Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2pzkn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-14T05:07:17.675Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

12 - Popol Vuh

from Part II - Music

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 October 2022

Uwe Schütte
Affiliation:
Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany
Get access

Summary

The chapter considers the musical project Popol Vuh in the context of its special relationship to spirituality. Although referred to as a band, Popol Vuh consisted of pianist/keyboardist Florian Fricke and various co-musicians with whom Fricke attempted to express his spirituality through music. The chapter begins with an overview of Fricke‘s early creative phase, beginning with his first album Affenstunde, which, like the first side of its successor In den Gärten Pharaos, was still dominated by the sound of the Moog. A special focus is placed on the process leading Fricke to turn away from electronic music; opting for a sound as natural as possible, he hoped to find spiritual fulfilment in organic sounds. As the chapter discusses, Fricke‘s spirituality originated in the study of Eastern religious texts, which he combined with his own interpretation of Catholicism, for example on Hosianna Mantra. Finally, the use of Popol Vuh‘s music in the films of German director Werner Herzog is explored to explain how the two artists were able to achieve a unique synergistic effect in these films.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Popol Vuh
  • Edited by Uwe Schütte, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Krautrock
  • Online publication: 20 October 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009036535.013
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Popol Vuh
  • Edited by Uwe Schütte, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Krautrock
  • Online publication: 20 October 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009036535.013
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Popol Vuh
  • Edited by Uwe Schütte, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Krautrock
  • Online publication: 20 October 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009036535.013
Available formats
×