In den Gärten Pharaos

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In den Gärten Pharaos is the second album by Popol Vuh. It was originally released in 1971 on the label Pilz. On this second album, Florian Fricke made more extensive use of the Moog synthesizer and experimental electronic sounds.

On side one is the title track "In den Gärten Pharaos". The song is a precursor of ambient, with the sound of rippling water, Moog synthesizer, Fender piano, and African percussion. The Moog synthesizer creates an exotic and alien sound while the African percussion and the water effects are interwoven throughout bringing the listener back to earth.

The second song "Vuh" is, perhaps, the deepest and most spiritual example of kosmische musik, dominated by one massive organ chord creating an epic wall of sound. "Vuh" uses the wide range of the organ, both the low drones and the high crescendos. Turkish percussion and layers of cymbals increase the intensity of the music. The song was played and recorded on a medieval cathedral organ in the Stiftskirche Baumberg (Altenmarkt) in southern Germany.

The album was ranked the 5th greatest of the 1970s by FACT magazine.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Popol Vuh.

1. "In den Gärten Pharaos" – 17:38
2. "Vuh" – 19:51

Personnel

• Florian Fricke – Moog synthesizer, Fender piano, medieval cathedral organ
• Holger Trülzsch – African and Turkish percussion
• Frank Fiedler – Moog-Synthesizer-mixdown

Credits

"In den Garten Pharaos" recorded at Trixi Studio, Munich.

"Vuh" recorded at Stiftskirche Baumberg (Altenmarkt) in southern Germany.

Cover by Helmut Fritz
Photography by Steffen Metzner

External links

• http://www.furious.com/perfect/populvuh.html (Comprehensive article & review of every album, in English)
• http://www.enricobassi.it/popvuhdiscografia70.htm (featuring the original credits)
• http://www.venco.com.pl/~acrux/pharaos.htm
• In den Gärten Pharaos at Discogs (list of releases)