Sleep

Max Richter: Sleep

In a monumental, eight-hour live stream from the Elbphilharmonie, the artist presents his own personal lullaby and accompanies the listener through the cycles of sleep. Available until 4.1.2022

Stream available until 04.01.2022.

With his 2015 project »Sleep«, Max Richter created something akin to a modern version of Bach's Goldberg Variations. Just as the Bach composition is said to have once kept a sleepless count entertained during the night, »Sleep« pursues a similar goal: it accompanies us in the hours of sleep – from beginning to end! The score lasts no less than eight-and-a-half hours, and its 31 sections are modelled around the typical cycles of our sleep, inviting the listener to dream with their slow and contemplative music.

Trailer: Max Richter »Sleep«

On its first broadcast on BBC Radio 3, »Sleep« broke not one but two Guinness records: it was the longest work ever to be broadcast, and also the longest ever live broadcast on radio. Richter's composition invites us to pause for a moment, to consciously experience peace and quiet – and this was long before issues like mindfulness and meditation became mass phenomena. The composer wants his listeners to sense its aura while sleeping and dreaming. »Sleep« has already been performed in Berlin, Paris, Sydney and Los Angeles as an eight-hour night-time concert, and is available via app in the meantime.

Shortly after the outbreak of the pandemic, over Easter weekend 2020, the BBC and the European Broadcasting Union brought the project one more time to hundreds of thousands of radio listeners in more than 15 countries. Richter's work has been broadcast from the Elbphilharmonie as an online live stream to mark the beginning of the »Reflektor« weekend.

Eindrücke von der Produktion

Max Richter »Sleep« Max Richter »Sleep« © Daniel Dittus
Max Richter »Sleep« Max Richter »Sleep« © Daniel Dittus
None
Max Richter »Sleep« Max Richter »Sleep« © Daniel Dittus
Max Richter »Sleep« Max Richter »Sleep« © Daniel Dittus
Max Richter Max Richter © Daniel Dittus
Livestream »Sleep« Livestream »Sleep« © Daniel Dittus

The artists

American Contemporary Music Ensemble
Ben Russell violin
Laura Lutzke violin
Caleb Burhans viola
Clarice Jensen violoncello
Emily Brausa violoncello

Grace Davidson soprano
Max Richter piano, live electronics

Florian Kiehl set design
Jasper Techel director of photography
Onn Halpern creative director
Liel Simon director

Max Richter

Max Richter
Max Richter © Yulia Mahr

Grace Davidson – Soprano

Grace Davidson
Grace Davidson © Unbezeichnet

American Contemporary Music Ensemble

American Contemporary Music Ensemble
American Contemporary Music Ensemble © Mark Shelby Perry

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