The Music Center presents Max Richter’s 8 hour overnight piece, SLEEP.  Performed for the first time outdoors, the 2 performances with soprano Grace Davidson and the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) will take place at Grand Park on July 27th and 28th.  Information and tickets HERE

Originally written in 2003 ‘The Blue Notebooks’ is now a cult classic that’s paved the way for a generation of new artists combining classical and electronic elements with a post rock sensibility. Conceptually, Max describes the album as “a meditation on violence and its repercussions, inspired both by the Iraq war – which was looming – and my own experiences”. The album is also intimately personal and Richter recalls that, “as a very sensitive child, I reacted to the violence around me by internalizing everything. My only refuge was music, and I totally disappeared into the internal landscapes it opened up to me.”

The album embodies a morphing cycle of observation and experience. The bonus material matches the main album in ability to evoke, and whether heard in its original or expanded incarnations, it makes for a record of plaintive beauty, where rich organic strings meet gauzy, low fi electronics. Sense-stimulating textures, foley-style found sounds and the ASMR-like detailed capture of actress Tilda Swinton’s renditions create a deeply effective ambience.

The new editions of the album include remixes from Konx-Om-Pax and Jlin – both of which offer a fascinating cultural exchange. Other new features include a previously unreleased track and new arrangements of compositions written at the time. The Super Deluxe Edition also features a brand new track called ‘Cypher’.

Celebrating the anniversary of The Blue Notebooks, Apple Music have created a special room with music from the album, video interviews, and the new short film, On The Nature Of Daylight  HERE. 

Ltd. Edition Deluxe format HERE

All other formats HERE

“Reaches out to a place somewhere beyond the mortal world. Beguiling.” – The New Yorker

On March 16th, World Sleep Day, Max Richter’s eight and a half hour opus, SLEEP, in its true and original form, will be made available for digital streaming for the first time, allowing it to be experienced without interruption, to accompany the listener’s sleeping hours, as the composer intended.  

Information on SLEEP via streaming HERE.

Max Richter and artist Yulia Mahr have been announced as the curators of the Barbican’s marathon weekend in 2018. Their ambitious programme is a marathon journey into music, image, and their meeting points in today’s culture. Richter and Mahr’s programme consists of numerous events both ticketed and free, including concerts and film screenings, taking place at the Barbican Centre.

As part of the weekend Max Richter will perform INFRA on 11 May and Three Worlds: Music from Woolf Works on 12 May. Following the live performance of Richter’s score alongside the film Waltz With Bashir on 13 May, Max will speak in a Q&A session. For more information please visit the official site HERE.

Max Richter will open SXSW 2018 Festival in Austin, Texas with an overnight performance of the 8-hour piece SLEEP.  For more information on SXSW 2018 please click HERE.

‘HOSTILES’, the western drama, directed by Scott Cooper and starring Christian Bale, Wes Studi and Rosamund Pike features Max’s original score available from Deutsche Grammophon HERE.

A short video of Max and director Scott Cooper speaking on creating and scoring the film HERE.

Three Worlds: Music from Woolf Works is Album of the Year from BBC Radio 6 Music DJ Cerys Matthews! Have a listen to the album originally scored for the Royal Ballet production Woolf Works HERE.

For more information on the ballet at the Royal Opera House click HERE.

Join Max on January 23^rd at The Royal Glasgow Concert Hall for the live performance of Three Worlds: Music from Woolf Works with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Tickets available HERE.

Max Richter and his ensemble returned to the Philharmonie de Paris this week for the 8 hour performance of SLEEP in the filled Grande saale Pierre Boulez.

After such wonderful shows in Europe this year, we are excited to announce Sleep is coming to the USA in 2018. Stand by for more news…

Photographs by Stephan Hoederath.