Eberhard Schoener is a classical musician (first violin of the Bavarian State Opera House in 1960, supervisor of the Bavarian Opera from 1964 till 1968, founder in 1965 of the Munich Chamber Opera) who has utilized electronic keyboards to bridge the gap with the world of rock music.

Die Schachtel/ The Box (Deutsche Grammophon, 1969) was recorded by an ensemble of soloists from the Orchestra of the Munich Chamber Opera. Destruction of Harmony (Ariola, 1971) was his first work for synthesizers. A Day's Lullaby (WEA, 1972) is performed by Schoener, Bruce Gambill and Joey Ely. Windows (EMI, 1974) is a collaboration between rock musicians (Jon Lord, Tony Ashton, David Coverdale, Ray Fenwick, Glenn Hughes, Pete York) and the Orchestra of the Munich Chamber Opera conducted by Eberhard Schoener. Sarabande (EMI, 1975) repeats the idea with a new cast of rock musicians (Jon Lord, Paul Karass, Mark Nauseef, Andy Summers, Pete York) and the Philharmonia Hungarica.

Schoener discovered his musical vocation after a trip to Asia. His impressions were immortalized in the long suite titled Meditation (Schoener, 1973 - Kuckuck, 1982), in which Schoener plays all the instruments. The kinship with the monumental partitas of Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream is minimal. The sounds Schoener extracts from his synthesizers are bleak and sinister, even unpleasant. Then he lets them die slowly, without even trying to find a melodic thread, to dress them up with sensational effects. It sounds more like the soundtrack of a nightmare in a catacomb than a meditation. But precisely in the eerie timbres of his electronics lies the secret of his art: the more the music deviates from the usual tracks of mystical electronics, the more the listener is led to follow it in its labyrinthine contortions. Oceanic waves and cosmic om interpenetrate and leave the impression of having spent a day in a Zen garden.

Bali Agung (EMI, 1975 - Kuckuck, 1980), with a percussionist, a guitarist and a gamelan orchestra, weds the subdued alien timbres of his electronics with exotic scales and a more percussive approach. That of Tjandra, Nadi (ten minutes) and Gong-Gede is a convoluted music, of unpredictable unfolding, focused on the details rather than to the whole, quite the opposite of the airy and light digressions on the new age genre.

Bastien und Bastienne (EMI, 1976) and Der Schauspieldirektor (EMI, 1976) contain orchestral music.

Trance - Formation (EMI, 1977 - Innovative Communications, 1991) employs electric guitar (Andy Summers of the Police), bass, percussion, the symphony orchestra, a choir of child monks, and an opera singer. The short pieces are atmospheric vignettes of various kinds, but Shape Of Things to Come again captures for twelve minutes the charm of Meditation. Trance - Formation, on the other hand, is an unusual work within his career because of the dramatic, almost apocalyptic intensity of electronics, guitar, and vocals.

Flashback (EMI, 1978) is another collaboration between rock (the Police) and classical (Orchestra of the Munich Chamber Opera). The record is divided in two: six pop songs on the first side, and three experimental pieces (notably Rhine-bow and Magma) on the second. The experience was repeated on Video Magic (EMI, 1978), with a similar cast (Eberhard Schoener on keyboards, Sting on bass, Andy Summers on guitar, Evert Fratermann on percussion, Olaf Kuebler on saxophone and the Orchester der Muenchener Kammeroper) but without the experiments. Events (EMI, 1980) introduced a new cast (Clare Torry, Ian Bairnson, Pete York, Morris Pert, Evert Fraterman, Olaf Kuebler, Steve Richardson, Roger Munns) and the Philharmonia Hungarica Orchestra. Time Square (EMI, 1981) and Complicated Ladies (Phonogram, 1983) expand the cast around Esther Ofarim, but do not resort to the orchestra.

His most ambitious electronic poems are to be found on Sky Music and Mountain Music, collected on Sky Music - Mountain Music (Celestial Harmonies, 1984), arduous and mile-long serial works for keyboards alone. The first explores slow-moving “drones” generated by whistles and bells hanging from birds let loose in a wind tunnel (the “sky music” mentioned in the title"). The second, infinitely more human, breathes Eastern mysticism in a heavenly atmosphere, again achieved by “remixing” birds and electronics.

However, Spurensicherung (Phonogram, 1985), Eberhard Schoener System (Phonogram, 1986), Bon Voyage (Phonogram, 1987), Das Erbe der Guldenburgs (Sony, 1989) returned to the orchestral format.

Trance Mission (Marlboro, 1991) incorporates again a gamelan orchestra (the two lengthy pieces Shape of Things to Come and Trance-Formation).

Why Don't You Answer (Phonogram, 1992) is a collaboration with Hazel O'Connor.

Harmonia Mundi (Intercord, 1993) weds gamelan orchestra and symphony orchestra. Time Cycle (Phonogram, 1994) employs a choir and members of the orchestra. Palazzo dell'Amore/Cold Genius (BMG, 1996) employs famous singers (even Andrea Bocelli). Hey Mr Gentleman (BMG, 1998) is a collaboration with Helen Schneider. Potsdamer Platz (BMG, 1998) returns to choir and orchestra. Namaste-Puja (BMG, 1999) employs monks and nuns of a Buddhist monastery in Nepal. Beleza Negra/Eine Rache (BMG, 2001) collects two works for the theater.