''Selbstportrait'' is the third solo album by German keyboardist

Hans-Joachim Roedelius Hans-Joachim Roedelius (born 26 October 1934) is a German electronic music, electronic musician and composer, known as a co-founder of the influential 'kosmische musik, kosmische' groups Cluster (band), Cluster and Harmonia (band), Harmonia. He ...

, best known for his work with

Cluster may refer to: Science and technology Astronomy * Cluster (spacecraft), constellation of four European Space Agency spacecraft * Cluster II (spacecraft), a European Space Agency mission to study the magnetosphere * Asteroid cluster, a small ...

Harmonia In Greek mythology, Harmonia (; /Ancient Greek phonology, harmoˈnia/, "harmony", "agreement") is the goddess of harmony and concord. Her Greek opposite is Eris (mythology), Eris and her Roman mythology, Roman counterpart is Concordia (mythol ...

, and

Aquarello Aquarello was a musical group which blended ambient music and jazz. The trio included keyboardist Hans-Joachim Roedelius, based in Austria, and two Italian musicians, multi-instrumentalist Fabio Capanni, and saxophonist Nicola Alesini. They ...

. The title is German for "Self Portrait", a title meant to reflect the gentle, introspective nature of the ambient and

new-age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecstasy rather tha ...

of the album. The original

Sky Records Sky Records was an independent record label specializing in krautrock/Kosmische Musik and electronic music. They were based in Hamburg, Germany. Some of their releases could be classified as progressive rock or art rock, experimental music, indust ...

release was subtitled ''Teil 1 Sanfte Musik'', German for "Part 1, Soft Music." ''Selbstportrait'' was recorded by Roedelius at his home in Forst, in the

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

Uplands of

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

between various

sessions from 1973 until 1977 on his

ReVox ReVox (on-logo styling REVOX) is a brand name, registered by Studer on 27 March 1951 for Switzerland, Swiss audio equipment. History The first Studer-designed tape recorders were branded Dynavox. After the first production series of Dynavox rec ...

A77 reel to reel. The music actually predates the two previously released solo albums: ''

Durch Die Wüste The following is a glossary of terms used in card games. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon slang terms. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific (e.g. specific to bridge, hearts, poker or rummy), ...

'' and '' Jardin Au Fou''. The final mix was completed at Gorilla Studio in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

at the end of April, 1979, with the exception of "Prinzregent" which was edited in Conny's Studio (owned by

Conny Plank Konrad "Conny" Plank (3 May 1940 – 5 December 1987) was a German record producer and musician. He is known for his innovative work as a sound engineer and producer in Germany's krautrock and kosmische music scene in the 1970s. Plank was involv ...

) in 1976. ''Selbstportrait'' was originally released by Sky Records in 1979. Phillipe Blache, writing the review for Prog Archives, describes the album, in part: "The music in itself is another exploration in electronic, pre-ambient 'picture' music but really orientated to the most 'mainstream' side of it." ''Selbstportrait'' and seven of 11 tracks from the follow-up album '' Selbstportrait - Vol. II'' were reissued as a single CD by Sky Records in 1996 under the title ''Selbsportrait I & II''. It was reissued in its original form on both LP and CD by the Bureau-B label on December 3, 2010. In 2017, "Fabelwein" was featured in the film

War Machine War Machine (Col. James Rupert "Rhodey" Rhodes) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by David Michelinie, John Byrne, and Bob Layton as a supporting character for Iron Man, he first appeared i ...

Track listing

#"In Liebe Dein" - 3:43 #"Girlande" - 3:47 #"Inselmoos" - 5:40 #"Fabelwein" - 5:05 #"Prinzregent" - 5:53 #"Kamee" - 3:59 #"Herold" - 3:32 #"Halmharfe" - 3:24 #"Arcona" - 5:05 #"Staunen Im Fjord" - 3:33 #"Minne" - 2:09

Personnel

- Producer, composer, piano, keyboards * Ernst Josef Seibl - Mixing (final cut) * Jürgen Kraemer - Mixing on "Prinzregent" * Udo Klemt - Mixing on "Prinzregent" * Martha Roedelius that catg - Photography

Notes

References

* Album liner Notes {{Authority control 1979 albums Hans-Joachim Roedelius albums