The Blue Notebooks

The Blue Notebooks
Studio album by Max Richter
Released 26 February 2004
Studio Eastcote Studios
(London, England)
Hear No Evil Studios
(London, England)
Genre
Length 40:29
Label 130701
Producer Max Richter
Max Richter chronology
Memoryhouse
(2002)		 The Blue Notebooks
(2004)		 Songs from Before
(2006)
Alternative cover
2014 reissue cover

The Blue Notebooks is the second album by British producer/composer Max Richter, released on 26 February 2004 on 130701, an imprint of FatCat Records.

Background

The album features readings from Franz Kafka's The Blue Octavo Notebooks and Czesław Miłosz's Hymn of the Pearl and Unattainable Earth. Both readings are by the British actress Tilda Swinton. The track "On the Nature of Daylight" was used in the 2006 Will Ferrell film Stranger than Fiction as well as the 2012 film "Disconnect" directed by Henry Alex Rubin and starring Jason Bateman and Hope Davis, and in the movie The Face of an Angel (2014) directed by Michael Winterbottom. It also appears on the soundtrack of Martin Scorsese's 2010 film, Shutter Island. It was also mixed with Dinah Washington's vocal from her 1960 hit "This Bitter Earth" for the same movie and soundtrack.[1] In addition, "Shadow Journal" and "Organum" were both included in the soundtrack of the Ari Folman film "Waltz with Bashir." The film's original score was composed by Richter.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Pitchfork8.7/10[3]
PopMatters(Favorable)[4]
StylusB−[5]

The Blue Notebooks received widespread critical acclaim from contemporary music critics.

Mark Pytlik of Pitchfork Media gave the album a very positive review, explaining, "The Blue Notebooks is a case study in direct, minor-key melody. Each of the piano pieces "Horizon Variations", "Vladimir's Blues" and "Written in the Sky" establish strong melodic motifs in under two minutes, all the while resisting additional orchestration. Elsewhere, Richter's string suites are similarly striking; "On the Nature of Daylight" coaxes a stunning rise out of gently provincial arrangements while the comparatively epic penultimate track "The Trees" boasts an extended introductory sequence for what is probably the album's closest brush with grandiosity. Richter's slightly less traditional pieces also resound; both the underwater choral hymnal "Iconography" and the stately organ piece "Organum" echo the spiritual ambience that characterized his work for Future Sound of London." Pytlik continued, stating, "There is absolutely nothing exclusive or contrived-feeling about it. In fact, not only is Richter's second album one of the finest of the last six months, it is also one of the most affecting and universal contemporary classical records in recent memory."[3]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Max Richter. 

No. Title Length
1. "The Blue Notebooks"   1:19
2. "On the Nature of Daylight"   6:11
3. "Horizon Variations"   1:52
4. "Shadow Journal"   8:22
5. "Iconography"   3:38
6. "Vladimir's Blues"   1:18
7. "Arboretum"   2:53
8. "Old Song"   2:11
9. "Organum"   3:13
10. "The Trees"   7:52
11. "Written on the Sky"   1:40
Total length:
 40:29

Release history

Country Date
United Kingdom 26 February 2004
United States 18 May 2004

References

  1. ↑ Bradley Bambarger (March 12, 2010). "'Shutter Island' soundtrack casts eerie spell". New Jersey On-Line.
  2. ↑ Allmusic review
  3. 1 2 Pitchfork Media review
  4. ↑ PopMatters review
  5. ↑ Stylus review

External links

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