12 Facts About Florian Fricke

Florian Fricke was a German musician who started his professional career with electronic music, using the Moog synthesizer, and was a founding member of the Krautrock band Popol Vuh.

Florian Fricke studied piano, composition, and conducting at Conservatories in Freiburg and Munich.

Florian Fricke appeared in the small part of an unnamed pianist in the 1968 movie Signs of Life, Herzog's first, which was shot in Greece.

Florian Fricke subsequently edited the soundtracks of several Herzog's movies, among which were Nosferatu: Phantom of the Night, starring Klaus Kinski and Bruno Ganz; Aguirre, the Wrath of God; and, Heart of Glass.

In 1969, Florian Fricke co-founded the eponymous band along with sound designer Frank Fiedler and percussionist Holger Trulzsch.

Florian Fricke was one of the first musicians to own and use a Moog III synthesizer, with which he recorded Popol Vuh's first two albums Affenstunde and In den Garten Pharaos.

Florian Fricke declared that the "beautiful and honest way" for composers would be to free their minds without the use of technology.

In 1970, Florian Fricke worked as a film critic for Suddeutsche Zeitung and Spiegel.

Together with former Popol Vuh member Frank Fiedler, a competent cameraman, Florian Fricke shot a series of films of "spiritual inspiration" in the Sinai desert, and in Israel, Lebanon, Mesopotamia, Morocco, Afghanistan, Tibet, and Nepal.

Florian Fricke died of a stroke in Munich on 29 December 2001, at the age of 57.

Florian Fricke was and remains an important forerunner of contemporary ethnic and religious music.

Florian Fricke chose electronic music and his big Moog to free himself from the restraints of traditional music, but soon discovered that he didn't get a lot out of it and opted for the acoustic path instead.