On the nature of daylight: a meditation on war and empathy

Hal Swerissen

Minimalist music is the classic genre of the 21st Century intended to give you the space to reflect and think without the myriad distractions of of the 24/7 online world. The piece to listen to as a reflection on the current international turmoil, if you haven’t already is ‘On the nature of daylight‘ by Max Richter.

Max Richter is a defining figure in contemporary classical music, blurring the lines between minimalist structures, electronic textures, and neoclassical beauty. Known for his expansive, emotive soundscapes, Richter has cemented his place in modern culture through landmarks like The Blue Notebooks and his ambitious, eight-hour immersive work, SLEEP, which recently celebrated its tenth anniversary.

Beyond his solo albums, Richter has profoundly shaped cinematic storytelling. His emotive scores for The Leftovers and Waltz with Bashir are central to their narratives, while the poignant strings of “On the Nature of Daylight” have become iconic, famously anchoring films like Arrival. Whether through repetitive piano motifs or sweeping orchestral drones, Richter’s compositions create an immersive experience that feels both deeply intimate and universal. As a vital architect of modern sound, he continues to evolve how we process emotion through music, proving that simplicity is often the most powerful vessel for complex human feeling.

‘On the nature of daylight’ sweeps you up building emotional intensity through a single unchanging harmonic progression that repeats through the work. Richter wrote it as a protest to the 2003 Iraq war as ‘an externalised meditation on violence’, a theme that resonates again as reflection on the American Israeli war against Iran. It is difficult to listen to the piece and not grieve for the human misery war brings to ordinary people caught in war and conflict.

Richter was disillusioned with the political rhetoric and the cynical justifications and discounting of the cost of human cost of violence inherent in the politics of the day. His album, ‘The Blue Notebooks’ ,of which ‘on the nature of daylight’ is part, is intended as a meditative space to counteract these destructive tendencies.