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Q&A with Max Richter

Max Richter joins Scala Radio to curate a new series

Author: David May

Composer, pianist and producer Max Richter joined the Scala Radio family to curate a 3-part series, ‘Max Richter on Scala Radio’.

Playing a varied mix of calming classical music, from Bach to Caroline Shaw and Ravel to Philip Glass, along with some of Max’s own compositions and the stories behind them, Max shared his musical influences and showcased his favourite contemporary classical composers and musicians.

Max is best known for his genre-defying solo albums including 'The Blue Notebooks', 'Recomposed By Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons', and his eight-hour magnum opus 'Sleep'.

Having also contributed music to dozens of TV shows including The Leftovers, as well as films including Arrival, Ad Astra, and Mary, Queen of Scots, you will be hard pushed to have not heard Max’s music.

We caught up with Max to find out more about his journey into classical music.

What was your earliest experience of classical music?

My first experience of classical music was when I was still living in Germany, so I was no more than three years old. I heard the Bach Double Violin Concerto on a record that my parents were playing. I was really floored by this experience because obviously, it's beautiful music, and lovely tunes, but there was something else going on that was a governing logic principle which made these sounds add up to something more than just sounds. And that is why I fell in love with the idea that music could convey things.

When did you know you wanted to compose music?

I guess in a way, I was always composing, even when I was a tiny kid. I would have my blocks or whatever. I would have my drawings and things and I'd pick them up, and get a bit more scribbling on them. I had the same thing with music. I had little tunes in my head and I'd be working with those, really not knowing that that's what composing was. And I thought this was normal. And it was only later that I realised that not everyone has like music going on in their heads all the time.

So it always seemed quite natural for me really to be involved with music in some way. And composing is what I love to do.

Do you have a routine you follow when you’re composing or is the process often different with each project?

Every project has its own dynamic. Writing a film score is very different from writing a solo project, which is different from writing a ballet or an opera. But ultimately it's about trying to get the ideas down in the clearest, simple, direct way to convey the story, to be super-efficient so that every note is in the right place. That's really what I'm all about. And actually, that writing process is mostly about taking things away.

What was the first classical album you owned?

The first classical record I owned would have been well, I say I owned, I stole it from my parents. It's a copy of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and that kicked off a lifelong preoccupation with this piece, which led me later on to make Recomposed and now the new Four Seasons.

What's your favourite piece of classical music?

My favourite pieces of classical music are the pieces that leave you a different person having heard them. I've had that experience quite a lot. They’re pieces really about the big questions.

So the music of Bach. The B Minor Mass. Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, Mahler Ninth Symphony. These pieces push everything to the limit and you feel like the musical language is about things that are bigger than us. Those are the pieces which I really love.

How would you define your music?

I would say that my music is about asking questions or telling stories, and the things that make me want to do that are the events of the world.

We live in complicated times, challenging times, and I think creativity and music, the arts, and culture are really valuable ways for us to reflect on the world around us and to talk about it. And that for me is one of the things music can do.

You can listen back to all of Max's shows on Scala Radio Premium.

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