CONRAD SCHNITZLER

 “...on the way to the complete Schnitzler.” This optimistic goal was recently formulated by an employee of Bureau-B. But just as it was Schnitzler's life's work to create a sonic universe of his own, it is practically impossible to document that sonic universe in its entirety. I have previously expressed this assumption elsewhere. The sheer volume of official releases (LPs, CDs, cassettes) is almost unfathomable. Added to this are the small editions released by Schnitzler himself, which are not included in the discographies. And then there are the holdings of various archives, which have only been partially evaluated so far. In other words: Schnitzler and still no end in sight. But the journey is its own reward, and this journey will be a delightfully long one. Onward!

“Control” was created during a phase of Schnitzler's work in which his friendship with Peter Baumann (formerly of Tangerine Dream) allowed him to try out and use new electronic sound generators and peripheral technologies. He never used these innovations merely for their own sake, but always put them at the service of his artistic flair for experimentation. His signature style is clearly recognizable on “Control”. The album seems to be a kind of compilation of different musical approaches. Tracks 5 and 9, for example, are classic Schnitzler: sparkling cascades of electronic sound particles, interspersed with longer and shorter glissandi, constant movement in all directions. But then there are tracks 1, 8, 11, and 12 – and here I can only speculate – where it seems as if Schnitzler wanted to combine a few elements of traditional harmony with his own sound aesthetic in these pieces. And why not? He was completely undaunted by new things. Most important was that the music remained within the framework of his strict overall concept. There is no spacing between the tracks on the original LP, released in 1981 by the DYS label in the US. The A and B sides are originally titled simply ‘Control A’ and ‘Control B’, and the thirteen pieces are strung together without interruption. Strange.

About half of the tracks on “Control” are apparently faded in and/or out. This could indicate that Schnitzler either drew on “overlong” archive material to extract passages suitable for the album, or that he shortened the newly recorded music. Speculation is pointless – we can no longer ask Schnitzler. In any case, he opted for relatively short pieces averaging three minutes in length, some even shorter, others a little longer. All in all, this creates the impression of sketches. Sketches with sharply defined contours, however: as with almost all his albums, Schnitzler gives us listeners clear information about where he currently resides in his musical universe. For Schnitzler, too, the journey was its own reward, and there were many stops “on the way to the complete Schnitzler”; he never lingered at any of them for long. His artistic restlessness and curiosity were his lifeblood. And to stay with the metaphor, “Control” is a strong dose of that elixir.

Asmus Tietchens, 2025

“Convex” is one of a series of LPs that Schnitzler released himself in the 1980s. Some of the covers of these LPs contain useful information such as track titles, instruments, date of origin, et cetera. Sometimes the LPs also come with DIN A4 or other format sheets printed with text and artwork. “Convex,” however, is one of Schnitzler's LPs that convey virtually no visible information. Only the title is printed in large letters on the cover of “Convex,” and in tiny letters that are easy to overlook, it says: “Cover Conrad und Richard.” The labels on the original LP indicate that one side is called ‘Convex’ and the other “Concav.” That's all the information there is.

On “Convex,” as on many of his other albums, Schnitzler definitely used a sample-and-hold generator (S/H generator), a device that converts sounds stored as desired into random sequences of tones. This is important to know because this album is also non-keyboard music, i.e., it was not played ‘by hand’; instead, the experimental setup is: synthesizer – sequencer – S/H generator. Whether Schnitzler could foresee the respective results for each piece or whether he let himself be surprised is uncertain. But I believe he let himself be surprised and decided in each case whether to accept the result or not. Because one of the cornerstones of his artistic concept is controlled chance. However, it is not this method that makes “Convex” so special, but the slow tempo of the music. With one exception, the other pieces are almost sluggishly slow. Schnitzler certainly never had ambient music in mind, as his music is defined throughout by transparency and dynamic movement. However, “Convex” does meet some of the criteria defined by Eric Satie for “musique d'ameublement” and also the concept of “ambient” further developed by Brian Eno: its calmness and apparent uniformity – both of which require no attention and yet are a pleasant addition to the atmosphere of a room. A prerequisite for this, however, is a discreet volume level. Schnitzler would probably turn in his grave if he knew that I was placing his music in the vicinity of ambient. And of course it's not ambient. With “Convex,” Schnitzler remains consistently true to himself. The only unusual thing is that he experiments with “slowness” here. Schnitzler has carefully faded out some pieces, even though they are suitable for filling an entire LP side. If I were to stick with my thought experiment, this would be another characteristic of ambient music.

“Convex” raises questions that cannot be answered with certainty. But that is precisely why Schnitzler's music remains so interesting. No one has the authority to interpret it; every listener can and should let their imagination run wild, because Schnitzler never gave any listening instructions. And it's impossible to misunderstand Schnitzler: either you understand him or you don't. There is no in-between.
 
Asmus Tietchens, 2025
 

Schnitzler's collaborations with Wolf Sequenza aka Wolfgang Seidel occupy a special place in his vast musical output. They brought him closer to pop music than ever before or since, with the possible exception of “Berlin Express” and “Auf dem schwarzen Kanal”. Following “Consequenz” (BB 121) and “Con 3” (BB 122), “Consequenz III” is now the third album to be released from this phase of his work.

Peter Baumann (formerly of Tangerine Dream) also played an important role in “Consequenz III”. As so often before, Baumann generously provided Schnitzler and Seidel with studio space at his Paragon Studio. The recordings for this album were the immediate continuation of “Con 3”. Seidel's additional drums and percussion were still being set up, Schnitzler's Korg MS 10 and the obligatory sequencer were still warm – and another recording session began straight away. There seemed to be enough time to finish an album. Baumann's Paragon Studio was a veritable El Dorado. Although Schnitzler and Seidel used their own comparatively modest setups, here they had access to highly professional recording equipment and an acoustically ideal recording space. And then there was British sound engineer Will Roper, a studio nerd in a class of his own, who had already provided extremely constructive and sensitive advice and, above all, practical support to the two musicians on “Con 3” and now also on “Consequenz III”. This was no longer home recording with one or two tape machines; this was top-notch recording technology.

“Consequenz III” follows on directly from the two previous albums. Once again, the pieces sound almost like pop music, once again they are rhythmically and harmoniously structured, once again they are between three and four minutes long. And once again, they are not 100% pop music, but rather a balancing act between strict, abstract seriality and contemporary electronics: no melodies, no vocals, and it's up to each listener to decide whether the pieces are danceable. Rather, the eleven pieces are rhythmic études or finger exercises, especially for Seidel, who once again plays with incredible precision, as if he were a sequencer himself. It is not for nothing that Schnitzler gave him the pseudonym Wolf Sequenza for their joint productions. Musicians such as Wolfgang Seidel continue to lend Schnitzler's sonic universe additional radiance.

The fact that the pieces on “Consequenz III” have already been released in 2006 by the Japanese label Captain Trip under the title “Consequenz 2 +” was probably only noticed by very few Schnitzler fans outside Japan. Only a small number of the limited edition ever reached Europe, and sold out in no time. “Consequenz III” therefore reissues material that was previously known only to a few. And there's no end to it: Schnitzler left behind music that was either only released in very small editions (e.g. on cassettes or CDRs) or has never been released at all. There is still plenty to discover in the various archives. Will we ever get to know the “whole Schnitzler”? I don't think so.

Asmus Tietchens, 2025