The final chapter in
Klaus Schulze's four-disc, five-hour tribute to his dead mother (who used to be a ballet dancer before she married) is the set's best movement and a big leap forward from the rather stale Ballett 3. The personnel on Ballett 4 is as on Ballett 2:
Wolfgang Tiepold on cello,
Thomas Kagermann on flute, wordless singing, and soft-spoken narration, and
Tom Dams mixing the beat-driven part of the album. The continuous piece proceeds in three stages. The 14-minute introduction, "Mellowtrone," lacks character and spends too much time featuring
Schulze noodling around, as if uncertain about how to proceed. However, when "Soft 'n' Groovy" kicks in, the music takes a turn for the better -- 30 minutes of
Schulzian bliss, in fact. The slow buildup is delicate and thoughtful; the beat-driven part is delightfully ambient. This is also where the three guests contribute the most. The third part, "To B Flat," carries on for a while with a similar programmed beat, before boiling down to an understated but befitting conclusion. The slightly Arabian feel heard on previous movements is still strong on Ballett 4, especially through
Kagermann's vocalizations. The autonomous reissue of Ballett 4 on Revisited (number 89 in that label's career-encompassing reissue program of
Schulze's discography) adds a ten-minute bonus track, "Eleven 2 Eleven," whose mood and beat-programming style are a match to the original music on the album (unlike the bonus track on Ballett 3). The whole Ballett project does not display much progression or change over its four-disc span, so casual listeners may be satisfied with only one volume from the series. ~ François Couture, All Music Guide
