Voices 2 Max Richter

• Max Richter (b. 1966):
• 1 Richter: : Psychogeography 06:53
• 2 Richter: : Mirrors 02:36
• 3 Richter: : Follower 05:03
• 4 Richter: : Solitaries 04:49
• 5 Richter: : Movement Study 05:48
• 6 Richter: : Prelude 2 04:18
• 7 Richter: : Colour Wheel 03:02
• 8 Richter: : Origins (Solo) 04:08
• 9 Richter: : Little Requiems (Cello Version) 07:35
• 10 Richter: : Mercy Duet 04:26
• Total Runtime 48:38

Info for Voices 2

Voices 2, the second album in the pioneering audio-visual Voices project, co-created with his artistic partner Yulia Mahr, on 9 April 2021. Voices was inspired by, and features text adapted from, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Voices 2 follows directly from the first part, embodying the Universal Declaration’s aspiration to build a better and fairer world.

The message at the core of Max Richter’s Voices 2 is one of hope. The music, and the video for the debut single ‘Mirrors’, invites us to take a breather from the rolling news agenda and to reflect instead on the aspirations in the Universal Declaration. Despite its sombre mood, positivity and a sense of potential in a hopeful new future, runs throughout Voices 2. Yulia Mahr, Max Richter’s filmmaker and visual-artist partner, captures the image of rejuvenation in her video for ‘Mirrors’ as flowers bloom.

Inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted by a group of philosophers, artists and thinkers, convened by Eleanor Roosevelt, to address the great questions of the time and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. Max Richter was inspired by the document’s opening statement, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights,” and he incorporated the 1949 recording of the preamble to the Declaration by Roosevelt at the start of Voices.

“A place to think”

At the heart of Voices is a profound sense of global community and responsibility which originates from the Grammy-nominated composer’s commitment to music as activism. Voices, described by Max Richter as “a place to think”, was a response to our tempestuous political climate and the enduring need for compassion, and Voices 2 develops this principle. Voices was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and 40 international radio stations in collaboration with the European Broadcasting Union on 10 December for Human Rights Day 2020.

While Voices focuses on the text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Voices 2 opens up a meditative instrumental musical space to consider the ideas raised by the first record. The music is less about the world we know already and more about the hope for the future we have yet to write.

“This moment also offers us an opportunity to build anew”

“For all its challenges, this moment also offers us an opportunity to build anew; rather than just restarting the old world, we can invent a new one,” explained Yulia Mahr. “Therefore, I have made my first film for the second part of Voices a hopeful one. The flowers are all negative versions of themselves – out of the negative, out of the dark and disconcerting – can be born a future that is full of beauty and the positive. It’s hard to see it still, but it’s potentially there. History is not inevitable. If we come together, we can create a kinder world.”

Max Richter added, “There are always opportunities for new beginnings. And that’s one of the things that’s so hopeful about that text. It lays out a very fundamental and simple set of principles, which are completely available to us at all times, but we do have to choose them. That’s the challenge, isn’t it?”

Max Richter, piano & synthesizer
Mari Samuelsen, violin
Robert Ziegler, conductor

Max Richter
The work of the award-winning British composer Max Richter includes concert music, film scoring, and a series of acclaimed solo albums.

Working with a variety of collaborators including Tilda Swinton, Robert Wyatt, Future Sound of London, and Roni Size, Max's work explores the meeting points of many contemporary artistic languages, and, as might be expected from a student of Luciano Berio, Max’s work embraces a wide range of influences.

Recent projects include the ballet INFRA, for Wayne McGregor at The Royal Ballet, with scenography by Julian Opie, the award-winning score to Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir, and the music installationThe Anthropocene, with Darren Almond at White Cube.

Max's music has formed the basis of numerous dance works, including pieces by Lucinda Childs, NDT, Ballet du Rhin, American Ballet Theatre, Dresden Semper Oper, The Dutch National Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, among many others, while film makers using work by Max include Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island).

Recent commissions include the opera SUM, based on David Eagleman’s acclaimed book, premiered at The Royal Opera House, London and Mercy, commissioned by Hilary Hahn.

Current projects include Vivaldi Recomposed for Deutsche Grammophon, recorded by British violinist Daniel Hope and the Konzerthaus Orchester, Berlin, as well as a variety of other recording and film projects.

This album contains no booklet.