Werner Herzog is one of the most controversial and radical film directors of the last decades, so when his particular version of Murnau's classic,Nosferatu, was released, the audacity surely found more detractors than applause, although today it enjoys recognition as a cult film. I don't know if the film's soundtrack, by his regular musicians Popol Vuh, was a success or a failure in sales and reviews, but it is certainly his best known album.
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Nosferatu (1978) is, as in other Popol Vuh soundtracks, a mixture of specific themes from the film with other material of diverse origin, although here everything is of very high quality and maintains a complete coherence. The edition I have chosen for this review is the most recent of those released, containing on one CD both the album of a lifetime and the one released that same year '78, called Brüder Des Schattens, Söhne Des Lichts, which was also used in the vampire film. The conjunction of both works makes for a very powerful and stimulating experience, with a tremendous capacity to excite the imagination.
Despite what might be expected, not everything goes in a gothic and sinister line, but some tracks have that folk-medieval character typical of the group. Even more surprising is the abundant use of the citar in the album, an instrument inevitably linked to the Orient that, nevertheless, works perfectly when it comes to "rarefying" the moods of the film with mantras and ragas quite sui generis until transporting us to almost extraterrestrial environments. For example, I find indescribable the scene in which the protagonist of the first part of the film (played by Bruno Ganz) walks through beautiful forests and crosses streams in search of the castle where Dracula lives.
Brüder Des Schattens, the first track, does bring us fully into the terrifying fable that is the film, with a gloomy melody and abundant chorus. Höre, Der Du Wagst is a very minimal track, with a hesitant piano creating a melancholy passage. Das Schloss Des Irrtums is already getting a taste of the countryside, and Die Umkehr introduces the main theme of the album, which will reappear with different interpretations in the tracks Mantra 1 and Mantra 2. Morning Sun is the walk through the forest I talked about before, and Venus Principle is a full-fledged trip to India. Die Nacht Der Himmel uses the theremin, an instrument we'll talk about at length shortly, to create a ghostly B-movie atmosphere, and both Der Ruf Der Rohrflöte and To a Little Way are in a similar vein, even more minimalist. Through Pain to Heaven returns to the sitar with an enormous force, entering in its second section in a very interesting progressive rock-folk exercise. On the Way works as a terrifying theme based on choruses modified by coming from synthesizers. Finally, Zwiesprache Der Rohrflöte returns to progressive rock, including this time a drums without the slightest complex.
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Whichever way you look at it, Nosferatu is a rare and evocative gem that puts Popol Vuh in a musical dimension of its own that no Krautrock group has ever come close to. A must listen.
