Klaus Schulze Ballett 1 (Reissue) Please go to the Store to buy this item.

Here we have another disc taken from the Contemporary Works box set. 'Ballett' as a concept was spread over a total of four discs from the set, all of which we are now promised will follow as part of this reissue series, (Ballett 2 will be with us shortly in the next batch of re-releases by the way). 'Ballett 1' is not the most jovial of recordings given the thought behind the music presented here, it does however contain three tracks of some variety that on this occasion were recorded with the assistance of long time happy helper Wolfgang Tiepold at the Cello. In all honesty l think it would be fair to say that 'Ballett 1' is best described as a joint musical venture for both Schulze and Tiepold, the overall performance appearing to be very much a 50/50 split between the two of them. For those of you that have enjoyed Tiepold's inventive playing in the past on the Schulze recordings of yesteryear, this is definitely the disc for you!!!

The music of 'Ballett 1' is all very restrained and carefully regimented in it's development; nothing untoward happens here, which also means that there's a certain lack of any great variety and mood change within the pieces leaving the players with their improvisational work cut out. That said, it is those same protracted improvisations that lead the way through much of the album adding a decorative musical veneer to the unending chord progressions strung out by Schulze.

'Ballett 1' is presented in the standard reissue gatefolded card clip case with quality transfers of the front cover artwork. Included in the package is a 16 page booklet with a write up from Schulze explaining some of his thoughts about the making of the album where on this occasion he has a few digs at his contemporaries for being alittle over pretentious! Justifiable comments maybe, but as we all know when you live in a house of glass, stone throwing is not a recommended pastime.

'Getting Near',(10.43) springs to it's feet providing with the only real bit of high drama that you're likely to experience on this particular disc. The garbled half spoken shrieks and shouts of some classically trained verbal dyslexic's open the ball. A piano key strikes the time signature and within the opening minute staccato strings strike out erratically like a burst from a machine gun with an odd rhythmic pattern. All brilliant stuff, but if you know Schulze's work you'll know by now how he builds his tracks up on top of these tight sequences - so nothing that unusual there then. In the booklet notation Klaus has a pop at Paul McCartney for his post pop/rock efforts,( ie:- his classical opus and paintings of dubious merit) unyet it is with the opening refrains of 'Getting Near' that l'm sure l can hear one or two phrases of the string section from 'Eleanor Rigby'!!! Most off putting for me. To pigeon hole the track l guess you'd call it minimalism as the repetitive strings sidle around going nowhere in a hurry. Attentive listening is required here to spot Klaus' handiwork at the synths as it's largely masked out here by the string riffs. A dissonant Japanese flute signals the end as the piece gently crossfades into the more regular Schulze mould of 'Slightly Touched'(29.32). This half hour outing demonstrates perfectly how Schulze builds a piece, adding strings, another sequence or two, then drums without ever overdoing it and sustaining the mood. Tiepold is there at the Cello throughout playing along harmoniously for about 99% of the track's duration, but this is still very much a Schulze piece which makes itself known to us in a 'Dune' kind of way until at the four minute mark the first of the sequences arrives. As for the sum of the rest of the track it's textbook stuff from Schulze. Klaus himself opting not to partake in any elaborate soloing, that onerous task is the job of our resident Cellist.

As the track comes to its end another gentle crossfade brings in the final track 'Agony'(36.30). With Wolfgang at the helm the music is steered in such a way that it's almost as if the Cello were improvising a state of mind rather than any kind of melody. Tiepold digs deep for this piece producing what could well be the worlds longest ever Cello solo!!! The minutes drift by and the strings of Schulze's synths undiscernibly glide into play. Unphased by this the Cello continues its own musical voyage. The unfathomable chord sequence of Schulze roles on slowly and steadily creating a certain tension as this progression is overlaid by another set of shifting chords. At the ten minute mark the uneasy tremolo of massed strings making for a sustained and sombre variation. The key is held and Tiepold's improvisations become ever more disjointed. The interweaving strings are left a window to breathe only to remain as a droning backdrop for the Cello, the whole piece now sounding very impressionistic like some doomed aircraft flying out over the sea just waiting for the inevitable moment that the fuel runs out and a ditch into the water becomes a reality,(hearing is believing folks!!). All very magical, mysterious and meditational.

By the twenty five minute mark l'm thinking that this piece begs some mild percussion of sorts, but none is forthcoming (which also has me thinking that maybe this piece is alittle over extended?). Then again, as Klaus quite rightly points out, if it where edited down you may miss some of the best bits of Wolfgang's playing. A slight change of key brings to a pinnacle the dulcet tones of a weeping Cello conveying something more akin to pure emotion once more as the strings pan out in the background and l'm thinking, here would have been the perfect place to close the piece, but the tremolo strings return giving us that darker edge again, Tiepold play's accordingly through to the gradual fade out and an end to proceedings some six minutes later.