Steve Reich - Different Trains: America, Before the War

Published: March 23, 2022, 5 p.m.

Steve Reich is a legendary composer who was one of the pioneers of minimalism. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music, and the New York Times called him \u201cAmerica\u2019s greatest living composer.\u201d I had the incredible honor of getting to speak to Steve Reich about his piece Different Trains, written for string quartet and pre-recorded performance tape. It was first performed in 1988 by the Kronos Quartet, and they released a recording of it in 1989, which won the Grammy for Best Classical Contemporary Composition. Different Trains is a piece about World War II and the Holocaust. It\u2019s made up of three movements: America \u2013 Before the War, Europe \u2013 During the War, and After the War. For this episode, Steve Reich breaks down the first movement, which was inspired by his own childhood experiences.

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