Popol Vuh () were a German musical collective founded by keyboardist Florian Fricke in 1969 together with Frank Fiedler (sound design), Holger Trülzsch (percussion), and Bettina Fricke (tablas and production).Popol Vuh Biography, Booklet to CD issue of "Popol Vuh Revisited & Remixed, 1970–1999", SPV recordings, 2011 The band took its name from the Mayan manuscript containing the mythology of highland

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

's K'iche' people. During the next two decades the membership often alternated, most notably including Djong Yun, Renate Knaup, Conny Veit, Daniel Fichelscher, Klaus Wiese, and Robert Eliscu. Popol Vuh began as an

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

project, but under Fricke's leadership they soon abandoned

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s for organic instrumentation and

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 ...

influences. They developed a productive working partnership with director

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; né Stipetić; born 5 September 1942) is a German filmmaker, actor, opera director, and author. Regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema, his films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unusu ...

, contributing scores to films such as '' Aguirre, The Wrath of God'' (1972), '' Nosferatu the Vampyre'' (1979), and '' Fitzcarraldo'' (1982). The group are associated with West Germany's 1970s

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 ...

movement and are considered progenitors of new-age and

ambient music Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes Musical tone, tone and atmosphere over traditional Musical form, musical structure or rhythm. Often "peaceful" sounding and lacking Musical composition, composition, beat, and/or structured melod ...

. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' magazine called '' Hosianna Mantra'' (1972) Popol Vuh's classic release.

History

The band's name, taken from the Mayan manuscript, has been translated roughly as "meeting place" or "book of the community". Their first album, '' Affenstunde'', released in 1970, can be regarded as one of the earliest

space music Space music, also called spacemusic or space ambient, is a subgenre of ambient music and is described as "tranquil, hypnotic and moving". It is derived from new-age music and is associated with lounge music, easy listening, and elevator music ...

works, featuring the then new sounds of the

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer ...

(rare sight in Germany of early 70s) together with

ethnic An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

. This continued for only one more album, '' In den Gärten Pharaos'', and material later to be released on the soundtrack to '' Aguirre, the Wrath of God'', before Fricke largely abandoned electronic instruments in favour of piano-led compositions from 1972's album '' Hosianna Mantra'' going forward. Additionally, ''Hosianna Mantra'' marked the growing exploration of "spiritual matters", inspired by both western and eastern religions, picking up a wider range of

wind Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...

and

string instruments In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play some ...

, which were combined to convey a mystical aura that made their music spiritual and introspective. The European influence is "particularly evident on the album's later tracks such as 'Not High in Heaven', 'Kyrie', and 'Blessing'." Fricke met

in 1967 and the following year played a cameo role in Herzog's movie '' Signs Of Life''. The band contributed soundtracks to several of Herzog's films, including ''Aguirre, the Wrath of God'', as well as '' Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht'', '' Fitzcarraldo'', '' Cobra Verde'', '' Heart of Glass'' and '' The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser''. Fricke made an episodic appearance in ''The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser''. Florian Fricke, the band's creative powerhouse, died in Munich on 29 December 2001, and the group essentially disbanded.

Style and legacy

In 1973, Conny Veit elaborated on the spiritual component of the group's music:

"I refrain from the classification 'church music', although I think it is entirely possible and appropriate that Hosianna Mantra be used as music for church. I realized this record was actually about something else for me. With the means at my disposal I wanted to grasp the original
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
being and feeling in order to convey the correctness of elementary truths in the Christian word. Not as a preacher, but as someone for whom archaic ways of life seem more valuable and right than our own contemporary culture."

Popol Vuh influenced many other European bands with their uniquely soft but elaborate instrumentation, which took inspiration from the music of

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, and

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

America. With music sometimes described as "ethereal", they created soundscapes through psychedelic walls of sound, and are regarded as precursors of contemporary

, as well as of new age and ambient. In October 2003 German composer

Klaus Schulze Klaus Schulze (4 August 1947 – 26 April 2022) was a German electronic music pioneer, composer and musician. He also used the alias Richard Wahnfried and was a member of the Krautrock bands Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, and the Cosmic Jokers ...

wrote:

"Florian was and remains an important forerunner of contemporary ethnic and religious music. He chose electronic music and his big Moog to free himself from the restraints of traditional music, but soon discovered that he didn't get a lot out of it and opted for the acoustic path instead. Here, he went on to create a new world, which Werner Herzog loves so much, transforming the thought patterns of electronic music into the language of acoustic ethno music."Klaus Schulze, Oldau, October 7, 2003: Booklet to CD re-issue of "Hosianna Mantra", SPV recordings, 2004

Discography

#'' Affenstunde'' (1970) #'' In den Gärten Pharaos'' (1971) #'' Hosianna Mantra'' (1972) #'' Seligpreisung'' (1973) #'' Einsjäger und Siebenjäger'' (1974) #'' Das Hohelied Salomos'' (1975) #'' Aguirre'' (1975) #'' Letzte Tage – Letzte Nächte'' (1976) #'' Herz aus Glas'' (1977) #'' Brüder des Schattens – Söhne des Lichts'' (1978) #''

Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' () is a 1922 silent film, silent German Expressionism (cinema), German Expressionist vampire film directed by F. W. Murnau from a screenplay by Henrik Galeen. It stars Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who ...

'' (1978) #'' Die Nacht der Seele'' (1979) #'' Sei still, wisse ICH BIN'' (1981) #'' Agape – Agape'' (1983) #'' Spirit of Peace'' (1985) #'' Cobra Verde'' (1987) #'' For You and Me'' (1991) #'' City Raga'' (1995) #'' Shepherd's Symphony – Hirtensymphonie'' (1997) #'' Messa di Orfeo'' (1999)

Florian Fricke solo albums

*''Die Erde und ich sind Eins'' (1983) – limited private pressing *''Florian Fricke Plays Mozart'' (1992) – featuring Fricke on piano playing Mozart compositions

Compilations

Note: there are two distinct issues of the compilation ''Best of Popol Vuh – Werner Herzog''. These are distinct from ''The Best Soundtracks from Werner Herzog Films'', though the selections of tracks overlap. *''Perlenklänge: The Best of Popol Vuh'' (1976) – Ohr / Pilz / Kosmische Musik compilation *''Tantric Songs'' (1981) – featuring tracks from '' Die Nacht der Seele'' and '' Brüder des Schattens – Söhne des Lichts'' *'' Fitzcarraldo'' (1982) – soundtrack featuring four previously released Popol Vuh compositions besides opera and traditional music *''In the Gardens of Pharao / Aguirre'' (1983) *''Gesang der Gesänge'' (1988) *''Best of Popol Vuh – Werner Herzog'' (1989 with 14 tracks; reissued 1993 with only 10 tracks) *''Florian Fricke'' (1991) – featuring tracks from '' Herz aus Glas'' (retitled) and '' Brüder des Schattens – Söhne des Lichts'' *''The Best Soundtracks from Werner Herzog Films'' (1991, 8 tracks) *''Best of Popol Vuh from the Films of Werner Herzog'' (1992, 10 tracks), contains one track (titled "We Are Aware of the Misery") from the Herzog film '' The Dark Glow of the Mountains'', which was previously unreleased *''Sing, for Song Drives Away the Wolves'' (1993) – remix album *''Movie Music'' (1994) – 3-CD set: ''Aguirre'', '' Herz aus Glas'', ''Nosferatu'' *''Nicht Hoch Im Himmel'' (1998) *''Future Sound Experience'' (2002) – remix album recorded in 1993 (according to its booklet) and released after Florian Fricke's death *''70's Progressive'' (2006) – SPV compilation *''On the Way to Himalaya'' (2006) – 3-CD set: '' Brüder des Schattens – Söhne des Lichts'', '' Spirit of Peace'', '' Die Nacht der Seele'' *''The Werner Herzog Soundtracks Box set'' (2011) *''Revisited & Remixed (1970–1999)'' (2011)

Unauthorized album

*''Yoga'' (1976) – recorded by Florian Fricke with Indian musicians

References

External links

Perfect Sound Forever: Popol Vuh- an extensive look at their catalog
(Comprehensive article & review of every album, in English)
Popol Vuh & Florian Fricke
Popol Vuh & Florian Fricke. The ultimate resource: biography, discography, movies, collaborations, web links and foto gallery. * * * {{Authority control German electronic music groups Krautrock musical groups Musical groups established in 1969 Musical groups disestablished in 2001 Brain Records artists