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Stories   >   On global human rights day, BBC Radio 3 unites with 35 EBU stations to air Voices by Max Richter / RadioToday

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On global human rights day, BBC Radio 3 unites with 35 EBU stations to air Voices by Max Richter / RadioToday

Posted: November 14, 2020

BBC Radio 3 is joining with 35 European Broadcasting Union radio stations around the world to air a message of unity through music. They'll make the first ever broadcast of Max Richter's latest work Voices on global Human Rights Day, Thursday 10 December.

Including passages adapted from the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, VOICES is inspired by the document's opening statement "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights", which provides the starting point for a musical reflection on the state of the world today.

A decade in the making, the piece received its world premiere in London in February. Its uplifting message of community particularly resonates as the world faces further months of uncertainty. It is here presented in a new version for 24-piece ensemble including strings, 4-member choir, electronics, solo soprano and narrator.

Following a previous Richter-focused collaboration with the European Broadcasting Union in April, when the composer's eight-hour long piece Sleep was heard by audiences in 20 countries at the start of world-wide lockdowns, 35 EBU-associated radio stations around the world join this unique broadcast of VOICES, providing listeners across the globe with a renewed moment of hope and a message of peace in unprecedented times.

Recorded on Friday 4 December at BBC Maida Vale studios – in strict compliance with all relevant health and safety guidelines – and presented by Elizabeth Alker, the BBC Radio 3 broadcast of VOICES features violinist Viktoria Mullova as soloist, soprano Grace Davidson, members of London-based vocal ensemble Tenebrae, the Max Richter ensemble – with Richter himself on keyboards and electronics – and British actor Sheila Atim as the narrator.

VOICES is co-conceived by Max Richter and his creative partner Yulia Mahr.

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