Irmin Schmidt

SpouseHildegard SchmidtWebsiteirminschmidt.com

Irmin Schmidt (born 29 May 1937)^[1] is a German keyboardist and composer, best known as a founding member of the band Can.

Biography

Schmidt was born in Berlin, Germany, began his studies in music at the conservatorium in Dortmund, at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and he studied composition in Karlheinz Stockhausen's Cologne Courses for New Music at the Rheinische Musikschule [de], Cologne.^[2]

He started work mainly as a conductor and performed in concerts with the Bochum Symphony; the Vienna Symphony; and the Dortmund Ensemble for New Music, which he founded in 1962. During this time, he received several conducting awards. Schmidt also worked as Kapellmeister at the Theater Aachen, as docent for musical theatre and chanson at the Schauspielschule Bochum (drama school), and as concert pianist.

In 1968, Schmidt founded the experimental krautrock band Can with Holger Czukay, Michael Karoli, and Jaki Liebezeit. Schmidt served as Can's keyboardist until the group's disbandment in 1979. He participated in both reunions of Can, in 1986 and 1991.

Schmidt has scored more than 40 films and television programs, including Knife in the Head (1978) and Palermo Shooting (2008). He has recorded a few solo albums and written an opera, Gormenghast, based on Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy. Gormenghast premiered at the Opernhaus Wuppertal in 1998. Excerpts from the work were released on Spoon Records in 1999.^[3] His wife Hildegard Schmidt has been responsible for Can's management and record label, Spoon Records, since the 1970s.

As of 2008, Schmidt lives in Southern France. His interests outside music include cooking.^[4] In 2015, he received the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Chevalier).^[5]

In 2018, Schmidt and British writer and editor Rob Young published a book on Can entitled All Gates Open: The Story of Can.^[6]

Following the death of Can's second lead vocalist Damo Suzuki in February 2024, Schmidt is one of the last surviving members of the band's classic lineups, alongside original vocalist Malcolm Mooney.

Discography

Solo

• Filmmusik (1980)
• Filmmusik, Vol. 2 (1981)
• Toy Planet (1981) with Bruno Spoerri
• Filmmusik, Vols. 3 & 4 (1983)
• Rote Erde (1983) soundtrack
• Musk at Dusk (1987)
• Filmmusik Vol. 5 (1989)
• Impossible Holidays (1991)
• Soundtracks 1978–1993 (1994)
• Gormenghast (2000)
• Masters of Confusion (2001) with Kumo
• Flies, Guys and Choirs (2008) DVD with Kumo
• Axolotl Eyes (2008) with Kumo
• Palermo Shooting (2008) soundtrack
• Filmmusik Anthology, Volume 4 & 5 (2009)
• Villa Wunderbar (2013), 2-CD compilation, sleeve notes by Wim Wenders^[7]
• Filmmusik Anthology Volume 6 (2015)
• 5 Klavierstücke (2018)
• Nocturne (Live at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival) (2020)

With Can

Bibliography

• Young, Rob; Schmidt, Irmin (2018). All Gates Open: The Story of Can. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0571311491.

Videography

• Romantic Warriors IV: Krautrock (2019)

References

External links

• Official website
• The Official CAN / Spoon Records Website
• Irmin Schmidt at IMDb
• Irmin Schmidt at AllMusic
• Irmin Schmidt discography at Discogs