‘Keys, wallet, phone, tickets’ – that’s my usual mental mantra before heading out to a show. For Max Richter’s Sleep though, it’s more likely to be something like ‘toothbrush, tickets, sleeping bag and pjs – not the daggy ones though, because I’m going to be sleeping in a room with 400 other people.’

German-born Max Richter is a pianist, producer, remixer and collaborator, and a very, very prolific contemporary musical artist. His collaborative output encompasses concert music, operas, ballets, art and video installations, and multiple film, theatre and television scores.

In next year’s Auckland Arts Festival he will be performing a live version of his 2015 album Sleep. A one-off event, on 16 March (coincidentally, World Sleep Day),  the show is an eight-hour uninterrupted concert designed to be heard overnight, while lying down (camp stretchers provided).

The 31 uninterrupted pieces, Richter says, are intended to be experienced while in and out of consciousness and lucid dream states - “a personal lullaby for a frenetic world.”

Composed in consultation with neuroscientist David Eagleman, Sleep explores the effect of music on subconscious minds. It is, according to Richter, “A manifesto for a slower pace of existence” and “The antithesis of a rave.”

He describes the work as an experiment into how music and consciousness connect in a different way - how the mind functions while sleeping and how the music interracts.

The idea of sleeping through a concert though seemed a little insane to me - I wouldn't want to miss a minute - and I thought listening to a concert lying down with 400 other people might be a bit weird. But Emma Robertson’s Crack Magazine review of the Berlin show dispels that aprehension and gives some insight into the dreamy, timeless state the music evokes.

“It wasn’t long before everyone seemed to fall asleep. The night’s most special moments, though, occurred during the inevitable intermittent stirrings: I awoke at around 2:30am to see a solitary audience member standing in front of the stage, eyes closed, arms reaching for the ceiling, completely lost in the music.

Later, around 5:00, I woke up to a room that was sound asleep, while Richter played the piano alone. It was an unusually intimate moment, almost like I’d walked in on him in his living room. My own sleep was confounding; I woke up multiple times to listen and found myself wondering where I recognised the music from, only to realise I’d unconsciously heard it in my night’s dreams. There was a time where I dreamed that I was at the concert, and I awoke confused as to what was a dream and what was a memory.”

Performed 10 times already around the world, Richter said, “The work has been very well received and each city receives the work in its own way. It’s always a very moving experience.”

Performing for eight hours, Sleep is definitely an endurance event for the musicians involved. Max Richter on piano, organs, synthesizer and electronics is joined by soprano Grace Davidson, and two cellists, two violinists and violaist from ACME (American Contemporary Music Ensemble).

Richter is also performing Four Seasons Recomposed in the festival – a reinvigorated version of the celebrated classical masterwork. While in Auckland, he will also be hosting a workshop for students of music for the screen.

For ticketing information, click here.