Wiese, Klaus
Qumra I
Klaus Wiese (1942-2009) was a German musician and sound researcher. Wiese brought the teachings of Sufi Hazrat Inayat Khan to Germany from his travels in the East. His album 'El-Hadra, The Mystik Dance,' which he created with Mathias Grassow and Ted de Jong, made him famous in the genre. Under his own name, from 1981 until his unexpected death in 2009 he released upwards of 60 recordings, not including collaborations (with Oophoi, Mathias Grassow, Ted de Jong, Jim Cole, Al Gromer Khan... to name a few). Wiese's music exists at the nexus of several overlapping modes - ritual, dark ambient, environmental - yet new age exerted an influence as well, most audibly on these late 1980s outings. On his recordings, Wiese used Persian stringed instruments, Tibetan singing bowls, bells, voice, and other exotic instruments. The 'Qumra' duology was released in 1986 and 1987 on cassette by a German label called Aquamarin Verlag and reissued on small run CDr by Gianluigi Gasparetti (Oöphoi) on his own label Umbra. Since then both parts became extremely rare items and top-wanted albums for searchers of spiritual ambient music. 'Qumra II' was included in the 20 best new age albums ever recorded, by FACT magazine. "'Qumra' is one of the most beautiful ambient recordings I have ever heard. A sweet stream of otherworldly music dissolves time and space and brings you to a place of perfect and endless tranquility. This is a sound of a moment that is equal to eternity. Being in love with the albums for many years, the idea of reissue always bothers my mind, and finally, with the help of our friends Infinite Fog Productions, we're able to release it first time on a CD and hope these 2 small beautiful plastic circles, like a right puzzle, will take its place in your heart and collection." ~Fact Of Being. "'Qumra' sways like a censer in some ancient holy place, birdsong and pensive strings simmering across a smoke-streaked, slow-motion expanse, as if willing an extra-dimensional visitation to occur. The B-side ('The Hidden Treasure') is more literal in its mysticism but no less levitational, a swirling, endless Om braided with majestic, resonant tanpura, epitomizing Wiese's Sufi pursuit of "the fugitive moment of ecstatic sensation." ~FACT.