Sleep Max Richter

• 1Dream 1 (before the wind blows it all away)18:31
• 2Cumulonimbus10:09
• 3Dream 2 (entropy)10:02
• 4Path (7676)11:00
• 5whose name is written on water11:15
• 6Patterns (cypher)02:47
• 7Solo06:53
• 8Aria 111:06
• 9Return 2 (song)16:46
• 10nor earth, nor boundless sea19:17
• 11Dream 11 (whisper music)18:54
• 12moth-like stars28:53
• 13Path 17 (before the ending of daylight)26:52
• 14Space 26 (epicardium)06:56
• 15Patterns (lux)16:43
• 16Constellation 106:56
• 17Constellation 215:20
• 18Space 2 (slow waves)07:42
• 19Chorale / glow25:29
• 20Dream 19 (pulse)18:53
• 21Cassiopeia19:36
• 22Non-eternal23:50
• 23Song / echo04:59
• 24Aria 211:02
• 25never fade into nothingness09:41
• 26Return 16 (time capsule)24:25
• 27if you came this way14:29
• 28Space 17 (chains)17:59
• 29Sublunar25:22
• 30Dream 17 (Alpha)28:47
• 31Dream 0 (till break of day)33:47
• Total Runtime08:24:21

Info for Sleep

from SLEEP is a 1h version of the new digital 8h landmark recording SLEEP by acclaimed British composer Max Richter. SLEEP is an eight hour exploration of music, consciousness and human connectivity – and is actually intended to send the listener to sleep. SLEEP is played on piano, strings, with subtle electronic touches and vocals – but no words. “It’s my personal lullaby for a frenetic world. A manifesto for a slower pace of existence. I want people to start playing it while they are getting ready for bed, so that they hear it in their sleep.” (Max Richter)

The ground-breaking new work is scored for piano, strings, electronics and vocals but no words. Its my personal lullaby for a frenetic world, he says. A manifesto for a slower pace of existence.

Richter came up with the idea as he has always been fascinated by the process of sleep. As a child, it was my absolute favorite activity. I often think of composing as a daydreaming activity and, if I could, I would sleep for 23 hours a day! It s one of the most important things we all do and for me its almost like a religion.

During his preparations, Richter consulted the eminent American neuroscientist David Eagleman, in order to understand the mechanisms of the sleeping mind, and the ways in which music can interact with them, which has directly influenced the composers writing.

Richter describes it as an investigation into the process of sleep. Its really an experiment to try and understand how we experience music in different states of consciousness awake and asleep and ask whether different people hear it in different ways. For me, this piece of music is an attempt to see how that space where your conscious mind is on holiday can be a place for music to live.

The dream state is like you have switched the whole factory over, but there is still this window to the senses, so that the things you are hearing can get incorporated into your dream, and we have all had this experience when, for example your alarm clock goes off and it becomes part of your dream narrative. David Eagleman in conversation with Max Richter

You could say that the short one is meant to be listened to, and the long one is meant to be heard while sleeping, says Richter, who describes the one-hour version as a different trip through the same landscape.

Coinciding with the renewed interest in durational works within the fine art community, Richter says: this isnt something new in music, it goes back to Cage, Terry Riley, and LaMonte Young, and its coming around again partly as a reaction to our speeded up lives we are all in need of a pause button.

SLEEP will be given its live premiere later this year in a disused power station in Berlin, with a concert performance, lasting from 12 midnight to 8am and the audience given beds, instead of seats and programs.

Max Richter
The work of the award-winning British composer Max Richter includes concert music, film scoring, and a series of acclaimed solo albums.

Working with a variety of collaborators including Tilda Swinton, Robert Wyatt, Future Sound of London, and Roni Size, Max's work explores the meeting points of many contemporary artistic languages, and, as might be expected from a student of Luciano Berio, Max’s work embraces a wide range of influences.

Recent projects include the ballet INFRA, for Wayne McGregor at The Royal Ballet, with scenography by Julian Opie, the award-winning score to Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir, and the music installationThe Anthropocene, with Darren Almond at White Cube.

Max's music has formed the basis of numerous dance works, including pieces by Lucinda Childs, NDT, Ballet du Rhin, American Ballet Theatre, Dresden Semper Oper, The Dutch National Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, among many others, while film makers using work by Max include Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island).

Recent commissions include the opera SUM, based on David Eagleman’s acclaimed book, premiered at The Royal Opera House, London and Mercy, commissioned by Hilary Hahn.

Current projects include Vivaldi Recomposed for Deutsche Grammophon, recorded by British violinist Daniel Hope and the Konzerthaus Orchester, Berlin, as well as a variety of other recording and film projects.

Booklet for Sleep