In the Gardens of Pharao/Aguirre

Popol Vuh

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 23, 1992)
• Original Release Date: 1983
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Celestial Harmonies
• ASIN: B0000007VV
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #169,150 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist
Praised as one of Germany's premier progressive bands in the 70s and early 80s, Popol Vuh was founded in 1969 by keyboardist Florian Fricke. The band took its name from the title of the Quiche Mayan Indians' bible. Popol Vuh's first album, Affenstunde (The Time of the Monkey King) was a strong reflection of Fricke's interest in Mayan lore and his attraction to the devotional aspects of music. Popol Vuh successfully combined sacred musical traditions from around the world with classical, jazz and rock elements. Although the band employed acoustic instruments from a variety of Western and ethnic sources, it created quite a stir as one of the first ensembles to use the Moog synthesizer in the early 70s. As such, Popol Vuh influenced several generations of electronic and contemplative artists. Popol Vuh also gained considerable attention for its scores to films by the celebrated German director, Werner Herzog, including Nosferatu and Aguirre, The Wrath of God.

Product Description
Popol Vuh's classic recordings, In the Gardens of Pharao and Aguirre, are combined in this breathtakingly dramatic release. Recorded in Bavaria's Baumberg Cathedral, In the Gardens of Pharao is a remarkable illustration of the many moods that the synthesizer and piano are able to express. The soundtrack for the Werner Herzog film, Aguirre, is equally delightful with original compositions by Popol Vuh's leader, Florian Fricke. Also included is Spirit of Peace, a performance of solo piano music by Florian Fricke. Originally recorded in 1980, Fricke's performance is moving, and reveals the artistic direction this talented musician would be taking in subsequent releases.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Killer value for Popol Vuh fans, September 16, 1998

By	Susan R. Matthews (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This CD was one of the first Popol Vuh albums to be released from LP to CD, and as such it represents a real value for Popol Vuh fans. It contains the bulk of two releases: the soundtrack to Aguirre, Der Zorn Gottes; and the odd two-disk LP In den gartens Pharao.

You get 64:40 of killer Popol Vuh on this CD! The trade-off, on the other hand, is that it may duplicate material on other Popol Vuh CDs that you already have. This is a pretty consistent feature with Popol Vuh and may not be a real drawback for those of us who have to have everything, I mean everything, that Popol Vuh ever recorded.

Details: The first track is Aguirre, which reproduces the track Aguirre I on the soundtrack album. The second track, In the gardens of Pharao, is also on the CD release of Affenstunde. According to the (excellent) liner notes for Affenstunde, In den garten Pharaos was Popol Vuh's second album; the benefit that this CD has over Affenstunde is that it also contains -- track 3 -- the "B" side of the album originally released as In den garten Pharaos, a piece called Vuh.

Vuh is kind of an unusual piece for Popol Vuh: rather than focusing on electronic keyboards and synthesized or organic (!) vocals in the manner of many Popol Vuh pieces the feature instrument is an organ (and a beautifully voiced organ it is). This is a long (19:51) piece that, while the scoring is different, does what the best of Popol Vuh always does: opens the door through the wall of mortality into the pathway of the infinite. This is meditation music par excellence. It's always been a wonder to me that "new age" music hasn't made a bigger name out of Popol Vuh than it has: since Popol Vuh has been "out there" since the beginning.

The final tracks of the album are Spirit of Peace 1, 2, and three, familiar from the Aguirre soundtrack.

So: In this CD you get all of In den garten Pharaos and most of the Aguirre soundtrack. If you want more of the floating-down-the-river-going-insane music of Aguirre you can get it in the Aguirre soundtrack, which has in addition several pieces (Morgengruss II, Agnus Dei, and Vergegenwaertitung) which are not here; but you get a healthy chunk of the Aguirre soundtrack.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential electronic nirvana, December 8, 1998

By A Customer

This, the second album released by the Munich-based group was called "In the gardens of Pharao" and was released in 1972. Each side consists of only one track and both could not be more different from another. The title track: well,imagine yourself 5000 years ago,in a little wooden boat drifting along the ancient river Nile, seeing Pharaos and Pyramids passing by. 20 minutes of beautiful "kosmische" music. On side two is the track "Vuh". A roaring church organ (played in Naumburg in Southern Germany), accompanied by turkish chimes and sacral voices propells you into a dimension you never thought you could be in. This is one of most unbelievable tracks of music I've ever heard, the power and intensity is almost too much to listen to and after it is finished you won't be able to listen to another song. It's hard to describe the music of Popol Vuh, for this is music you feel with an intensity almost no band in the electronic scene has ever reached, not Tangerine Dream or countless others. And what makes this one even more special is that it was recorded such a long time ago. If you're into electronic music, this is the one you m-u-s-t own!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Popol Vuh at his very best., April 27, 2005

By	Boris Joselovich (NESHER Israel) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is simply a wonderful CD from the beginning till the end.It's just 65 minutes of deep meditation.All the four tracks are deeply spiritual,mystical musical soundscapes performed using only the minimum of instruments.After more than 30 years when it was first released it sounds awesome and will give you one of the deepest musical experiences.Together with Tangerine Dream,Klaus Schulze,Neu,Can,Cluster,Faust this is an essential Krautrock of early 70's.Highly recommended!