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Max Richter

Jools welcomes contemporary classical composer Max Richter to the studio to play a classic Motown song and pick some favourite records.

Contemporary classical composer Max Richter is Jools' guest, playing a classic Motown song and picking some favourite records

Blending classical, electronic, and rock influences into a style he calls "post-classical," composer/programmer Max Richter ignores boundaries in favour of haunting, strangely familiar sounds. This approach made him an in-demand composer for film and other types of performing arts, as well as an acclaimed artist in his own right. Born in Germany in the mid-'60s, Richter and his family moved to the U.K. when he was still a little boy; by his early teens, he was listening to the canon of classical music, as well as modern composers including Philip Glass, whose sound was a major influence on Richter. The Clash, the Beatles, and Pink Floyd were also important, along with the early electronic music scene; inspired by artists such as Kraftwerk, Richter built his own analog instruments. He studied composition and piano at Edinburgh University, the Royal Academy of Music, and in Florence with Luciano Berio. Richter then became a founding member of the Piano Circus, a contemporary classical group that played works by Glass, Brian Eno, Steve Reich, Arvo Pärt, and Julia Wolfe, and also incorporated found sounds and video into their performances.

In 2014, Richter launched an ongoing mentorship program for aspiring young composers. The following year saw the arrival of Sleep, an eight-hour ambient piece scored for piano, strings, electronics, and vocals, which Richter described as a "lullaby for a frenetic world and a manifesto for a slower pace of existence." The piece premiered at a Berlin performance where the audience was given beds instead of seats.

57 minutes

Last on

Mon 16 May 2016 23:00
BBC Radio 2

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Music Played

  • Don Drummond

    Feeling Fine

    • Greatest Hits.
    • Treasure Isle/High Note.
    • 2.

  • Freddie Slack

    Strange Cargo

    • Down the Road A -Piece.
    • Fantastic Voyage.
    • 1.

  • Rosemary Clooney & Duke Ellington

    Just A Settin' and A -Rockin'

    • Take the A-Train.
    • Proper Records.
    • 5.

  • Big Joe Turner

    Until The Real Thing Comes Along

    • Kansas City.
    • Atlantic Jazz.
    • 7.

  • Florence Desmond

    The Deepest Shelter In Town

    • Rare-Unavailable.

  • Dorothy Love Coates and The Original Gospel Harmonettes

    Everyday Will Be A Sunday (By and By)

    • The Best of Dorothy Love-Coates.
    • Ace Speciality.
    • 1.

  • Alicia Keys

    If I Was Your Woman

    • The Diary Of Alicia Keys.
    • BMG/J Records.
    • 1.

  • Max Richter

    Dream 3 (In The Midst of My Life)

    • Sleep.
    • Deutch Gramaphone.
    • 1.

  • Max Richter & Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Band

    What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted

  • Robert Wyatt

    Shipbuilding

    • Rough Trade Records.

  • Max Richter

    Path 5

    • Sleep.
    • Deutch Gramaphone.
    • 1.

Broadcast

  • Mon 16 May 2016 23:00
    BBC Radio 2