being...”
Lisa Gerrard explains her willingness to cooperate with the electronic composer, “I have observed his career since he was in Tangerine Dream in the late 60’s. He is an amazing artist! His work is in harmony with the soul’s journey and has been for a long time now. I was astonished when he asked me if I wanted to come and sing with him. We seem like-minded in so many things. That’s normal when you have an artistic soul, you know? In some way you connect in the ether. That was the case with our work on ‘Farscape’”.
In November 2007, Lisa Gerrard travelled to the Lüneburg Heath, where Klaus Schulze has resided for more than 30 years. It is also home to his private recording studio. For this joint effort six days were scheduled, but “on the first day, we just went out for dinner and didn’t play any music at all”, recalls Schulze. “I had already prepared the compositions and on the second day we actually recorded about five hours of music straight without a break. This session became Farscape I – I have never experienced such an exciting thing in my entire career as an artist. The next day was just as intense and this session became Farscape II, another majestic, gripping experience with an exceptional artist”, Schulze enthuses.
A great moment of cooperation between true artists was the result. Schulze weaves soundscapes that are at times threatening, passionate, sentimental and sometimes mysterious above which Gerrard’s voice seems to float in its majestic and deeply moving beauty. “During the two days of recording I kept looking into the vocal room in order to see what unusual things Lisa was doing there”, says Schulze about his creative partner. “But she just stood there singing. When she is in front of the microphone, the only important thing is her devotion to sound”.
Music journalist Stefan Albus captured precisely why this collaboration between Schulze and Gerrard was not only necessary but almost inevitable, “Both get their inspiration not from music text books but from having discovered their own channels to the source of their creative power, their intuition, and this has opened them up widely”, he goes on to say, “Schulze doesn’t just compose music. He plays. And Gerrard not only sings, let alone to sing from music. She illuminates, imagines and fills spaces intuitively”.
There is this desire for an unfamiliar, creative adventure. While at the same time there is this trust in each other’s skills, which distinguishes Farscape and makes it unique. Both records are, like all albums by the grand master of electronic music, “a trip into the revolutionary area of sound, which has always most interested me. With each new work I want to explore new territories. Active listening is in demand when it comes to my work! The music is actually only half composed; the other half is open for impressions from the consumer”.
“I am my own micro cosmos, I’ve never made compromises, and that goes for the music on Farscape too, although Lisa was absolutely an equal partner. I could not work under different circumstances other than those of absolute freedom. I only have this life. Why should I do something other than that which I really want to do?”
(von Michael Fuchs-Gamböck)
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