Tangerine Dream are considered a pioneering act in electronica. Their work with the electronic music Ohr label produced albums that had a pivotal role in the development of the German musical scene known as kosmische ("cosmic"). Their "Virgin Years", so called because of their association with Virgin Records, produced albums that further explored synthesizers and sequencers, including the UK top 20 albums Phaedra (1974) and Rubycon (1975). The group also had a successful career composing film soundtracks, creating over 60 scores, which include those for the films Sorcerer, Thief, The Soldier, Risky Business, Flashpoint, The Keep, Firestarter, Legend, Three O'Clock High, Near Dark, Shy People, and Miracle Mile.
From the late 1990s into the 2000s, Tangerine Dream continued to explore other styles of instrumental music as well as electronica. Their recorded output has been prolific, including over one hundred albums. Among other scoring projects, they helped create the soundtrack for the video game Grand Theft Auto V. Their mid-1970s work has been profoundly influential in the development of electronic music styles such as new age (although the band themselves disliked the term) and electronic dance music.
Their most recent album of all-new music, Quantum Gate, was released on 29 September 2017. In December 2019, the band released Recurring Dreams, a compilation of new recordings of some of the band's classic compositions.
The group is currently working on a new album as a four-piece to be released in 2021 via Kscope.
Tangerine Dream began as a surreal rock band, with each of the members contributing different musical influences and styles. Edgar Froese's guitar style was inspired by Jimi Hendrix, while Christopher Franke contributed the more avant garde elements of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Terry Riley. Yes-like progressive rock influence was brought in by Steve Jolliffe on Cyclone. The sample-based sound collages of Johannes Schmoelling drew their inspiration from a number of sources; one instance is Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians on parts of Logos Live, and the track "Love on a Real Train" from the Risky Business soundtrack.
Classical music has had an influence on the sound of Tangerine Dream over the years. György Ligeti, Johann Sebastian Bach, Pierre Boulez, Iannis Xenakis, Maurice Ravel, and Arcangelo Corelli are clearly visible as dominant influences in the early albums. A Baroque sensibility sometimes informs the more coordinated sequencer patterns, which has its most direct expression in the La Folia section that comes at the very end of the title track of Force Majeure. In live performances, the piano solos often directly quoted from Romantic classical works for piano, such as the Beethoven and Mozart snippets in much of the late 1970s – early 1980s stage shows. In the bootleg recording of the Mannheim Mozartsaal concert of 1976 (Tangerine Tree volume 13), the first part of the first piece also clearly quotes from Franz Liszt's Totentanz. The first phrase is played on a harpsichord synthesizer patch and is answered by the second half of the phrase in a flute voicing on a Mellotron. During the 1990s, many releases included recordings of classical compositions: Pictures at an Exhibition (on Turn of the Tides), Largo (from Xerxes) (on Tyranny of Beauty), Symphony in A Minor (by J. S. Bach), and Concerto in A Major / Adagio (by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) (both on Ambient Monkeys).
Since the 1990s, Tangerine Dream have also recorded cover versions of Jimi Hendrix' "Purple Haze" (first on 220 Volt Live) and The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby", "Back in the U.S.S.R.", "Tomorrow Never Knows", and "Norwegian Wood".
An infrequently recurring non-musical influence on Tangerine Dream, and Edgar Froese in particular, have been 12th–19th-century poets. This was first evident on the 1981 album Exit, the track title "Pilots of the Purple Twilight" being a quote from Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem Locksley Hall. Six years later, the album Tyger featured poems from William Blake set to music; and around the turn of the millennium, Edgar Froese started working on a musical trilogy based on Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, completed in 2006. Most recently, the 2007 album Madcap's Flaming Duty features more poems set to music, some again from Blake but also e.g. Walt Whitman.
Pink Floyd were also an influence on Edgar Froese and Tangerine Dream, the band in its very early psychedelic rock band phase playing improvisations based on Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive". Madcap's Flaming Duty is dedicated to the memory of the late Syd Barrett. The title refers to Barrett's solo release "The Madcap Laughs".
The band's influence can be felt in ambient artists such as Deepspace, The Future Sound of London, David Kristian, and Global Communication, as well as rock, pop, and dance artists such as Porcupine Tree, M83, DJ Shadow, Ulrich Schnauss, Cut Copy, and Kasabian. The band also clearly influenced 1990s and 2000s trance music, where lush soundscapes and synth pads are used along with repetitive synth sequences, much like in their 1975 releases Rubycon and Ricochet, as well as some of their music from the early 1980s. The group have also been sampled countless times, more recently by Recoil on the album SubHuman, by Sasha on Involver, and on several Houzan Suzuki albums. Michael Jackson also cited Tangerine Dream as one of his favourite bands, especially their 1977 soundtrack for Sorcerer.
Hymn To Intellectual Beauty
Tangerine Dream Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Floats though unseen among us; visiting
This various world with as inconstant wing
As summer winds that creep from flower to flower;
Like moonbeams that behind some piny mountain shower,
It visits with inconstant glance
Each human heart and countenance;
Like hues and harmonies of evening,
Like memory of music fled,
Like aught that for its grace may be
Dear, and yet dearer for its mystery.
Spirit of BEAUTY, that dost consecrate
With thine own hues all thou dost shine upon
Of human thought or form, where art thou gone?
Why dost thou pass away and leave our state,
This dim vast vale of tears, vacant and desolate?
Ask why the sunlight not for ever
Weaves rainbows o'er yon mountain-river,
Why aught should fail and fade that once is shown,
Why fear and dream and death and birth
Cast on the daylight of this earth
Such gloom, why man has such a scope
For love and hate, despondency and hope?
No voice from some sublimer world hath ever
To sage or poet these responses given:
Therefore the names of God and ghosts and Heaven,
Remain the records of their vain endeavour:
Frail spells whose uttered charm might not avail to sever,
From all we hear and all we see,
Doubt, chance and mutability.
Thy light alone like mist o'er mountains driven,
Or music by the night-wind sent
Through strings of some still instrument,
Or moonlight on a midnight stream,
Gives grace and truth to life's unquiet dream.
Love, Hope, and Self-esteem, like clouds depart
And come, for some uncertain moments lent.
Man were immortal and omnipotent,
Didst thou, unknown and awful as thou art,
Keep with thy glorious train firm state within his heart.
Thou messenger of sympathies,
That wax and wane in lovers' eyes;
Thou, that to human thought art nourishment,
Like darkness to a dying flame!
Depart not as thy shadow came,
Depart not--lest the grave should be,
Like life and fear, a dark reality.
While yet a boy I sought for ghosts, and sped
Through many a listening chamber, cave and ruin,
And starlight wood, with fearful steps pursuing
Hopes of high talk with the departed dead.
I called on poisonous names with which our youth is fed;
I was not heard; I saw them not;
When musing deeply on the lot
Of life, at that sweet time when winds are wooing
All vital things that wake to bring
News of buds and blossoming,
Sudden, thy shadow fell on me;
I shrieked, and clasped my hands in ecstasy!
I vowed that I would dedicate my powers
To thee and thine: have I not kept the vow?
With beating heart and streaming eyes, even now
I call the phantoms of a thousand hours
Each from his voiceless grave: they have in visioned bowers
Of studious zeal or love's delight
Outwatched with me the envious night:
They know that never joy illumed my brow
Unlinked with hope that thou wouldst free
This world from its dark slavery,
That thou, O awful LOVELINESS,
Wouldst give whate'er these words cannot express.
The day becomes more solemn and serene
When noon is past; there is a harmony
In autumn, and a lustre in its sky,
Which through the summer is not heard or seen,
As if it could not be, as if it had not been!
Thus let thy power, which like the truth
Of nature on my passive youth
Descended, to my onward life supply
Its calm, to one who worships thee,
And every form containing thee,
Whom, SPIRIT fair, thy spells did bind
To fear himself, and love all human kind.
In Tangerine Dream's Hymn to Intellectual Beauty, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley contemplates the fleeting and elusive nature of beauty, personified as a spirit that visits human hearts and countenances incompletely and inconstantly, making everything it touches dearer for its mystery. The singer acknowledges that life is plagued by doubt, chance, and mutability, and that the names of God, ghosts, and heaven are ultimately inadequate to explain the nature of existence. However, he finds solace in the presence of the spirit of beauty and vows to dedicate himself to its pursuit by invoking the phantoms of a thousand hours past. He hopes that this dedication will provide him with the calm he needs to continue worshipping the spirit of beauty and loving all of humankind.
Overall, the poem seems to be a meditation on the importance of beauty and how it can provide meaning and consolation in a world that is often uncertain and unsettling. The singer recognizes that beauty is something that can never be fully understood or possessed, but nevertheless chooses to devote himself to it and to use it as a source of inspiration and guidance in his life.
Line by Line Meaning
The awful shadow of some unseen Power
A mysterious force looms over us, but we cannot see nor identify it
Floats though unseen among us; visiting
This unknown power moves around us, making its presence felt
This various world with as inconstant wing
It moves about the world, but in a seemingly erratic manner
As summer winds that creep from flower to flower;
Like gentle breezes that move around flowers in a garden
Like moonbeams that behind some piny mountain shower,
Like rays of the moon that shine on a pine-covered mountain
It visits with inconstant glance
It appears and disappears unpredictably
Each human heart and countenance;
Touching every person's heart and face
Like hues and harmonies of evening,
Similar to colors and sounds of a peaceful evening
Like clouds in starlight widely spread,
Like clouds illuminated by the stars that spread in the sky
Like memory of music fled,
Like the memory of music that's just gone past
Like aught that for its grace may be
Like anything that's charming and captivating
Dear, and yet dearer for its mystery.
Something that's precious, yet even more valuable for its enigmatic nature
Spirit of BEAUTY, that dost consecrate
An embodiment of beauty that blesses
With thine own hues all thou dost shine upon
It adorns everything it touches with its colors
Of human thought or form, where art thou gone?
Where has this spirit of beauty disappeared to?
Why dost thou pass away and leave our state,
Why does this beauty leave us behind?
This dim vast vale of tears, vacant and desolate?
Referring to the world as a gloomy, sorrowful place lacking this beauty
Ask why the sunlight not for ever
Questioning why positive things, like sunlight, isn't eternal
Weaves rainbows o'er yon mountain-river,
Why doesn't the phenomenon of rainbow last forever
Why aught should fail and fade that once is shown,
Why everything that was once visible disappears and falls apart
Why fear and dream and death and birth
Wonders why there are so many conflicting emotions and experiences in life
Cast on the daylight of this earth
That which envelops and overshadows everything else in existence
Such gloom, why man has such a scope
Why humans are capable of feeling such profound sorrow
For love and hate, despondency and hope?
Why humans are capable of such intense feelings of love, hate, sadness, and optimism?
No voice from some sublimer world hath ever
There has never been any answer from a higher world
To sage or poet these responses given:
No sage or poet has ever received answers to such questions
Therefore the names of God and ghosts and Heaven,
These names recorded exist as evidence of their vain attempts to reason
Remain the records of their vain endeavour:
These terms are memories of their futile effort to find answers
Frail spells whose uttered charm might not avail to sever,
The words themselves unable to provide an effective solution
From all we hear and all we see,
Of everything around and within us
Doubt, chance and mutability.
The source of the doubts we harbor and uncertainty that determines our destiny
Thy light alone like mist o'er mountains driven,
Only the light emanating from this spirit of beauty is akin to fog breezing through mountains
Or music by the night-wind sent
Also akin to music distributed by the night wind
Through strings of some still instrument,
Similar to how a music instrument plays, reaching a peaceful state
Or moonlight on a midnight stream,
Comparable to the moonlight's reflection on the flow of a sleeping river
Gives grace and truth to life's unquiet dream.
It imbues life's restless dream with peace and authenticity
Love, Hope, and Self-esteem, like clouds depart
Emotions like love, hope, and self-worth comes and goes, much like clouds
And come, for some uncertain moments lent.
And exist, albeit for a little while, lending beauty and color to our world
Man were immortal and omnipotent,
Humans had endless lives and boundless powers
Didst thou, unknown and awful as thou art,
If only this spirit of beauty, despite being formidable and enigmatic, if it were
Keep with thy glorious train firm state within his heart.
Then, humans would have held fast and cherished the beauty they perceive
Thou messenger of sympathies,
The facilitator and distributor of compassion amongst humans
That wax and wane in lovers' eyes;
Whose intensity ebbs and flows in the eyes of lovers
Thou, that to human thought art nourishment,
The source of nourishment for human minds
Like darkness to a dying flame!
Like how darkness extinguishes a flame, this spirit's beauty feeds the flame of thought in humans
Depart not as thy shadow came,
Don't disappear from lives just as you came, without notice
Depart not--lest the grave should be,
Don't depart, or else death would indeed be a miserable existence
Like life and fear, a dark reality.
If it does, death and fear would only mean a bleak, dreadful world
While yet a boy I sought for ghosts, and sped
I used to search for ghosts as a child, and wandered
Through many a listening chamber, cave and ruin,
Exploring many chambers, caves and ruins, listening for ghosts
And starlight wood, with fearful steps pursuing
And wood-laden with stars, moving forward in fear
Hopes of high talk with the departed dead.
Intending to initiate meaningful conversation with the departed souls
I called on poisonous names with which our youth is fed;
At times, I even called out to dangerous ghosts, names that we had only heard in stories
I was not heard; I saw them not;
No response or vision was granted to me, whatever I had seen was hallucinations
When musing deeply on the lot
During times when deeply contemplating
Of life, at that sweet time when winds are wooing
When considering life, in moments where the wind lulls
All vital things that wake to bring
All the living beings that rise to awaken the world
News of buds and blossoming,
To give us the news of sprouting
Sudden, thy shadow fell on me;
Just then, the shadow of this spirit of beauty had fallen on me
I shrieked, and clasped my hands in ecstasy!
Shocked and euphoric at the same time, I screamed and held my hands together
I vowed that I would dedicate my powers
I had sworn to devote my abilities
To thee and thine: have I not kept the vow?
To this unnamable force, and to its components - have I not fulfilled my promise?
With beating heart and streaming eyes, even now
And even until now, with a heart that beats wildly and misty eyes
I call the phantoms of a thousand hours
I still summon the spirits of the past
Each from his voiceless grave: they have in visioned bowers
Each from his silent burrow; they imagined they were in the heaven
Of studious zeal or love's delight
In happy moments of studying and striving, or in the delight of love
Outwatched with me the envious night:
Endured sleepless nights with me, waiting for the day to break
They know that never joy illumed my brow
They know that I had never been truly happy
Unlinked with hope that thou wouldst free This world from its dark slavery,
Devoid of the hope that this spirit can deliver the world from its enslavement in darkness
That thou, O awful LOVELINESS,
Oh, mystical entity of loveliness
Wouldst give whate'er these words cannot express.
It would give what words can't explain.
The day becomes more solemn and serene
The day seems more peaceful and serene
When noon is past; there is a harmony
After noon, there is a serenity and order
In autumn, and a lustre in its sky,
In autumn season, there is a shine that's created in the sky
Which through the summer is not heard or seen,
That is absent in summer months
As if it could not be, as if it had not been!
It seems impossible, and as if it was never there
Thus let thy power, which like the truth of nature
So let the power of this mystical spirit of beauty
On my passive youth descended
Descend upon me as a young, subservient individual
To my onward life supply
Supply me with the same grace and serenity in my future
Its calm, to one who worships thee,
To one who seeks and reveres this mystical entity, the tranquility to which it is entitled
And every form containing thee,
In every shape containing traces of its beauty
Whom, SPIRIT fair, thy spells did bind
Whom, beauty's enchantress, your enchantments have cast a spell on
To fear himself, and love all human kind.
To fear his mean self and to love human species as a whole.
Contributed by Addison S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.