The Blue Notebooks

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. 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. == Composition and performance ==

The track "Shadow Journal" was recorded after Richter participated in a demonstration against the Iraq War in London. ==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). 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), ''The Handmaid's Tale (2021), The Last of Us (2023), and Hamnet'' (2025). ==Critical reception==

The Blue Notebooks received widespread critical acclaim. ==Track listing==

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: • 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==