About

A TAV Curator’s Pick.

Beautifully recorded and cinematic in scope, ‘Songs From Before’ once again carries a pensive, emotionally resonant tone. Punctuated by Robert Wyatt’s distinctive, understated readings of Haruki Murakami’s text, the music evokes forgotten memories or lost histories, a series of bittersweet articulations that seem suspended somewhere between a dreamy sense of awe and melancholia. The title refers to the fact that, as well as this being a kind of specimen case of music written over a long period, the album carries other music inside it - with the sources ranging from music between 5 and 300 years old - either used as starting points for Max’s own writing, or submerged deep within.

"...a stunning manifesto where the strings and Richter's piano pull one another between poles of regret and redemption" - Pitchfork.com

"Richter finds the poignant in the ordinary; the sacred in the everyday." - Stylus Magazine

"Epic yet personal, 'Songs From Before' is a joy that firmly cements Max Richter at the forefront of contemporary composition. Essential." - BOOMKAT

"Songs From Before is a deeply moving, near-sacred work." - XLR8R

"Spellbinding" - The Milk Factory

Source: Max Richter website

“When it was originally released, it marked a shift into grander territory for Richter, with narration provided by Robert Wyatt – David Bowie was also a fan, saying the album “has the power to produce tears when listened to in the right setting”. – FACT

About Max Richter:

Hailed as the most influential composer of his generation, electro-acoustic polymath Max Richter defies definition: composer he may be, but he is also pianist, producer, remixer, and collaborator, and beyond argument one of the most prolific of contemporary musical artists.

Inspired equally by Bach, punk rock and ambient electronica, Richter’s sonic world blends a formal classical training (he graduated from the Royal Academy of Music, and was a pupil of renowned composer Luciano Berio) with modern technology. His unique and distinctive brand of heartbroken melodicism bridges the minimalist greats with pioneering electronics and the contemporary digital music production multiverse. Time Out has remarked on the ‘overwhelming emotional power’ of his work, the New Statesman has noted its ‘astonishing depth and beauty’ while Classic FM and Pitchfork have called it ‘stunning’ and The Guardian ‘languorously transcendent’.

Over the years Richter has become best known for his genre defining and highly influential solo albums which have given rise to and are seen as ‘landmarks’ (The Independent, Pitchfork) of the ever burgeoning ‘neo- classical’ movement, but his monumental collaborative output also encompasses concert music, operas, ballets, art and video installations, and multiple film, theatre and television scores.

The over 50 films featuring Max’s work and specifically written scores include Ari Folman’s multiple award-winning and devastating critique of war, Waltz with Bashir (for which Max was awarded the European Film Prize), Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island and Damon Lindelof ’s first television project post-LOST, HBO’s The Leftovers.  – Max Richter Website

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