Popol Vuh
Aguirre

Werner Herzog's visionary cinema finds a powerful ally in the music of Popol Vuh, who provide half a dozen soundtracks for his films. "Aguirre" is the first collaboration between Florian Fricke's group and the German director, but this album is not a true soundtrack because only two tracks ("Aguirre I" and "Aguirre II") are used in the film, while the others come from various recording sessions carried out between 1972-1974. Herzog's film (Aguirre, the Wrath of God) was released in 1972, whereas this album is from 1975.

In the six minutes of the opening track, "Aguirre I", we are suddenly projected into a magical and mysterious atmosphere, filled with a sense of poignant anticipation, evoked by two pairs of notes repeated against a backdrop of chords: these latter are also present in the second half of the track, where Fricke's keyboards add a meditative solo. This piece perfectly encapsulates the contemplative attitude of the German group and remains as one of the purest and most significant episodes in their entire discography.

"Aguirre II" starts by echoing the mood of its predecessor, then gives way to Daniel Fichelscher's acoustic guitar in a rhythmic accompaniment role, followed by subsequent electric guitar solos. The A side of the vinyl included two tracks ("Morgengruss II" and "Agnus Dei") which are slightly different versions from those on "Einsjäger & Siebenjäger" of 1974.

But it is when listening to the closing track of the album, the long "Vergegenwärtigung", that we encounter a new surprise: nearly 17 minutes of music that seems to come from the group's early period, like works such as "Affenstunde" (especially) and "In Den Gärten Pharaos". In this case, the track sketches a dark sonic landscape created by Fricke with the most somber sounds he can extract from his Moog; a lunar piece, of glacial immobility, occasionally animated by silvery waves breaking on an unknown and invisible shore.

And it is precisely due to its distinct stylistic souls that "Aguirre" well represents the erratic and wandering nature and the eclectic and multifaceted inspiration of Popol Vuh.