Christoph Karrer (20 January 1947 – 2 January 2024) was a German guitarist and composer who also played saxophone, violin and oud. He was a pioneer of

krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It originated among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electron ...

, playing and recording with his band

Amon Düül II Amon Düül II (or Amon Düül 2, PronunciationAmon Düül are a German rock band formed in 1968. The group is generally considered to be one of the pioneers of the West German krautrock scene. Their 1970 album ''Yeti'' was described by British m ...

from 1969 when they released their first album '' Phallus Dei''. He wrote

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

s and played them with the band; the music for Syberberg's ''

San Domingo Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

'' earned them the

Deutscher Filmpreis The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the Cinema of Germany, German film industry. Besides being ...

for film music in 1971. From the 1980s Karrer played as a soloist and with

Embryo An embryo ( ) is the initial stage of development for a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sp ...

, a band that combined elements of rock and jazz with music from Africa and India.

Biography

Christoph Karrer was born in

Kempten Kempten (; ) is the largest town of Allgäu, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. The population was about 68,000 in 2016. The area was possibly settled originally by Celts, but was later taken over by the Romans, who called the town ''Cambodunum''. K ...

on 20 January 1947. He played clarinet and saxophone from age 12. After his

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

he studied art at the

Academy of Fine Arts, Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. In the second half of the 19th centur ...

Karrer co-founded, with Peter Leopold, Dieter Serfas and others, the Amon Düül band and commune in 1967, in the spirit of the

student movement Student activism or campus activism is work by students to cause political, environmental, economic, or social change. In addition to education, student groups often play central roles in democratization and winning civil rights. Modern stu ...

. Arguments about the musical focus caused him to turn to

, playing more advanced experimental music later named

, in opposition to German groups only imitating foreign styles. Their 1969 debut album was '' Phallus Dei'', which featured "abstract" singing and driving percussion. Karrer was one of the first musicians using the violin for rock music. With Amon Düül II, he composed and played

film music A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

for

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker, dramatist and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema moveme ...

's '' The Niklashausen Journey'' and for Hans-Jürgen Syberberg's film ''

'', which earned Amon Düül II the

for film music in 1971. The group disbanded in the late 1970s. From the early 1980s, Karrer collaborated with

, a band for jazz rock and world music. The group had begun in the late 1960s as one of the first to combine elements of rock and jazz, and had integrated ethno-musical influences before the term

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

was invented, touring Africa, India and Japan, among others. Karrer explored the sounds of the oud and its music inspired by

Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

, influenced by

Sivan Perwer ''Sivan'' (, from Akkadian ''simānu'', meaning "season; time") is the ninth month of the civil year and the third month of the religious year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a month of 30 days. ''Sivan'' usually falls in May–June on the Grego ...

Rabih Abou-Khalil Rabih Abou-Khalil (, born August 17, 1957) is an oud player and composer born in Lebanon, who combines elements of Arabic music with jazz, classical music, and other styles. He grew up in Beirut and moved to Munich, Germany, during the Lebanese ...

and Abdul Wahab who played with him. He also became interested in the rubab. He later focused on the

flamenco guitar A flamenco guitar is a guitar similar to a classical guitar, but with lower action, thinner tops and less internal bracing. It usually has nylon strings, like the classical guitar, but it generally possesses a livelier, grittier sound compared ...

Personal life

Karrer spent the last two decades with his partner and a daughter in

Kronach Kronach (; ) is a Town#Germany, town in Upper Franconia, Germany, located in the Franconian Forest area. It is the capital of the Kronach (district), district Kronach. The town is equipped with a nearly complete city wall and Germany's biggest an ...

. He painted again and worked on an autobiography. He played guitar during readings of literature and lyrics. Karrer died on 2 January 2024, after a COVID-19 infection, at the age of 76.

Discography

* with

Solo

Karrer's recordings are held by the German National Library: * Chris Karrer LP (1980) with

Curt Cress Curtis Cress (born 11 August 1952), known by his stage name Curt Cress, is a German musician, singer and songwriter. Life and work Curt Cress began his career in 1965 in Hanau with the band Load. Later also in Hanau he played with the bands I ...

* Dervish Kiss (1994) with

and

* Sufisticated CD (1996) * The Mask CD (1997) with

Mani Neumeier Mani Neumeier (Manfred Neumeier, born 31 December 1940 in Munich) is a German rock musician, free-jazz drummer, artist, and frontman (singer and drummer) of the German Krautrock-band Guru Guru. Probably best known for his work with Guru Guru, Neu ...

and

Christian Burchard An embryo ( ) is the initial stage of development for a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male spe ...

* Grandezza Mora CD (1999)

Collaborations

* ''Missus Beastly'' (LP 1970) with * ''Fitzcarraldo'' (LP 1982, CD 2005) with

Popol Vuh ''Popol Vuh'' (also ''Popul Vuh'' or ''Pop Vuj'') is a text recounting the mythology and history of the Kʼicheʼ people of Guatemala, one of the Maya peoples who also inhabit the Mexican states of Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo, ...

* ''Patchwork'' (CD 1999) with M. T. Wizzard * ''Dunarobba'' (LP 2000) with Militia * ''Temporale'' (CD 2005) with Alhambra * ''PSY'' (2008) with

Guru Guru Guru Guru is a German krautrock band formed in 1968 as The Guru Guru Groove by Mani Neumeier (drums), Uli Trepte (bass) and Eddy Naegeli (guitar), later replaced by the American Jim Kennedy. After Kennedy collapsed on stage due to a serious i ...

* ''Portrait'' (2009) with

Uli Trepte Uli Trepte (born 27 September 1941, Konstanz, Germany — died 21 May 2009, Berlin) was a German musician best known for his collaborations with various influential Krautrock bands in the early 1970s. Early career Uli Trepte began his musica ...

References

External links

* * *
Chris Karrer
music.metason.net

(interview) thing.de * Edwin Pouncey
Communing With Chaos
thewire.co.uk 1996 {{DEFAULTSORT:Karrer, Chris 1947 births 2024 deaths German composers German guitarists German male guitarists People from Kempten im Allgäu Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany