Product Description Acclaimed British composer Max Richter has made history with a ground-breaking piece of work: his new work, "SLEEP," is an eight-hour lullaby. An exploration of music, consciousness and human connectivity, the work is intended to be listened to while sleeping. The landmark work is played on piano, strings, with subtle electronic touches and vocals - but no words. Previously released digitally, the full eight-hour worked is released on CD and high definition Blu-Ray audio. Review As a composer, all my works are experiments: either they are about something, or the piece itself is the working out of a musical subject,an attempt at a solution to a musical question.The question in this work is How can the sleeping mind and amusical work interact, and how will this sleeping interaction manifestitself in the listener s experience of the music?My fascination with the unconscious and / or sleeping part of our livesis longstanding. I see it as a resource for creative ideas, and as anautonomous cognitive space, relatively inaccessible to our consciousmind (as described, for example the work of Jung, or more recently inDavid Eagleman s Incognito), a sort of undiscovered country that livesinside each one of us.Discovery takes time. In this case the equivalent of a night s rest - 8hours or so. This extended performance duration connects SLEEPwith a number of strands in recent gallery work (e.g. the Durationalmovement in art) as well as pointing back to some earlier art musicantecedents...Musical sources begin with Bach s Goldberg Variations BWV988.Allegedly written to be played as a sort of expensive lullaby for aninsomniac nobleman, they are an early example of music and sleepexplicitly being brought into a functional relationship, though ofcourse the informal evocation of night and sleep is present in musicfrom the earliest written sources, for example the latin chant Te Lucisante Terminum (Before the ending of daylight).Moving on we come to Mahler s Nachtmusik I and II, the ghost-likemovements either side of the central movement of the enigmaticseventh Symphony. Mahler s vision is distinctly within the GermanRomantic tradition here, with it s emphasis on the intense articulationof individual experience. Arguably sleep is the most individualexperience of all.Fast forward to the 1960s we come to the extended duration works ofLa Monte Young, Terry Riley and Morton Feldman, the contemplativespace that is Stockhausen s Stimmung, and the ecstatic pulsations of theearly Pink Floyd, among others. These works close the aesthetic gapbetween the physical experience of the music and it s content - thesound is the text. This boundary or overlap between the musical textand it s sonic presentation is something I am exploring in my ownwork, and I see it as in some way mirroring the unconscious /conscious mind dualism.Another way to shine a light onto this question is via contemporaryneuroscience, and, therefore I am in dialogue with David Eagleman,director of the Laboratory for Perception and Action at Baylor Collegeand author of numerous scientific works on our mental processes. Thisis directly affecting the development of the musical work, for exampleon the development of structural aspects of the material that interlockwith the cyclical nature of sleep itself. --Max Richter December 2014
D**S
TIPS FOR LISTENING
Sleep is a melodic lulaby that entrances the listener. There are a few tips for listening that I wish someone would have told me... Go ahead and buy the $$ 8 cd + Blu-Ray set. I first purchased the digital copy and for some reason it didn't transfer well when they made it digital. There are a lot of complaints listed in all digital music services reviews of this. I know cuz I checked them out after I heard all the distortion. It was full of clicks and so much bass that when I set my stereo on the night setting and turned the dynamic bass off, it was still too much bass. Even on smaller speakers with no sub-woofer it was distorted. I deleted it from my library, got a refund and bought the CD'S. The difference was immediately noticeable... no distortion at all. That being said, there is still a lot of bass but at least it's not messed up. This work is great to listen to aggressively, passively and even sleeping. For me, each has its own setting because of the extreme bass. If I'm listening while working or moving around my usual stereo setting are ok. Passively, like I'm listening now, or when I'm coloring (yes 49 year old men still color) has a setting with the bass and volume reduced. For me, my sleep was interrupted by some of this music. I am a light sleeper and the vocals and sometimes the bass wake me up so, I go through a smaller sound system thus reducing the bass. I set the volume where I can barely hear it when it starts and it lulls me to sleep perfectly. Another great work of his that it's worth buying the extra stuff on is Re-composed. The DVD that comes with it is wonderful and everyone I show it to falls in love. Max has evolved into quite the mad scientist of classical music taking it places like sleeping, ringtones and Tilda Swinton while still giving us masterpieces like On The Nature Of Daylight and Andras. I would love to see him work with Johann Johannsson or Thom Yorke but I'm sure what ever he does I will savour every moment.
A**E
Thank you Max and Yulia.
I had never heard of Max Richter,but had been a nighttime Bach sleeper.When I heard of Max's work on SLEEP I was curious,For me Its obvious to me that he really has a love for Sleep (in general) and for the listener (who is the real subject of this pleasure).And on top of litening to it every night while sleeping for 5 months now,this beautiful music just gets lovelier with time.My sleeping body syncs to this (so to speak) Ive begun to hear the breath in between the notes and truly lulls me to sleep and great deep sleep.Well done Max and Yulia.Ive never had a piece of music transform my life as SLEEP has.I cant say enough about it,but I already have. (people much more eloquent than I have given much more lavish reviews than I ever could) I am so sweetly sung to sleep by this amazing piece.God bless them all for putting this together.-Brian
E**N
expensive investment but worth it
I balked at the idea of spending about 50 bucks on a CD of music but this is worth it (note, the cds come in a box in paper sleeves, not plastic cases, which I prefer because it's less bulky/wasteful). People who don't like Richter's minimalism won't think this album is worth it because the tracks do sound a bit repetitive (but they aren't, as is the point of minimalism). I think it is great music to listen to while working (because it is calming and not distracting) or trying to fall asleep (no brainer). I chose this over the abbreviated/cheaper Sleep album because that one didn't have some of my favorite tracks (sublunar, space waves, etc).
M**L
Warning: Will lead to more expensive purchases
I was excited to see that the CD version of this masterwork finally came out, a little while after the iTunes release. What's really cool, though, was the Blu-ray audio disc that has all of the tracks for uninterrupted listening on the home stereo. However, my poor old slow-as-Christmas Samsung Blu-ray player only had audio outputs to the TV, so I had to leave the set on to listen to the piece, which was distracting at night. So I bought an OPPO BDP-103 Universal Disc Player and replaced both the Blu-ray and the component CD player. Granted, the OPPO was $500, but it was worth it, at least to me. I needed an upgrade, anyway.
G**Y
Scarily effective
The dreams you have may be a bit heavy. Lovely, warm recording that does help sleep. It's a long, melancholy piece using minor keys that may make your dreams either sad or slow, long, and intense. Someday I'll listen to two or three pieces per day during daylight to discover the mysteries of the deep sleep this piece fosters.
S**Z
Excellent production
An amazing work, whether used as a meditation aid, to promote sleep, or for a relaxing surround
J**H
A Beautiful Work of Art
This is hands-down one of my favorite albums. A lot of people may not like it's repetitiveness or the vocals. I don't mind. I love listening to it while I'm working or commuting or falling asleep.Some of my favorite memories of this album was last year when I'd listen to this on my commute into work with noise cancelling headphones. It's wonderful prep for busy days.5/7 recommend to anyone.
D**A
Perfect to help with relaxation
Very relaxing, ethereal music. I listen to it when stuck in traffic, want to relax after a long day, or as a sleep aid. I also listen to it when giving my clients a massage (they really enjoy it for relaxation).
J**O
Un éxtasis de música
Celestial , creo que el mejor trabajo de Richter junto con su álbum Voces I y II.
H**I
Max Richter - Sleep
Was für ein sensationelles, meditatives Hörvergnügen! Die Tonqualität ist umwerfend. Die musikalischen und kompositorischen Elemente sind umwerfend und erinnern an Arvo Pärt und Bryan Eno.
U**E
Tant à découvrir chez cet artiste
Pour structurer le tempo et le mantra de ma méditation, c’est parfait. La 1ère fois que j’ai entendu le 1er morceau du 1er CD, j’ai trouvé ça NUL. Hostile m’a fait réfléchir au talent de Max Richter, tout au moins quant à l’expression intense de la violence, de la peur, du désespoir. Plus tard, j’ai écouté à nouveau Sleep et le charme de cette étrange musique m’a émerveillée. Ensuite, j’ai lu que Max Richter n’était pas n’importe qui. Ça ne m’étonne pas et ça me fait plaisir. Sleep et un bon casque, le nirvâna. A son concert, je n’aurais pas dormi une minute.Plus tard, je me pencherai sur d’autres de ses compositions.Il ne me lira pas mais je le dis quand même : MERCI MAX RICHTER.
L**5
Un autore a me sconosciuto... peccato non averlo ascoltato prima!!!!
Non conosco l'artista, e neanche lontanamente le sue opere... ma grazie a youtube ho scoperto questa opera monumentale intimista riflessiva rilassante..... dopo vari ascolti... l'ho acquistato ad occhi chiusi.MERAVIGLIOSO è poco, un'opera che ritengo valga tutti i soldi spesi che mi appresterò ad ascoltare prima in cuffia e poi sicuramente in casa.... Non ci sono (musicalmente parlando) voli pindalici, virtuosismi, effetti eclatanti...... ma semplicemente un suono che ti accompagna dolcemente a rilassarti. Lo scopo è quello di accompagnarti durante il sonno (ecco il titolo), ma questo non significa che possa essere ascoltato come sottofondo mentre si è in casa per rilassarsi.... ottimo, davvero ottimo... meraviglioso il bluray audio con tutte le oltre otto ore di musica.. ininterrotta.
S**R
Absolutely outstandingly beautiful!
If you are looking at this then you clearly like Max Richter otherwise why would you be looking at an 8 hour boxset of his music. You have 2 choices here, From Sleep which is about 1 hour or Sleep which is over 8 hours. Why would you want to listen to a piece of music for 8 hours when you can have an edited version for 7 hours less save £30. I would defy anyone who likes Max's music to listen to Sleep online before purchase and then live without the extra 7 hours! It's an absolute masterpiece!!
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