I am listening to On the Nature of Daylight for the gazillionth time right now, and decided to look up "Max Richter Substack." I am so happy to come across your post. As I'm sure you know, he was inspired to write it by the second U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. I find it the thing my heart most aches to listen to right now. Without words he captures so much about grief. Thank you for posting.
Thank you for reading! And yes, I return to RIchter again and again... like Bach, the music seems to help things make sense sometimes, despite (or because) there's no words.
Adore Max Richter and many sountrack composers, ranging from Ryuichi Sakamoto who sadly recently left us, the sweeping majesty of Harry Gregson Williams and Ramin Djawadi through to the raw energy of Atticus Ross!
I'm currently in the middle of binge-watching The Leftovers. We started the show before, but got distracted by other things, so working our way through it now. Starting season three tonight. It's a beautiful show, and the music is incredible.
I'm a programmer and I absolutely can NOT work to music with words and so listen to movie and game soundtracks. Soundtracks really keep me in my flow and I'm less likely to get distracted. Adding Max Richter into the mix now. Thanks! :)
Lifts Vivaldi right out of the elevator shaft and liberates him from music on hold. I heard him interviewed about Sleep while I was driving somewhere and was irritated that my journey ended before he did. Always meant to delve more deeply and didn’t until you posted this so thank you many times over.
Thank you for posting this. As someone else commented, his music for the Leftovers was perfect. The Leftovers and Battlestar Galactica is the absolute gold standard in my humble opinion. Kind of similar in some ways. They’re both about faith and believe in a higher power and within one’s self. Bear McCreary’s is very similar to Richter’s music in that regard. Thoughtful and introspective.
Thanks for another wonderful post - love Max Richer! If you like wistful, melancholic music with passion, please have a listen to my son Matthew Thomason who composes some glorious music
Dude, absolutely agree! They really found their footing from there and found the perfect balance. International Assassin, in particular, is an episode I often think about.
I'm an amateur as far as classical music is concerned, but I'm listening to Richter's remaining Vivaldi, and I'm oh I don't know what English adjective to use...elated?
I have to admit that my "go to" composer when I'm feeling down is Angelo Badalamenti of "Twin Peaks" fame. And obviously Krzysztof Penderecki. But it's very hard to write, read or study while listening to Penderecki. I guess I'm under a huge influence of David Lynch. I started seriously listening to Penderecki when Mr Lynch nentionrd him during one of the Cameraimage events in my hometown of Lodz. And I'm Polish, trained jn one of the schools where we were supposed to concentrate a lot on the Polish composers...Anyway, as usual, big thank you. Your Substack is the breath of fresh air amongst my list of favourite websites.
Thank you! Really glad you're enjoying it (and sorry to hear about the monitor!). I haven't listened to enough Penderecki or Badalamenti... will go find some now!
Please, forgive all the typos. My monitor is broken, and I often don't see the full text before it's published. I promise to have it fixed when I get my disability money.
I will examine this when it is not tax season. I find that "real" music drags my focus away from things, as opposed to having the radio on at low volume, or listening to Joe's Garage again.
I am listening to On the Nature of Daylight for the gazillionth time right now, and decided to look up "Max Richter Substack." I am so happy to come across your post. As I'm sure you know, he was inspired to write it by the second U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. I find it the thing my heart most aches to listen to right now. Without words he captures so much about grief. Thank you for posting.
Thank you for reading! And yes, I return to RIchter again and again... like Bach, the music seems to help things make sense sometimes, despite (or because) there's no words.
Oh yes and it has such an incredible effect on how we perceive the imagery.
Adore Max Richter and many sountrack composers, ranging from Ryuichi Sakamoto who sadly recently left us, the sweeping majesty of Harry Gregson Williams and Ramin Djawadi through to the raw energy of Atticus Ross!
So much beautiful music out there!
I will give him a listen. Thank you!
Absolutely beautiful stuff...
I'm currently in the middle of binge-watching The Leftovers. We started the show before, but got distracted by other things, so working our way through it now. Starting season three tonight. It's a beautiful show, and the music is incredible.
I'm a programmer and I absolutely can NOT work to music with words and so listen to movie and game soundtracks. Soundtracks really keep me in my flow and I'm less likely to get distracted. Adding Max Richter into the mix now. Thanks! :)
Pleasure — I'm glad to spread the word, and there's so much of his stuff to enjoy!
Lifts Vivaldi right out of the elevator shaft and liberates him from music on hold. I heard him interviewed about Sleep while I was driving somewhere and was irritated that my journey ended before he did. Always meant to delve more deeply and didn’t until you posted this so thank you many times over.
Glad to jog the memory... and there is so much to love there!
I always listen to the Inexorable Advance of Mr Delaney when I need to feel badass. Badassery not being a natural state for me.
Ha :)
Thank you for posting this. As someone else commented, his music for the Leftovers was perfect. The Leftovers and Battlestar Galactica is the absolute gold standard in my humble opinion. Kind of similar in some ways. They’re both about faith and believe in a higher power and within one’s self. Bear McCreary’s is very similar to Richter’s music in that regard. Thoughtful and introspective.
Bear McCreary is GREAT. He did the music for the BBCAmerican adaptation of my book INTRUDERS, in fact!
Thanks for another wonderful post - love Max Richer! If you like wistful, melancholic music with passion, please have a listen to my son Matthew Thomason who composes some glorious music
https://www.matthewthomasonmusic.co.uk/
I'll check him out — thank you!
THRILLED that you are a Leftovers fan!! It tracks. Top five all-time show for me.
SUCH a good show. It was all great, but I think the second season is one of the best seasons of TV I've ever seen.
Dude, absolutely agree! They really found their footing from there and found the perfect balance. International Assassin, in particular, is an episode I often think about.
I'm an amateur as far as classical music is concerned, but I'm listening to Richter's remaining Vivaldi, and I'm oh I don't know what English adjective to use...elated?
I have to admit that my "go to" composer when I'm feeling down is Angelo Badalamenti of "Twin Peaks" fame. And obviously Krzysztof Penderecki. But it's very hard to write, read or study while listening to Penderecki. I guess I'm under a huge influence of David Lynch. I started seriously listening to Penderecki when Mr Lynch nentionrd him during one of the Cameraimage events in my hometown of Lodz. And I'm Polish, trained jn one of the schools where we were supposed to concentrate a lot on the Polish composers...Anyway, as usual, big thank you. Your Substack is the breath of fresh air amongst my list of favourite websites.
Thank you! Really glad you're enjoying it (and sorry to hear about the monitor!). I haven't listened to enough Penderecki or Badalamenti... will go find some now!
Please, forgive all the typos. My monitor is broken, and I often don't see the full text before it's published. I promise to have it fixed when I get my disability money.
I will examine this when it is not tax season. I find that "real" music drags my focus away from things, as opposed to having the radio on at low volume, or listening to Joe's Garage again.
I like the idea of ambient sleep sounds!
Probably the last thing anybody needs is to feel even more melancholy during tax season ;-)
This season has been SO much better than last year! But some music demands to be listened to and won't be relegated to the background.
You're very welcome - check out the show, if you haven't seen it...