Hush, little baby, don’t say a word, Max Richter’s gonna ferociously deny you a mockingbird and instead deliver something that every kid secretly and unknowingly wants: an eight-hour album, explicitly called a “lullaby,” that’s accordingly meant to be slept through as some sort of cool and symbolic defiance against all of the (let’s admit it) weakling imagery conveyed by those traditional tunes. Richter elaborated, however, that his upcoming Sleep is more deliberately a mild rebellion against the en vogue European appreciation for musical inaccessibility, believing that “we lost something along the way.” Plus, our daily lives are just way too chaotic.
The eight-hour Sleep is set for release digitally on September 4, and for those wanting something listenable that doesn’t require an extended “commitment,” a one-hour version, characterized as a “series of windows opening into the big piece,” will be released on all relevant formats. The music itself is scored for piano, string, electronics, and vocals (but no lyrics).
Berliners and those proximal will also have the chance to experience the full-length Sleep firsthand at the world premiere this September. The concert is scheduled to take place from 12 midnight to 8 AM, and seriously, audience members will be given beds instead of seats. Nighttime flatulence, I imagine, will be seen as a scientific result…
• Max Richter: http://www.maxrichtermusic.com
• Deutsche Grammophon: http://www.deutschegrammophon.com
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