The Blue Notebooks

The Blue Notebooks is the second album by neo-classical producer and composer Max Richter. The album was conceived in 2003 and released on 26 February 2004 on 130701, an imprint of FatCat Records. It is a protest album about the 2003 invasion of Iraq and violence in general.

The Blue Notebooks
Studio album by Max Richter
Released	26 February 2004
Studio	Eastcote Studios (London, England) Hear No Evil Studios (London, England) [citation needed]
Genre	Contemporary classical ambient [1]
Length	40:29[citation needed]
Label	130701
Producer	Max Richter
Max Richter chronology
Memoryhouse (2002) The Blue Notebooks (2004) Songs from Before (2006)
Alternative cover
2014 reissue cover

Following the success of his 2012 album Vivaldi Recomposed on the Deutsche Grammophon label, Richter signed many of his previous recordings to DG,^[2] including The Blue Notebooks, which was reissued on 29 April 2014.

On 11 May 2018, DG released a two-disc fifteenth-anniversary edition of The Blue Notebooks which includes re-recordings, alternate arrangements, and remixes by Jlin and Konx-Om-Pax.^[3][4]

Background

Richter composed The Blue Notebooks in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He has described it as "a protest album about Iraq, a meditation on violence – both the violence that I had personally experienced around me as a child and the violence of war, at the utter futility of so much armed conflict." The album was recorded about a week after mass protests against the war.^[5]

The album features readings from Franz Kafka's The Blue Octavo Notebooks and Czesław Miłosz's Hymn of the Pearl and Unattainable Earth. Both extracts are read by the British actress Tilda Swinton.^[6][7]

Composition and performance

The track "Shadow Journal" was recorded after Richter participated in a demonstration against the Iraq War in London.^[8]

Usage in popular media

The tracks "Shadow Journal" and "Organum" were included in the soundtrack of the animated documentary Waltz with Bashir (2008), while the track "Vladimir's Blues" is featured throughout all three seasons of the TV series The Leftovers (2014-2017).^{[citation needed]}

The track "On the Nature of Daylight" has been used extensively throughout cinema and television, including in Stranger than Fiction (2006), Shutter Island (2010), Disconnect (2012), Arrival (2016), Togo (2019) and The Last of Us (2023).^{[9][10][11][12]}

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[13]
Pitchfork	8.7/10[1]
PopMatters	8/10[14]
Resident Advisor	4.5/5[15]
Stylus Magazine	B−[16]
Tiny Mix Tapes	4/5[17]
Uncut	8/10[18]

The Blue Notebooks received widespread critical acclaim.^{[citation needed]}

In his positive review, Mark Pytlik of Pitchfork explains,

"The Blue Notebooks is a case study in direct, minor-key melody. Each of the piano pieces [...] 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. 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."^[1]

In 2019, The Guardian writers ranked The Blue Notebooks the 21st greatest work of art music since 2000, with John Lewis praising "On the Nature of Daylight" as a piece in which "ever-expanding layers of strings are used to heart-tugging effect."^[19]

Track listing

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

All tracks are written by Max Richter.

The Blue Notebooks: 15 Years Edition

No.	Title	Length
12.	"A Catalogue of Afternoons"	1:21
13.	"On the Nature of Daylight" (Orchestral Version)	6:36
14.	"Vladimir's Blues 2018"	1:30
15.	"On the Nature of Daylight (Entropy)"	6:54
16.	"Vladimir's Blues" (Jlin Remix)	3:45
17.	"Iconography" (Konx-Om-Pax Remix)	3:56
18.	"This Bitter Earth / On the Nature Of Daylight" (with Dinah Washington) - (#18 "This Bitter Earth" written by Clyde Otis))	6:13
Total length:		70:44

Featured readings:

• Track 1 reading from "The First Notebook" in Franz Kafka's The Blue Octavo Notebooks
• Track 4 reading from "At Dawn" in Czesław Miłosz's Unattainable Earth
• Track 7 reading from "The Third Notebook" in Franz Kafka's The Blue Octavo Notebooks
• Track 8 reading from "The Fourth Notebook" in Franz Kafka's The Blue Octavo Notebooks
• Track 10 reading from "The Wormwood Star" movement of "The Separate Notebooks" in Czesław Miłosz's Hymn Of The Pearl

Personnel

Credits adapted from The Blue Notebooks: 15 Years Edition interior booklet:^[3]

• Reader: Tilda Swinton (1, 4, 7, 8, 10)
• Piano: Max Richter (1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14-16)
• Electronics: Max Richter (1, 3-5, 7-10, 17)
• Violins: Louisa Fuller and Natalia Bonner (2, 4, 7, 10, 15, 18)
• Viola: John Metcalfe (2, 4, 7, 10, 15, 18)
• Cellos: Philip Sheppard and Chris Worsey (2, 4, 7, 10, 18); Chris Worsey and Ian Burdge (15)
• Max Richter Orchestra conducted by Lorenz Dangel (13)
• Vocals: Dinah Washington (18)

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[20]	Silver	60,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Country	Date
United Kingdom	26 February 2004
United States	18 May 2004
United States	11 May 2018