©arte/3B-Produktion
Documentary | 2021 | arte, WDR [de] | Germany
Main data
| Director | Thomas von Steinaecker |
|---|---|
| Production | 3B-Produktion |
Brief synopsis
Whether techno or hip hop - electronic music is the driving force of pop culture today. It is almost forgotten that its origins lie in the electronic studio of the WDR, which made post-war Cologne one of the centres of the avant-garde. This is the story of how a room full of strange apparatus could become a chamber of wonders whose vibrations sent the whole world into ecstasy.
In Paris and Cologne, immediately after the Second World War, the foundations were laid for a musical revolution whose consequences are only now becoming apparent in their full dimension: Pierre Schaeffer's musique concrète in the Club d'essai and the electronic music in the studio of the WDR with its spiritus rector Karlheinz Stockhausen.
The next generation of musicians is taking notice: The heads of the group "Can", one of the most internationally influential German bands, take lessons from Stockhausen; the Beatles put him on the cover of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and experiment with tape collages themselves. The leap of electronics from classical to pop music is complete.
In the 1970s, the Düsseldorf group "Kraftwerk" and Berlin's "Tangerine Dream", the first two purely electronic bands, send impulses abroad. Artists of other genres dock on. The artistic amalgam of new music, pop and visual art is historically unique and has a worldwide impact.
Finally, the late 70s in Paris: Jean-Michel Jarre makes the "Kraftwerk" sound a million-seller and the completely digital Paris IRCAM studio, founded by Stockhausen's old rival Boulez, sets international accents, a prime example of how a musical competitive relationship between two countries mutually stimulates and inspires.
In Paris and Cologne, immediately after the Second World War, the foundations were laid for a musical revolution whose consequences are only now becoming apparent in their full dimension: Pierre Schaeffer's musique concrète in the Club d'essai and the electronic music in the studio of the WDR with its spiritus rector Karlheinz Stockhausen.
The next generation of musicians is taking notice: The heads of the group "Can", one of the most internationally influential German bands, take lessons from Stockhausen; the Beatles put him on the cover of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and experiment with tape collages themselves. The leap of electronics from classical to pop music is complete.
In the 1970s, the Düsseldorf group "Kraftwerk" and Berlin's "Tangerine Dream", the first two purely electronic bands, send impulses abroad. Artists of other genres dock on. The artistic amalgam of new music, pop and visual art is historically unique and has a worldwide impact.
Finally, the late 70s in Paris: Jean-Michel Jarre makes the "Kraftwerk" sound a million-seller and the completely digital Paris IRCAM studio, founded by Stockhausen's old rival Boulez, sets international accents, a prime example of how a musical competitive relationship between two countries mutually stimulates and inspires.