Ian Burdge

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Max Richter: While The Flood Rages

by Maciej Stasiowski
November 3, 2026

Among contemporary classical composers, Max Richter remains at the helm of those preoccupied with listening habits. These days attention spans are limited. What can music do to remain deeply effective? Exploring this notion made him dabble in the extremes, with an album of ringtones on 24 Postcards in Full Colour (FatCat Records, 2008) on one end of the scale and, on the other, an eight-CD/Blu-ray sonic wallpaper for our dreaming selves--2015's Sleep (Deutsche Grammophon). The two releases are polar opposites ...