Biography
Yatha Sidhra originated in Freiberg, Germany, close to the borders shared with Switzerland and France, as a fleeting ensemble whose activity spanned just long enough to capture a single work. That composition, the 40-minute “A Meditation Mass,” filled both sides of the self-titled LP issued in 1973 on the storied Brain label and later regarded as a landmark example of cosmic Krautrock.
The group’s history traces to the mid-’60s, when multi-instrumentalist Rolf Fichter and his brother, drummer Klaus Fichter, began performing together in several ensembles, the first of which was the soul outfit Lea Gamble that also featured two American former servicemen. By the early 1970s the Fichter siblings had joined French bassist Jean-Michel Boivert and flautist Peter Elbracht in the hard-rock band Brontosaurus, whose sound, owing to the prominent flute, evoked Jethro Tull. In early 1973 Rolf Fichter began composing the extended piece “A Meditation Mass” and soon presented it in concert with Brontosaurus. During one such performance the pivotal German-rock figure Achim Reichel was sufficiently struck by the music that he formed a friendship with the musicians. Reichel secured them a Brain Records contract to document the composition, provided they adopt a new name better suited to material so markedly hypnotic and dreamy, unlike anything else Brontosaurus had played. The chosen moniker, Yatha Sidhra, conveyed the desired mystical resonance.
When the album was taped later that year, Matthias Nicolar had taken over guitar and bass duties from Boivert. Reichel served as producer while Rolf Fichter contributed Moog, flute, vibes, electric piano, guitar, and vocals. Brain issued the recording in 1974 inside a die-cut gatefold sleeve whose title appeared in stencil cut-outs. The band essentially ceased once the session concluded. Years afterward Rolf and Klaus Fichter resurfaced as the duo Dreamworld, issuing a pair of early-1980s albums of standard ELP-styled synth-prog that lacked any trace of “A Meditation Mass”’s singular magic and mystique.
The group’s history traces to the mid-’60s, when multi-instrumentalist Rolf Fichter and his brother, drummer Klaus Fichter, began performing together in several ensembles, the first of which was the soul outfit Lea Gamble that also featured two American former servicemen. By the early 1970s the Fichter siblings had joined French bassist Jean-Michel Boivert and flautist Peter Elbracht in the hard-rock band Brontosaurus, whose sound, owing to the prominent flute, evoked Jethro Tull. In early 1973 Rolf Fichter began composing the extended piece “A Meditation Mass” and soon presented it in concert with Brontosaurus. During one such performance the pivotal German-rock figure Achim Reichel was sufficiently struck by the music that he formed a friendship with the musicians. Reichel secured them a Brain Records contract to document the composition, provided they adopt a new name better suited to material so markedly hypnotic and dreamy, unlike anything else Brontosaurus had played. The chosen moniker, Yatha Sidhra, conveyed the desired mystical resonance.
When the album was taped later that year, Matthias Nicolar had taken over guitar and bass duties from Boivert. Reichel served as producer while Rolf Fichter contributed Moog, flute, vibes, electric piano, guitar, and vocals. Brain issued the recording in 1974 inside a die-cut gatefold sleeve whose title appeared in stencil cut-outs. The band essentially ceased once the session concluded. Years afterward Rolf and Klaus Fichter resurfaced as the duo Dreamworld, issuing a pair of early-1980s albums of standard ELP-styled synth-prog that lacked any trace of “A Meditation Mass”’s singular magic and mystique.
Albums
