Like many composers Richter was always fascinated by Vivaldi’s 1725 composition because 'The Four Seasons is an omnipresent piece of music and like no other part of our musical landscape’ But he was also aware of that for many, including himself, it had long ago ceased to be something of beauty and had instead become an ever present piece of muzak 'You hear it in the supermarket regularly, you’re confronted with it in adverts or hear it as muzak when on hold. He is the first in the series to employ an existing score, ‘inscribe’ his new composition into Vivaldi’s and record a ‘new’ version of a familiar work, thus creating a new hybrid work. However, Richter’s approach differs fundamentally from the preceding releases: in contrast to previous participants, such as Matthew Herbert or Moritz von Oswald & Carl Craig, who reworked recordings from the extensive Deutsche Grammophon catalogue, Richter actually ‘recomposed’ Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. The idea of recomposing and re-processing musical works was common practice in Vivaldi’s time and the project presents an exciting opportunity to make favorite classics relevant to a wider audience. Composer Max Richter is now part of Deutsche Grammophon’s acclaimed Recomposed series, in which contemporary artists are invited to re-work a traditional piece of music.

Summer 3 max richter