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6 - Kraftwerk

from Part II - Music

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 October 2022

Uwe Schütte
Affiliation:
Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany
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Summary

The chapter approaches Kraftwerk‘s oeuvre from a conceptual perspective and treats the band as performance artists. After discussing the artistic major influences, the first three albums from 1970 to 1973, later disowned by the core team of Ralf Hütter and Florin Schneider, are considered aginst the conceptual notion of ‘industrielle Volksmusik‘ (i.e. electronic pop music). Next, Kraftwerk‘s concept albums from 1974 to 1981 are analysed using key themes and lead aesthetics such as retro-futurism, man-machine, and post-humanism. The chapter then examines the impact of digitilisation on the artistic production of the band and discusses the reversal of the primary mode of operaton from the recording of new studio albums towards the curation of the core work in the period between 1983 and 2003. To conclude, the chapter looks at the evolution of their stage craft up to the current fully immersive and ritualistic audio-visual performances. I evaluate to which extent Kraftwerk can be seen as a paradigmatic example of a pop-cultural Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art) in the modernist Gesamtkunstwerk tradition, fulfilling Richard Wagner‘s promise of a true Zukunftsmusik (future music).

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Kraftwerk
  • Edited by Uwe Schütte, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Krautrock
  • Online publication: 20 October 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009036535.007
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  • Kraftwerk
  • Edited by Uwe Schütte, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Krautrock
  • Online publication: 20 October 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009036535.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Kraftwerk
  • Edited by Uwe Schütte, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Krautrock
  • Online publication: 20 October 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009036535.007
Available formats
×