EDGAR FROESE - Silence in the Schwäbische Straße

EDGAR FROESE - Silence in the Schwäbische Straße

In contrast to the German Krautrock bands like Amon Düül II, CAN, Kraftwerk or Faust, who started at the same time, Tangerine Dream always had the one central star, the Kraftzentrum, which fired the fate of the internationally celebrated electronic pioneers. Therefore it is clear with the death of Edgar Froese: After 47 years the story of Tangerine Dream has now come to an end.

When Tangerine Dream toured Europe last early summer, organisers printed the word "farewell tour" in advertisements and on the poster for the Munich concert. The term was cancelled before the band was on stage for the first time, and at the end of the tour Edgar Froese announced more concerts for 2015, new albums, a reshuffle of the band, the completion of his autobiography and the musical step into a new era called "Quantum Years". But it was the last tour after all. Froese, who still had so many ideas and didn't want to know about the farewell, died on 20 January in Vienna at the age of 70 from the consequences of a pulmonary embolism. His band Tangerine Dream was one of the most important German music exports of the past decades.

Artistic all-rounder

Froese, born in 1944 in Tilsit, East Prussia, initially turned to sculpture as an artist. He was also friends with the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí in later years. But he himself turned to music. He renamed his group The Ones, founded in 1966, to Tangerine Dream the following year. There was much speculation about the origin and meaning of the band's name, which was as aesthetic as it was erratic. The Beatles sang from "Tangerine trees and marmelade skies" in "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds". But The Ones also had such color perceptions: "The trees turn tangerine, and the sky is suddenly green." Froese understood over the years to keep a certain mystery around the name - with hints that there was another meaning. He never betrayed her...

Lesen Sie mehr im eclipsed Nr. 168 (März 2015).