October 21st: Klaus Johns
Dear Tango friends!
Klaus Johns passed away.
If an elder person dies or someone has to die because of illness, we know
that before and can try to sort of getting "prepared". But it is a greater
shock, if you were just sitting or talking together with a vital and healthy person
and this person is dead the next moment or next day. I was completeley shocked
yesterday morning when I have received the news and I know most of
you are shocked, too.
Even though Klaus Johns has never been in the limelight, he was one of the
most important and most creative persons in the tango gengre during the
last 20 years.He has built one of the biggest tango archieves of the world
and the more he was searching, the more creative he became. He did not
stay in the past - his archieve gave him and his archieve new power and
a future. There's a power in his created arrangements that very seldom can
be found. His roots have always been the classic tango, even though in some
arrangements it took a few minutes until the tact of the orignial became
reconizable. His created work was surrounded by an undiscribalble
brightness.
Klaus Johns was one of the most important colleagues of Danza y Movimiento.
He believed in us and our work and vice versa. Almost all of our classic
tango label cds has been arranged resp. compiled by him. He's also written
the booklet very often. His very personal style was like art. For example:
“Morán in topform is able to let this Vals shine just with his voice and puts
a reddish-smelting strand to the orchestra sound just like a marble grain.”
This mail is not an obituary that's supposed to pay tribute to Klaus Johns'
work. I would need more time for this. I just wanted to express my awkward
silence and share it with you.
Klaus Johns was a key figure for the Danza y Movimiento work. We
had plans together - they died with him. And: he has always been a
friend to me.
Klaus Johns died unexpected caused by a cerebral haemorrhage.
His furneral is tomorrow Friday, October 22, 2004 in Graz.
Matthias Möbius
