Max Richter C/D/S/D

really digging the two albums i've heard on Fat Cat. 24 Postcards In Full Colour and The Blue Notebooks. So beautiful. minimal/ambient/mod classical people would like them a bunch. but so would, i dunno, durutti column fans or people who like that sorta sad 4AD instrumental vibe. shit, i don't even know if that is true. whatever. I like these CDs a bunch. there is definitely some glass/eno/budd/part/etc thing going on. very warm and rich too. maybe too warm and rich for people who like to get itchy with their mod sounds.

never heard his stuff with future sound of london or roni size. i kinda feel like i don't have to. didn't hear the vashti bunyan album he produced. never heard his previous group Piano Circus. might be interested in hearing some of that stuff. he produced an album for the lead singer of the sneaker pimps in 2008! i definitely want to hear his other solo CDs, memoryhouse and songs from before.

the two i have heard are just really really well-made mood music albums. and i mean that in the best possible way.

i take it back about durutti column. stoner satie fans would like these albums a bunch.

he studied with berio. eluvium fans would dig these.

some of his music was in shutter island.

wife made me turn it off once, said it was the saddest thing she ever heard or something close to that.

according to wiki, the same song, "on the nature of daylight", was used in shutter island and stranger than fiction, the will ferrell movie.

check out the soundtrack to waltz with bashir....and the film if you've not seen. so good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khWenWZToLE

so amazing

will do!

he definitely gets his Glass on in a big way at times, but that's cool with me.

The Blue Notebooks cropped up in a couple of end-of-decade albums lists and I noted it down as something to check out but I still haven't got around to actually buying or hearing it. I don't have a clue about modern classical/experimental stuff really but Durutti Column, Satie, sounds good to me.

it's definitely not experimental fwiw.

i like the blue notebooks ok, it's just fine. hated the record he did with robert wyatt though.

new album sounds really good. the description does. haven't heard it yet.

http://www.digitalisindustries.com/foxyd/reviews.php?which=5694

<3 this guy. 24 Postcards is great

24 postcards is good. i like how some of it sounds like it should be soundtracking an o2 advert or something

i think "stoner satie" is an excellent description

D

With regards to Piano Circus (the 6 keyb ensemble MR headed), I'm quite fond of their recording of Riley's In C b/w Reich's Six Marimbas. It's not startling or textural, but the small ensemble size (synth piano, rhodes, harpsichords, marimba or maybe xylophone as I recall), dry soundstage and short 20 min length highlights the composition and construction more than the dozen+ large ensemble CD length renditions do. It would be my pick for the Riley recording in a minimalism survey course.

24 postcards is good. i like how some of it sounds like it should be soundtracking an o2 advert or something

i agree tho i thought more an ad for a cancer charity...(tho o2's usual feel on their ads is weirdly medical)

the waltz with bashir soundtrack is great though I think thats really how the guys music works best. Saw him a few years ago at some big do at the barbican (possibly that big all dat vashti bunyan love in) and thought he was dull dull dull, spare piano over trip hop presets. Though maybe it was because of all that freaky deeky folk framing it.

pretty sure infra is my most-listened-to album of the year, so great

24 Postcards and The Blue Notebooks are aces.

24 postcards is good. i like how some of it sounds like it should be soundtracking an o2 advert or something

Maybe you know this but the tracks on that album were designed to be ringtones.

Memoryhouse, the first album reissued a while back, is pretty great, too.

24 Postcards is nice, but there's not enough room to enjoy each track before the next begins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pOTN4Oltk4

this is consistently one of my favourite pieces of music...amazing. just so utterly understated and beautiful, it just unfolds.

That damn crow gets me every time

One of the wnyc djs is a big champion of him. I especially like On the Nature of Daylight, November, and Autumn 1 & 2.

so glad I stayed to see his set last night (the show was running over by nearly 2 hours by that point). The strings sounded beautiful.

does anyone know if it is always the same bunch of musicians who play with him.

No, they were a string quartet brought in for the event specifically.

i wish i could like this dude but i just find his stuff so nice i can't stand it-- it brings out all my latent middle-aged-classical-music snob tendencies, i start thinking pejoratively about film soundtracks. there never seems to be anything difficult in it that you could get your teeth into, it is all terribly sad strings being very efficiently emotive.

Even 'The Blue Notebooks'? That doesn't sound like a particularly nice record to me; hence, it's also my favourite. It's dark and has got rough edges. I do know what you mean thoughg, his work after TBN became more 'nice'.

mind you istr that the last time i saw him he was also using recordings of people talking about their memories of something or other over sobby strings and perhaps also a beat, so i'm glad that extra layer of ~evocative~ effect has been sloughed off.

even the rough edges sound 'nice' to me, is the thing! i mean, i also do not like tone poems particularly: there is a certain aesthetic that they share that i find unsatisfying.

I understand what you mean, in that on his work after The Blue Notebooks it all sounds very 'clean', as an 'emotive schtick'. I've never seen Max Richter live and regardless of what I've read about it, I would go in an instant just to experience it, but it's a shame even his live performances aren't a bit more 'adventurous'.

i agree he's pretty easy-going and easy to like—doesn't mean Infra wasn't one of the best damn things i heard last year. also played Songs from Before the other day and it held up nicely.

I'm listening to Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi's Four Seasons and I think I love it. It's very Max Richter-y, that's for sure.

i've been listening to the four seasons thing too and i'm pretty in love w. it

c# major otm
I find it frustrating that his music has become the token "new music" programming choice for many ensembles, but hey, whatever sells tickets I guess
I said "frustrating" because it frustrates me, some more invested new music people get livid at the mere mention

being a dilettante has its advantages

I'm a rap dilettante but that doesn't mean I like Dan Black

i don't know who that is

He's a guy who "recomposed" Hypnotize

i really wish i hadn't googled that

idgi do you think richter's recomposed thing sucks musically or is it just he's too pop or getting too much attention or not like TRV KVLT klassical or what?

I'm a classical dilettante and entirety-of-music wise I like pretty much everything with little discernment, but I really can't stand the 'nice' areas of modern classical. To a completely unreasonable degree. I'd like to punch Arvo Part right on his big bald head. I think I have anger issues.

hmmm i think it's best if i go back to not reading or knowing anything abt classical music

ha, no don't listen to me, I'm just a ridiculous bigot on this matter.

I have no problem with poppy classical music! And "getting too much attention" doesn't compute for me either, seeing as when it comes to something as fringe as new chamber music, getting asses in seats trumps all, afaic. If I were curating a new music festival in like Pittsburgh I'd probably program his stuff for that reason alone.

But it's not for me, not at all. His music seeks to evoke only the most basic emotional response to the point that I suspect he might be a cynic. And the Recomposed piece reminds me too much of late 20th-c chamber music that reworks source material under the guise of 'legitimizing' or 'updating'. So-called post-modern composers who don't understand that recontextualization works best when it creates dissonance? or something at least new? Recomposed is imho an exemplar of a worthless piece of post-modernity, as there's nothing of what's good about new music in it, and nothing of what's good about Vivaldi in it, and there's nothing new created. But like I said, just because I generally don't like his music doesn't mean I don't respect the guy, there is literally no living composer of chamber music who doesn't have something about them I admire, even if that admiration is limited to the fact that they produce work.

I mean, I don't listen to Pärt but I'd probably let him buy me dinner before I thought about punching him

so thats him on 'the leftovers' huh

news just in :

One of Britain’s leading contemporary composers has written what is thought to be the longest single piece of music ever to be recorded. SLEEP is eight hours long – and is genuinely intended to send the listener to sleep.

“It’s an eight-hour lullaby,” says its composer, Max Richter.

The landmark work is scored for piano, strings, electronics and vocals – but no words. “It’s my personal lullaby for a frenetic world,” he says. “A manifesto for a slower pace of existence.”

SLEEP will receive its world premiere this September in Berlin, in a concert performance lasting from 12 midnight to 8am at which the audience will be given beds instead of seats and programmes. The eight-hour version will be available as a digital album, and for those who prefer it, a one-hour adaptation of the work – from SLEEP – will be released on CD, vinyl, download, and streaming formats, all through Deutsche Grammophon, on 4 September.

what is thought to be the longest single piece of music ever to be recorded

ummmm

i too wondered about that.

even with my ltd knowledge, there is the flaming lips track,7 skies h3, that easily breaks 8 hours ..

Have been listening to the eight and a half hour version the last few nights (and days). Epic and absolutely beautiful.

Have been loving the short version, 'From Sleep', so have taken the plunge on downloading the 8-hr version.

The stream of the liver 8-hr performance is available here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06db5tv

they played part of it on a liver?

oh, they got a liver to play it

anyway i decided to sleep to 'sleep' last night and this morning i feel very refreshed!

it's very weird to be able to say: yeah, i guess this piece of music is fit for purpose

so is there some nefarious or otherwise method of downloading this?

You can legit get it from iTunes for £25 which is pretty steep I think.

Do you mean the BBC live version? Try get_iplayer from https://squarepenguin.co.uk/ (it's freeware, only downloads radio programs if, like me, you're outside the UK)

I looked yesterday and its no longer on iPlayer - only available for 30 days.

why would the usual nefarious means of downloading it not work

listened to it again the next night, by the way: it 'worked' but i had less ~feelings~ about it, and i enjoyed the at-length ambient reprise of the opening piano way, way less. also i now keep expecting guy to actually start playing the aria from the goldberg variations on the first track, so, yeah, idk. the night after that i listened to susanne sundfor, which did not benefit my sleep; last night i had no music at all, and dreams sufficiently emotionally draining that i couldn't face getting out of bed for a good while after i woke up.

i guess this record is very typical of richter's sound but it's prob the pinnacle of his career i think, after a few listens to the 8-hour version. some of it is just jaw-dropping.

i have fell asleep to this several times. i have absolutely nothing to say about it except that the first 20 minutes is pretty good. i'm assuming he put a lot of effort into that first track because it's the only one a lot of people will hear

i like music for sleep now and again but i would never put on something i knew was 8 hours long. i've been listening while i'm awake to make the world feel more soporific.

i really like the religious feel of some of it.

i have fell asleep to this several times. i have absolutely nothing to say about it except that the first 20 minutes is pretty good. i'm assuming he put a lot of effort into that first track because it's the only one a lot of people will hear

― Karl Malone, Tuesday, November 10, 2015 9:47 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol yeah

i'm ... not convinced this is actually good in any other context

by virtue of the fact it's music, I am fairly sure its main purpose won't be putting it on to aid sleeping, not least since you wouldn't hear most of it, as mentioned, but ymmv. I can think of music that I'd rather sleep to, there's actually quite a lot going on in this.

i'm on a big ambient kick so gave this a try. not familiar with richter otherwise. finding it oppressive and bland.

pointless generic heaviness, the musical equivalent of unisom. sitting through church.

it definitely isn't ambient

trying to come to terms with / wrap my head around this is like ODing on STARS of the LID in total bliss

So ... buy the single CD version, the eight CD version or buy something on Erased Tapes?

Kind of surprised with myself for not buying this (in any format). Think I'm slightly put off by the novelty. Does anyone really like it?

Live show at Blenheim Palace, in June:

http://serious.org.uk/events/max-richter-ensemble-1

Sleep is a great album. I keep listening to it.

Waking up for the last hour of Sleep is pretty nice.

The album release of Woolf Works has been timed to coincide with the stage revival:

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/22783-three-worlds-music-from-woolf-works/

I saw it last night and it's rather lovely. The Pitchfork review of the soundtrack gets it about right.

Yes, that review is fairly spot-on.

What film/TV work is his is best? I have the proper albums, but haven't listened to any of his scores yet.

(Completely messed up the wording there, but you know what I meant.)

I've yet to hear a single pop-cum-classical blend that transcends generic millennial prettiness™. If anything, Richter is among the worst offenders: his recontextualizations are utterly gratuitous, a pot pourri of 'greatest hits for strings and a wistful piano, from the baroque to the post-Khrushchevian… over a bed of bleep-bloopy sounds indicative of our undying postmodernism!' At their best, his models are far more compelling, especially the Eastern Europeans (barring a name or two, I've little patience for NYC's repetitive music scene). Unfortunately, however, Richter appears to have a preference for Pärt & co.'s laziest gestures, which does a disservice to all involved.

If I really enjoy his music but don't know enough to critically break down the parts, does that matter? If it sounds good to me, does it need to do anything else?

I love this guy. I don't spend a lot of time analyzing his music, though; it mostly just sounds great when I'm writing / working / reading / getting sleepy

pomenitul what are the barred names? asking for serious

Pomenitul - I'm intrigued ... I'd (genuinely) love to hear some recommendations. (This is completely non-snarky ... Over on the "classical music you buy from Boomkat" thread, I have wondered about the idea that there might be *better stuff* that I'm missing).

Some album suggestions—

Conventionally pretty, melodically-oriented 'classical' music from the past 50 years or so:

Ole Buck, Landscapes
Victor Kissine, Between Two Waves
Alexander Knaifel, Svete Tikhiy
Kate Moore, Dances and Canons
Octavian Nemescu, Musique pour réveil
Hans Otte, Das Buch der Klänge (Herbert Henck)
Arvo Pärt, Tabula rasa
Doina Rotaru, L'éternel retour
Valentin Silvestrov, Piano Sonatas & Cello Sonata (Alexei Lubimov & Ivan Monighetti)
Howard Skempton, Lento
Toru Takemitsu, riverrun / Water-ways / Rain Coming / Rain Spell / Tree Line
Anna S. Þorvaldsdóttir, In the Light of Air

Slightly further afield:

Hans Abrahamsen, Schnee
Jérôme Combier, Gone
Pascal Dusapin, O Mensch!
Sofia Gubaidulina, The Canticle of the Sun / Music for Strings, Celesta and Percussion (Mstislav Rostropovich, et al.)
Saed Haddad, Les deux visages de l'Orient
Marko Nikodijević, dark/rooms
Per Nørgård, Works for Harp and Ensemble
Bent Sørensen, Mignon
Haukur Tómasson, Flute Concertos 1 & 2 / Skima
Helena Tulve, Sula

It goes without saying that there is infinitely more to contemporary 'classical' music, but since we're discussing Max Richter's output, I'd argue that these records broadly adhere to a more or less 'traditional' conception of aesthetic beauty (especially the former list). As a side note—and this is no coincidence—quite a few of them are from ECM's catalogue.

Thanks Pomenitul!

You should definitely participate if we do another notated music poll!

Really enjoyed Richter at Blenheim Palace at the weekend, helped by the weather and wine (which induced a vague "being on holiday" feeling).

Got the impression that the crowd was split between people wanting to hear Vivaldi at Blenheim and those wanting to hear "Max Richter" (though I suppose there's some cross-over). A handful of people left when he started playing his own music. Standout track was "Tuesday" from Woolf Works. Someone sat along from us sobbed and sobbed through it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08xypdv/the-royal-ballet-woolf-works

Excellent!

Oh wow, thanks for the heads up!

Have watched about half of it, so far. I'm intrigued as to how it is viewed as a "ballet" as distinct from a "Max Richter score".

New music video for 'On the Nature of Daylight':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InyT9Gyoz_o

i think if i were a Serious Composer i would still be bitter about film scores having ever been a thing

x-post: can't stand that video for "On The Nature of Daylight". Feels like misery porn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIQf3lw4INA

It's probably a laughable giant cliche that makes me a boring predictable shithead, but I play this album for my daughter to sleep to every night. She loves it. She'll now tell Alexa to put it on when she's ready for bed.

The clip posted above is actually the only section she doesn't like. If she hasn't fallen asleep by the time that section comes on she has to skip it. Kind of creepy / scary sound for something occurring in the middle of sleep.

I must admit I'm intrigued as to where his/his partner's Oxfordshire studio is ... on the site of an old llama farm, apparently (which made me think the bottom of Cumnor Hill).

New album on the way in September, first taster here. Doesn't sound like any great departure for him, but I'm fine with that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuWkgLc7N_0