Emmy-nominated composer MAX RICHTER makes his debut in Wales, presenting VOICES with Sinfonia Cymru.
Max Richter’s work embodies both the rigour of the Classical tradition and the experimentalism of contemporary electronica. Disarming in its honesty; his music, despite its underlying sophistication, remains accessible.
Created in collaboration with BAFTA-winning artist and humanitarian, Yulia Mahr, VOICES is 56 minutes of music for orchestra, choir, electronics, solo soprano, solo violin and solo piano, released during lockdown in 2020. The orchestra is a radically reimagined ensemble called a “negative orchestra”. As the world has been turned upside down, so have the proportions of this orchestra. It is nearly all basses and cellos.
In addition to readings by a narrator, hundreds of readings of the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights in dozens of languages have been sourced from all over the world for this work. These readings are the aural landscape that this music flows through: they are the VOICES of the title.
The opening words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, drafted in 1948, are “All human beings are are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” VOICES is a musical space to reconnect with these inspiring principles.
Richter will be joined by solo violinist Mari Samuelsen, conductor Robert Ziegler, narrator Imtiaz Dharker and a 27-piece ensemble from Sinfonia Cymru, the UK’s leading under-30s orchestra.
“Max Richter is that rare avant-garde composer guided by raw emotion as much as by steely intellect.”
The Quietus