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Track Listings
| 1. Europe After The Rain |
| 2. Maria The Poet (1913) |
| 3. Laika's Journey |
| 4. The Twins (Prague) |
| 5. Sarajevo |
| 6. Andras |
| 7. Untitled (Figures) |
| 8. Sketchbook |
| 9. November |
| 10. Jan's Notebook |
| 11. * Arbenita (11 Years) |
| 12. Garden (1973) / Interior |
| 13. Landscape With Figure (1922) |
| 14. Fragment |
| 15. Lines An A Page (One Hundred Violins) |
| 16. Embers |
| 17. Last Days + Quartet Fragment (1908) |
Product Description
Review
Max Richter’s debut album Memoryhouse was originally recorded with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in 2002 for the BBC’s Late Junction classical music label. A masterpiece in neoclassical composition, the album has languished in out-of-print obscurity since the dissolution of Late Junction as a label. Indeed, inquisitive listeners might now know Richter better for his earlier collaborations with electronic pioneers The Future Sound of London and Roni Size, as well as his elegiac score to Ari Folman’s 2008 animated documentary Waltz with Bashir.
But Fat Cat Records has plucked Memoryhouse from the doldrums to introduce a new audience to Richter’s first major solo work, and give old fans an excuse to fall under its spell all over again. And what an intoxicating spell it is. A 65-minute journey through the beauty and tragedy of 20th century Europe, Memoryhouse is like an immaculately observed postcard journal, albeit one informed more by imagination than documentary accuracy.
Opening track Europe, After the Rain sets the template for the album’s elegant aesthetic, with a breathy whisper and a crooning violin melody. The track’s central refrain is repeated throughout the album, whether to the toy box electronica of Untitled (Figures) or the baroque harpsichord of Garden (1973)/Interior. The repetition of musical themes set to diverse soundscapes helps to shape the album’s feel as a repository of scattered memories, like a muddled stack of old photographs.
And this vagueness proves to be Memoryhouse’s greatest asset. Whilst some tracks have clearly identifiable reference points, most are left pleasingly open, allowing the listener to fill in the blanks. The thumping, apocalyptic bombast of Last Days might conjure up the sight of WW2 tanks rolling across the French countryside; Sarajevo’s swirling strings might send listeners sprinting down the backstreets of a war-torn city.
Despite the album’s grounding in orchestral music, there’s much for the modern music fan to love here. Richter’s epic, cinematic exploration of sound has echoes in post-rock’s more restrained moments (Mono and Sigur Rós are good touchstones), and even in Beirut’s Eurocentric indie folk.
This collection of evocative vignettes demonstrates why many filmmakers would happily donate a limb to have Richter scoring their movie, but the happy fact is that Memoryhouse will play infinitely better to the stories in your head. --Chris Lo
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is my favourite Max Richter album, for the simple reason that there is a greater consistency and overall integration of the individual pieces, than on his other albums. The rising/falling keening refrain is classic Richter, achieved by a combination of warmly luscious piano chords, the plaintive, yearning tones of violin/viola, and an unobtrusive string backdrop, and lodges in the head and heart long after you've listened to it. It is unashamedly emotional music, steeped in unfulfilled longing, and delivered in luscious, rich textures. Given its direct appeal to the heart, its music to fall in love with very quickly. Perhaps the only downside to all of this is that over-indulgence can lead to the necessity to limit your exposure (as with rich chocolate cake?), as too much richness can prove cloying. Once you've explored Richter's various albums, or want to explore something new and more adventurous, try Gorecki's 3rd Symphony on Naxos Górecki - Symphony No 3; Olden Style Pieces Harold Budd's 'Abandoned Cities' The Serpent (in Quicksilver) / Abandoned Cities or Karaindrou: Ulysses' Gaze Original Soundtrack [SOUNDTRACK] What a wonderful sound world is waiting out there!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I came across Max Richter accidentally when my son left The Blue Notebooks CD in my car. This hooked me immediately with its uncanny ability to relax me and help my mind meander off in interesting and unexpected directions. I subsequently bought several of his other albums, including this one. All are wonderful pieces of music which I have listened to again and again without tiring of them, but Memoryhouse is my favourite. In my mind it is the one that comes together most as a whole, and I particularly enjoy the variation created by the more dense orchestration in some use of the pieces in comparison to the other albums. Sarajevo for instance, builds to a wonderful, short, blast of emotion, before bringing you gently back down again, and Last Days just sweeps you away from the first few notes. It would not be wrong to say that my life has been enhanced by the accidental discovery of Mr Richter's wonderful musical gifts and I cannot recommend this album enough.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Finally re-released with new but sympathetic artwork, this brings this profoundly moving piece of work back into the affordable mainstream.
Check out the reviews on Amazon for the original release. It is difficult to add anything that hasn't already been said.
At first listening you'd think this originated in Iceland ala Einaudi but it doesn't. This is expansive music, more conventionally classical than say 'postcards'. Almost a film score in overall feel, the longer pieces allow the music to develop fully whilst remaining dense but at the same time minimilistic.
Bleak and haunting but never less than beautiful. I cannot recommend this enough. It is the soundtrack to European history and at this price it is an essential purchase for lovers of grown up music.
Check out the reviews on Amazon for the original release. It is difficult to add anything that hasn't already been said.
At first listening you'd think this originated in Iceland ala Einaudi but it doesn't. This is expansive music, more conventionally classical than say 'postcards'. Almost a film score in overall feel, the longer pieces allow the music to develop fully whilst remaining dense but at the same time minimilistic.
Bleak and haunting but never less than beautiful. I cannot recommend this enough. It is the soundtrack to European history and at this price it is an essential purchase for lovers of grown up music.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Leicester Bangs Review (2009):
Max Richter - Memoryhouse (FatCat / 130701)
Originally released on the BBC's Late Junction label back in 2002, Max Richter's Memoryhouse is a collection of classical pieces,... Read more
Originally released on the BBC's Late Junction label back in 2002, Max Richter's Memoryhouse is a collection of classical pieces,... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Leicester Bangs
The man is a genius
An amazing album - addictive almost. Powerful and deeply moving.
Listening to Memoryhouse and the Blue Notebook you realise
how much of Richter's work is used in... Read more
Listening to Memoryhouse and the Blue Notebook you realise
how much of Richter's work is used in... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Time Traveller
Modern Classical Masterpiece
This eagerly awaited, re released CD is a must buy in my opinion, classical, ambient and extremely relaxing listening - Max Richter is a rare young talent and will no doubt become... Read more
Published on 13 Jan 2010 by J. Jones
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