Kristian Schultze (21 January 1945 – 22 November 2011) was one-half of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

new-age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consid ...

band

Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...

. Schultze partnered with

Michael Holm Michael Holm (born Lothar Walter; on 29 July 1943) is a German singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. He is primarily known as a singer of Schlager music. Although his first appearance in the hit parade was in 1962 ("Lauter schöne ...

and the two produced numerous new-age albums. The two met in late 1970s, when they discovered that they shared a similar interest in pre-colonial America. Schultze also released a number of solo albums.

Biography

Kristian Schultze was the son of

Norbert Schultze Norbert Arnold Wilhelm Richard Schultze (26 January 1911 in Braunschweig, Brunswick – 14 October 2002 in Bad Tölz) was a prolific Germany, German composer of Film score, film music and a member of the NSDAP and of Joseph Goebbels' staff dur ...

, the composer of "

Lili Marleen "Lili Marleen" (also spelled "Lili Marlen'", "Lilli Marlene", "Lily Marlene", "Lili Marlène" among others; ) is a German love song that became popular during World War II throughout Europe and the Mediterranean among both Axis powers, Axis and ...

", and

Iwa Wanja Iwa Wanja (born Ivanka Nikolova Yanakieva; 10 October 1905 – 26 June 1991) was a Bulgarian actress based in Germany. She moved to Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of c ...

, a Bulgarian actress and singer. He grew up in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and got his musical education at Konservatorium and Musikhochschule Berlin, Wiener Akademie and Jazzschool Graz. He moved to Munich in 1968 where he worked as composer, arranger, producer and musician for various artists, for movies, television and theater. As a keyboard player, he joined the group

Passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...

Klaus Doldinger Klaus Doldinger (; born 12 May 1936) is a German saxophonist known for his work in jazz and as a film music composer. He was the recipient of the 1997's Bavarian Film Awards. He is also a frequent collaborator of German filmmaker Wolfgang Pet ...

in 1973 and recorded the albums "Looking Thru", "Cross Collateral", "Infinity Machine" and "Iguacu" with them. They undertook tours of

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Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In 1977, he left the band and played in the group "Snowball" with Curt Cress (drums), Dave King (bass guitar) and Roy Albrighton, the former lead singer with NEKTAR. In 1979, Kristian and

started the studio project "Cusco". They produced 22 albums and semi-albums, and consistently charted near the top of the New Age charts. In 1985, he and his wife Birgid moved to the Bavarian countryside, where they rented a house in

Bad Tölz Bad Tölz (; Bavarian: ''Däiz'') is a town in Bavaria, Germany and the administrative center of the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district. History Archaeology has shown continuous occupation of the site of Bad Tölz since the retreat of the gla ...

, a small village facing the Bavarian Alps. He built his second D.I. studio in that house and continued to work as composer, arranger, sound designer and keyboard-soloist for dozens of national and international artists. From 1986, Kristian studied computer theory, learned some computer languages, and became a beta tester for software companies in Germany. Some of his ideas made their way into major studio programs like Notator. From 1988, Kristian practiced meditation techniques, and from 1990 until 1993 he was a student in breath therapy (HAKOMI method). Through the inspiration of his wife, who during the years has become a healing specialist, Kristian tried to integrate his experiences into his compositions. His last two solo albums, ''Colours of Inner Peace'' and ''Born to Breathe'', both released 1996 under the GIB label, give examples of this new way of music writing, and his constant work with Michael Holm and Cusco also reflect some of these compositional developments. Kristian died of a heart attack in Bad Tölz, Bavaria, aged 66.

References

External links

Official websiteObituary in Musikmarkt
1945 births 2011 deaths 20th-century German musicians 20th-century German male musicians {{Germany-musician-stub