Max Richter facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Max Richter
Richter in 2024
Background information
Born	(1966-03-22) 22 March 1966 (age 59) Hamelin, Lower Saxony, West Germany
Origin	London, England
Genres	Contemporary classical ambient minimalism post-minimalism
Occupation(s)	Composer pianist producer
Instruments	Piano organ synthesizer
Years active	1994–present
Labels	Studio Richter-Mahr Deutsche Grammophon 130701 FatCat Universal Universal Classics and Jazz Late Junction Mute Delabel Milan CAM Colosseum JADE Fontana Silva Screen 7hings
Associated acts	Piano Circus, Black to Comm

Max Richter, born on March 22, 1966, is a talented German-born British composer and pianist. He is known for his unique blend of classical and electronic music. His style often combines elements of postminimalist and contemporary classical music.

Richter received excellent training in music. He studied composition at the University of Edinburgh and the Royal Academy of Music in London. He also learned from the famous composer Luciano Berio in Italy. Max Richter creates music for many different things. This includes music for plays, operas, ballets, and movies. He has worked with other musicians and artists. He has released eight solo albums. His music is very popular and is used a lot in films. By December 2019, his music had been streamed over a billion times. He also sold more than a million albums.

Max Richter's Early Life and Career

Max Richter was born in Hamelin, West Germany. He grew up in Bedford, England. He attended Bedford Modern School and Mander College of Further Education. He studied music at the University of Edinburgh and the Royal Academy of Music. He also learned from Luciano Berio in Florence.

After his studies, Richter helped start a music group called Piano Circus. This group played modern classical music. He was with them for ten years. They performed music by minimalist composers like Arvo Pärt and Philip Glass. The group released five albums with Decca/Argo.

In 1996, Richter worked with the band Future Sound of London. He played piano and helped write several songs for their album Dead Cities. He continued to work with them for two years. He also contributed to their albums The Isness and The Peppermint Tree and Seeds of Superconsciousness. In 2000, Richter collaborated with Mercury Prize winner Roni Size on the album In the Møde. He also produced albums for Vashti Bunyan in 2005 and Kelli Ali in 2008.

Max Richter's Solo Music Albums

Max Richter has released many solo albums. Each album explores different themes and sounds.

Memoryhouse: Richter's First Album (2002)

Memoryhouse was Max Richter's first solo album. It was released in 2002. Critics called it a "landmark work of contemporary classical music." This album was experimental. It was recorded with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. The music explores real and imagined stories. Some songs, like "Sarajevo," are about the Kosovo War. Other songs are about childhood memories. The album mixes ambient sounds, voices, and poetry. BBC Music called it a "masterpiece."

Memoryhouse was performed live in London in 2014. This was to celebrate its re-release on vinyl. The music website Pitchfork praised its influence. They noted how Richter's mix of electronics and orchestra opened new doors for other composers.

The Blue Notebooks: A Protest Album (2004)

The Blue Notebooks was released in 2004. The Guardian newspaper named it one of the best classical works of the century. The album features actress Tilda Swinton reading from Kafka and Czesław Miłosz. Richter said this album was a protest against the Iraq War. It also explored his own childhood.

Pitchfork described it as one of the most moving contemporary classical records. For its 10th anniversary, Richter explained the album. He said it was like a series of connected dreams. The song "On the Nature of Daylight" is very famous. It has been used in movies like Arrival and Shutter Island. It also appeared in the HBO series The Last of Us. In 2018, Fact magazine called it "one of the most iconic pieces of classical and protest music of the 21st century."

Songs from Before: Readings by Robert Wyatt (2006)

In 2006, Richter released his third solo album, Songs from Before. This album features musician Robert Wyatt. He reads texts written by the author Haruki Murakami.

24 Postcards in Full Colour: Tiny Musical Pieces (2008)

Richter's fourth solo album, 24 Postcards in Full Colour, came out in 2008. It is a collection of 24 short classical pieces. These pieces were originally made for ringtones. They are variations on a main musical idea. They use strings, piano, and electronics.

Richter explained his idea in 2017. He saw ringtones as a chance for composers. He wanted to create small musical "postcards" that would travel the world. He thought of them as a way to connect with people's lives.

Infra: Music About London Bombings (2010)

Richter's 2010 album Infra is about the 7 July 2005 London bombings. It grew from a 25-minute score he wrote for a ballet. The ballet was choreographed by Wayne McGregor and performed at the Royal Opera House. Infra includes music for piano, electronics, and a string group.

Pitchfork called the album "achingly gorgeous." The Independent described it as a "journey in 13 episodes." It starts with a blur of sound and develops into a beautiful repeated melody.

Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi's Four Seasons (2012)

In 2012, Richter released his 'recomposed' version of Vivaldi's famous The Four Seasons. It premiered in the UK at the Barbican Centre. Richter said he used only 25% of Vivaldi's original music. He looped and layered the parts he kept. This showed his interest in minimalist music.

The album quickly became popular. It topped the iTunes classical charts in the UK, Germany, and the US. A concert in New York was recorded by NPR and streamed online.

Sleep and From Sleep: An Eight-Hour Lullaby (2015)

In 2015, Richter released his biggest project, Sleep. This was a collaboration with artist Yulia Mahr. It is an 8.5-hour long musical experience. It is designed to be listened to during a full night's rest. The album has 31 songs. Most are 20–30 minutes long. They are all based on a few main themes. The music is calm and slow. It uses piano, cello, violas, violins, organ, vocals, and electronics.

Richter also released a shorter, one-hour version called From Sleep. This version has shortened parts of each theme from the longer album. Richter called Sleep an "eight-hour-long lullaby." The work was inspired by Gustav Mahler's symphonies.

The entire Sleep composition was performed live on BBC Radio 3 in 2015. It was the longest live broadcast of a single musical piece in the network's history. Pitchfork named Sleep one of the 50 best ambient albums ever. Richter has performed Sleep live in many places around the world. This includes the Sydney Opera House and Grand Park in Los Angeles. In 2018, it was played in Antwerp Cathedral. In 2019, it was performed in Helsinki with people sleeping in tents.

Richter sees Sleep as a "protest music." He said it protests against our busy, modern way of living. He calls it a "call to arms to stop what we're doing."

Three Worlds: Music from Woolf Works (2017)

Three Worlds: Music From Woolf Works is Richter’s eighth album. It was released in January 2017. The music comes from his score for the ballet Woolf Works. This ballet was choreographed by Wayne McGregor. It was performed at the Royal Opera House. The ballet is inspired by three books by Virginia Woolf. The album combines classical and electronic sounds. It also includes a voice recording of Woolf herself.

Voices: Inspired by Human Rights (2020)

Richter's Voices project was released in 2020. It is a collaboration with visual artist Yulia Mahr. The project is inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It features an 'upside down' orchestra. Richter created this idea to show his feelings about modern politics. The album includes readings of the declaration by Eleanor Roosevelt and actress KiKi Layne. Another 70 readings were collected from people around the world.

Yulia Mahr's videos for the project are about her own experiences with migration. Her video 'Mercy' won a BAFTA award. Yo-Yo Ma played the album's first piece at a concert. This concert honored the 75th anniversary of the UN.

Exiles: Extended Musical Journeys (2021)

The album Exiles was released on August 6, 2021. It was recorded in 2019 in Tallinn, Estonia. Richter worked with conductor Kristjan Järvi and the Baltic Sea Philharmonic. Exiles includes longer versions of his earlier works. These include "The Haunted Ocean" and "On The Nature Of Daylight." Richter described the album as a serious work. He said it has a strong emotional feeling.

Max Richter's Music for Film and TV

Max Richter has composed many soundtracks for movies and TV shows. He became well-known for his music in Ari Folman's film Waltz with Bashir in 2007. This score used electronic sounds and won him an award. He also scored the film Henry May Long in 2008.

In 2010, his song "On the Nature of Daylight" was mixed with Dinah Washington's "This Bitter Earth." This new version was used in the Martin Scorsese film Shutter Island. "On the Nature of Daylight" and "Vladimir's Blues" were also featured in the BBC drama Dive. The song "On the Nature of Daylight" was also in an episode of the HBO series Luck. Parts of his music were used in the 2005 BBC documentary Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution. Richter also wrote music for the documentary How to Die in Oregon and the film Impardonnables.

An excerpt from "Sarajevo" was used in the trailer for Ridley Scott's film Prometheus. "November" was in the trailers for To the Wonder and J. Edgar. In 2011, his music was in the films Sarah's Key and Perfect Sense. In 2012, he composed for Disconnect and Lore. Richter worked with Ari Folman again on The Congress in 2013.

Richter composed the original music for the HBO series The Leftovers. This series started in June 2014. Some of his earlier compositions were also used in the show. He also scored the film Testament of Youth in 2014.

In 2016, Richter composed music for the "Nosedive" episode of Black Mirror. He also scored the films Morgan and Miss Sloane. His piece "On the Nature of Daylight" was used at the beginning and end of the film Arrival. It also closed an episode of Castle Rock. He composed all the music for the BBC One drama Taboo in 2017.

In 2017, his music was used in The Current War. The mix of Dinah Washington's "This Bitter Earth" and Richter's "On The Nature of Daylight" was used in the film Recy Taylor. In December 2017, a part of Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons was used in The Crown. It was the theme for Princess Margaret's story.

In 2018, Richter composed music for the films Hostiles, White Boy Rick, Never Look Away, and Mary Queen of Scots. He also scored the HBO mini-series My Brilliant Friend. In 2019, Richter scored the film Ad Astra. A part of his music was used for the BBC series Peaky Blinders.

In 2021, "On The Nature of Daylight" was used again in The Handmaid's Tale. The show's lead actress, Elisabeth Moss, who also directed the episode, chose the piece. In October 2021, Richter composed the score for the Apple TV series Invasion. In 2023, "On The Nature of Daylight" was featured in the third episode of the HBO series The Last of Us. In November 2024, Richter was a guest on BBC's Later... with Jools Holland.

Ballet, Opera, and Stage Works

Richter wrote the music for Infra. This was a ballet created with choreographer Wayne McGregor and artist Julian Opie. It was performed at the Royal Opera House in London in 2008. In 2011, Richter composed a short opera. It was based on neuroscientist David Eagleman's book Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives. This opera was also choreographed by Wayne McGregor. It premiered at the Royal Opera House in 2012. Critics gave it good reviews.

Richter and McGregor continued to work together. In 2014, they created the ballet 'Kairos'. This ballet used Richter's recomposition of the Four Seasons. In 2015, they worked together again on a new full-length ballet, Woolf Works. This ballet was inspired by novels by Virginia Woolf.

Choreographer Crystal Pite also created a ballet using Richter's Vivaldi Recomposed. It was called The Seasons' Canon and premiered in Paris in 2016. Sol Leon and Paul Lightfoot choreographed a piece to Richter's "Exiles."

In 2012 and 2013, Richter contributed music to a play called Macbeth. This play starred Alan Cumming. It was performed in New York and on Broadway. The theater company had also used Richter's "Last Days" in their play Black Watch.

Richter worked on a project based on Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings and Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. He also made a ballet with artist Idris Khan. In 2022, Richter worked with Wayne McGregor again. They scored and produced a ballet based on Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy. This ballet was for the National Ballet of Canada and The Royal Ballet. His music helped bring Atwood's future world to life.

Other Creative Collaborations

In 2010, Richter's soundscape The Anthropocene was part of Darren Almond's film art. This art was shown at the White Cube gallery in London. Richter has also worked with a digital art group called Random International. He created music for their art installations. These included Future Self (2012) in Berlin and Rain Room (2012/13) in London and New York.

Max Richter's Personal Life

Max Richter met visual artist Yulia Mahr at the Edinburgh Festival in 1988. They started living together in London in 1993. They have three children, born in 1998, 1999, and 2008. They got married in 2003. The family lives in Oxfordshire with their children. They also have two black Labradors named Haku and Evie. Haku is named after a dragon from the movie Spirited Away. They also have a cat named Kiki, from Kiki’s Delivery Service. The couple has also lived in Edinburgh and Berlin.

Discography

Studio Albums

Scores

Awards and Nominations for Max Richter

Max Richter has won several awards for his music.

See also

In Spanish: Max Richter para niños

• List of postminimalist composers
• Music and sleep