Released in 2015 and co-conceived with his creative partner Yulia Mahr, Richter’s magnum opus, ‘SLEEP’, is regarded as one of the most ambitious and culturally significant classical music projects of the 21st century. An 8 ½ hour musical enquiry into how sound and the sleeping mind interact, it explores the effects of subsonics and repetition to enhance slow wave sleep.
‘Sleep Circle’ is a hallucinatory 90-minute trip into the hypnagogic state – the time period when the brain transitions between a state of wakefulness and sleep and the state during which the individual dreams. Performing an abridged version of ‘SLEEP’ live in 2023 offered Richter new insights into his epic composition and led him to approach the songs with a more traditional architecture, resulting in this new recording being laid down at Studio Richter Mahr. The length is not arbitrary however; 90 minutes is the length of a typical REM cycle.
If ‘SLEEP’ provides the gateway to a full night’s sleep, ‘Sleep Circle’ provides the backdrop to a moment of complete deep sleep. The perfect mise-en-scene to dream.
