To mark Human Rights Day on Thursday 10th December, composer Max Richter’s groundbreaking recording project VOICES, inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, will be broadcast for the first time on BBC Radio 3 and 35 international radio stations in Europe, the US, Australia and beyond, in collaboration with the European Broadcasting Union. Max Richter and his creative partner Yulia Mahr will also participate in a global Q&A with the United Nations to mark the day. Also on 10th December, Decca Records will release a brand new EP featuring four international language narrations of ‘All Human Beings’ (the opening part of VOICES) in French, German, Spanish, Dutch and English.
At the heart of VOICES is a profound sense of global community, born out of Richter and Mahr’s career-long stance that creativity can play an activist role in our world. The album provides a place to think about the questions facing us through the prism of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In a time of dramatic global change, VOICES offers a musical message of hope.
WATCH THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR ‘ALL HUMAN BEINGS’ HERE
Richter and Mahr invited people around the world to be part of the piece, crowd-sourcing readings of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be interwoven into the work, which features an ‘upside-down’ orchestra. They received hundreds of submissions in over 70 languages. These readings form the aural landscape that the music flows through: they are the VOICES of the title.
Max Richter and Yulia Mahr say, “We are thrilled to have this opportunity to present VOICES once more. In these strange and challenging times it is more important than ever to keep the music playing and the message of the Universal Declaration alive. Thinking back now to the premiere of VOICES in February feels like visiting another world. In these strange and anxious times it is a great privilege to be able to mark Human Rights day by presenting the work again, in spite of the pandemic.”
