Composer Max Richter's ‘Sleep' is Revisited In New Documentary'

The film, directed by Natalie Johns, follows the artist and his creative partner Yulia Mahr through the course of executing eight-hour overnight concerts for the piece

- Anurag Tagat

At a time when all continues to be chaotic and unsettling very often around the world, composer Max Richter ’s work Sleep – an eight-hour, 24-minute ambient piece – is especially relevant for anyone who wants a very well thought out, intelligent lullaby.

Released in 2015, the German/British artist and his creative partner Yulia Mahr had a hefty undertaking with Sleep but it went on to sell over 100,000 copies and led to several overnight concerts around the globe, including South By South West in Austin, Texas in 2018. As it turns out, performing for eight hours to sync with a sleep cycle for an audience who are provided with beds is certainly demanding. The ideas and people behind Sleep are explored in a new documentary film by Natalie Johns, called Max Richter’s Sleep and currently streaming on MUBI.

While the film premiered on World Sleep Day on March 19th on the streaming platform, Richter has been performing this piece for a few years now. Over a video call with Rolling Stone India, the composer talks about the film as well as the music of Sleep, his more recent piece Voices and India. Excerpts:

How are the times treating you so far?

Well, it’s a weird time, isn’t it? It’s, uh, you know, we’ve all been basically sort of, you know, in our houses for a year more or less, one way and another. It’s obviously a time of great anxiety, and a time of great stress. But also, it feels like an opportunity to rethink the way we’ve been running our world, and an opportunity to reassess how we would like things to go forward. And I think that feels like a positive as well, if we take that take that chance.