Max RICHTER (b. 1966)
Voices
KiKi Layne (narrator), Grace Davidson (soprano), Mari Samuelsen (violin), Max Richter (keyboards), Camilla Pay (harp), Joby Burgess (percussion), choir and orchestra/Robert Ziegler
rec. AIR Studios, London, with voice-overs at VoiceOver LA, Los Angeles, California
DECCA 0898651 [54:09 + 53:01]
Max Richter’s substantial statement has been inspired by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. At a concert in Stratford-upon-Avon, I recently heard a piece of Richter’s On the Nature of Daylight from The Blue Notebooks. In that context, the length was about right. Voices takes up one disc (the second is the same piece but without vocals), but its slow-moving pace and generally soporific demeanour give the impression of a lengthy listen.
There is no doubting the astonishingly high production values of Voices. Especially through headphones, this becomes an immersive, perfectly judged experience on a technical level. Richter’s soundworld verges on the crossover. In my review of the Stratford concert, I referenced minimalism. Here it is ambient music that seems to be the primary influence. Certainly, the mood is elegiac, and retains a certain static nature throughout, despite samples of voices in non-English languages and the narration. A recording of Eleanor Roosevelt’s reading of the preamble to the Declaration adds a sense of authority; Richter also uses recordings of people from some 70 countries reading the Declaration.
Soprano Grace Davidson has an astonishingly pure voice, while Mari Samuelsen’s violin has an appropriately blanched tone. Perhaps it is the slow build of Chorale that is most impressive, as well as the most impressively managed. The scoring for orchestra is deliberately bass-heavy: 23 cellos and 13 double-basses.
While the text is all about hope, the music itself is almost mournful, even lachrymose, a sense of loss perhaps for what peace might have been if we had listened to the message of the Declaration. The movement named Murmuration seems to sum up this mood best. The piano solo Cartography, played by the composer, is (presumably deliberately) recorded to sound somewhat muffled. It may have benefitted from a more open sound to effect contrast.
KiKi Layne’s contributions are perfectly enunciated, and how beautiful it is to have the spoken female voice contrasted with the sung female voice in Little Requiems.
The second disc contains a ‘voiceless mix’ of the first. It is not quite voiceless, but the excision of texts allows one to hear Richter’s score at its bare-bones level. Somehow the vocalise in Little Requiem seems to gain in power.
In terms of performance and recording, then, this is beyond criticism. Recording Engineer Richard Coulson, who together with the composer mixed the piece, should be proud of the results. The close recording fits perfectly the immersive intent of the enterprise.
Voices is also released on two vinyl LPs.
Colin Clarke
