292-297 MAX RICHTER / HORIZON VARIATIONS

[...INSPIRATION & INNOVATION / AREN’T REALLY THE SAME THING. I’M SUSPICIOUS OF THE IDEA OF INNOVATION FOR ITS OWN SAKE. OUR CULTURE HAS TAKEN ON THE TECHNOLOGICAL PARADIGM THAT NEW THINGS, OR INNOVATIVE THINGS, ARE SOMEHOW DE FACTO BETTER, OR GOOD. I’M NOT REALLY PERSUADED BY THAT. I’M NOT THAT INTERESTED IN NEW THINGS IN THEMSELVES, BUT IN THINGS WHICH ARE AUTHENTIC IN SOME WAY. NEW THINGS CAN BE AUTHENTIC— IT’S JUST THAT IT’S NOT AUTOMATICALLY THE CASE.
INNOVATIVE WAYS OF HANDLING MATERIAL & IDEAS— THAT CAN BE VERY STARTLING IN ART. IF YOU THINK OF SOMEONE LIKE MONDRIAN POPPING UP, OR JOYCE, OR PEREC, SCHÖNBERG, OR STRAVINSKY, OR CHARLIE PARKER, OR BRIAN ENO, THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO HANDLE MATERIAL IN INNOVATIVE WAYS. THIS NEW FORMAL APPROACH HAS GOT SOMETHING TO DO WITH ENABLING NEW KINDS OF CONTENT, BUT IT’S THE CONTENT THAT REALLY INTERESTS ME. BUT INNOVATION IN THE TECHNOLOGICAL SENSE, IN THE SENSE OF ‘LISTEN TO MY NEW SAMPLE’— I JUST WANT TO DIE WHEN I HEAR THINGS LIKE THAT. I JUST FIND THAT SO DEPRESSING, BECAUSE A PERSON IS SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING THAN A SAMPLE!
THERE ARE PLENTY OF SPHERES WHERE WE WANT INNOVATION. WE WANT THE CURE FOR THE COMMON COLD, WE WANT INNOVATION IN THE CREATION OF ENERGY OR IN ECOLOGICAL SPHERES, BUT MUSIC & ART ARE, FOR ME, ABOUT WORKING OUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A PERSON, & THE CHALLENGES OF BEING A PERSON, & THOSE ARE NOT THINGS WHERE TECHNICAL INNOVATION WILL GET US ANYWHERE, BECAUSE THESE ARE THE CHALLENGES & QUESTIONS THAT YOU ANSWER BY LIVING. THE FETISHISATION OF NOVELTY IS A BY-PRODUCT OF THIS TOO, & I DON’T REALLY THINK ABOUT THAT AT ALL. I’M TRYING TO MAKE THINGS THAT SATISFY ME IN SOME WAY, WHICH MAKE SENSE TO ME IN SOME WAY, & I DON’T REALLY THINK ABOUT WHETHER IT’S LIKE SOMEONE ELSE. I WANT IT TO BE LIKE ME.
THE IDEA OF AN ARTIST HAVING A STYLE IS A BIT OF A WORRY TOO. IT FEELS LIKE MARKETING TO ME. A LOT OF HAYDN & A LOT OF MOZART IS, FOR SOMEBODY WHO DOESN’T REALLY KNOW THAT MUSIC, COMPLETELY INTERCHANGEABLE. BACH, TELEMANN— THE SAME. THOMAS TALLIS & WILLIAM BYRD, ETC. THERE ARE SO MANY AREAS IN MUSIC HISTORY WHERE THERE’S A REAL INTERCHANGEABILITY OF STYLE, A SORT OF COMMON PRACTISE. SO I DON’T THINK IT’S ABOUT STYLISTIC UNIQUENESS, IT’S ABOUT CONTENT, & FINDING A PERSONAL THING TO SAY WITH THE LANGUAGE YOU HAVE.

[...]

LITERATURE / I THINK OF MUSIC AS A STORYTELLING MEDIUM. I’VE ALWAYS READ VORACIOUSLY & WIDELY, & WHEN I WAS A KID, I THOUGHT I’D PROBABLY BE A POET. I WAS FASCINATED BY LANGUAGE & BY WRITING. IT’S SO DIRECT, SUCH A VERSATILE & POTENT FORM. BUT THEN I BECAME MORE & MORE INTERESTED IN MUSIC & I REALISED THAT, ACTUALLY, MUSIC IS A KIND OF WRITING. IT’S A FORM OF STORYTELLING & IN A WAY IT’S MORE PERSONAL. IT SOUNDS STUPID TO SAY THAT, BUT I FEEL, WHEN I’M LISTENING TO A PIECE OF MUSIC, IT’S A ONE-TO-ONE CONVERSATION, & WHEN I DO MY OWN WORK, I’M DEFINITELY WRITING FOR THAT ONE PERSON WHO’S LISTENING.

[...]

FRANZ KAFKA / IS FOREVER NOW. I’D SAY, HE IS THE PATRON SAINT OF DOUBT. I THINK THAT DOUBT IS THE FUNDAMENTAL CONTEMPORARY STATE. HE’S VERY PRESCIENT, & ARTICULATED THE THINKING OF HIS TIME— & WHAT WAS TO COME— VERY CLEARLY. I THINK HE’S JUST A VERY COMPLETE WRITER. HE GOES EVERYWHERE. HE’S ALSO VERY HUMAN BECAUSE THERE’S SO MUCH AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL IN HIS WORK. HE’S REALLY TALKING ABOUT HIMSELF, ALL THE TIME, & THERE’S SOMETHING VERY COMFORTING ABOUT THAT. KAFKA JUST FEELS LIKE IT’S VERY HUMANE & VERY COMPASSIONATE...]


/ EXCERPT FROM A TEXT BASED ON AN INTERVIEW WITH MAX RICHTER BY LUKE MAYES & MONIKA BIELSKYTE









/ SELECTED SHEET MUSIC BY MAX RICHTER

ENTIRE ARTICLE ONLY IN THE PRINTED EDITION OF SOME/THINGS MAGAZINE CHAPTER005