Steve Reich

b. 1936 · United States

Steve Reich (b. 1936) is an American composer widely regarded as a pioneer of minimalism, known for phase-shifting processes, tape works and pulse-driven ensembles. His Different Trains (1988) for string quartet and tape juxtaposes recorded speech with music to reflect on train journeys before, during and after the Second World War; its second movement, “Europe — During the War,” was programmed at UCMF 2024’s “Travel Diaries” concert on the theme of migration and displacement.

Composition

Performed at UCMF

Different Trains: II. Europe

UCMF 2024 · Travel Diaries · Mar 30 · 1988 · Chamber

Performed by The Rhythm Method (String quartet)

Different Trains (1988) for string quartet and tape is one of Steve Reich’s landmark works, weaving recorded speech — of Pullman porters, a governess and Holocaust survivors — into music whose melodies are drawn from the speech-melodies themselves. Its second movement, “Europe — During the War,” evokes the very different train journeys taken across wartime Europe, and joins UCMF 2024’s meditation on travel, distance and displacement.

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