“Different Trains” – Steve Reich
This piece is a string quartet that was composed in 1988 by Steve Reich. It is made up of three movements; 1 America Before the war, 2 Europe-During the war, 3 After the war. When I first listened to the piece, I was overwhelmed by the very tense and frightful atmosphere. It almost made me want to pause the video, but at the same time, it made me curious about what the composer was trying to convey through the piece. The fast tremolo that appears throughout the piece reminded me of the fast-rolling wheels of the train and the long tone of the voice that appears from the middle sounded similar to a steam whistle. These sounds replicated the situation back then and helped the listener immerse into the music. Along with the imminent high notes on the violin, these sounds created a sense of terror that is approaching the listener. The lyrics were very limited, however, the word”’different train” was repeated over and over again trying to show that the tragic Holocaust happened in Europe is a humanitarian issue that every person in the world should know about and have a sense of responsibility for it. Being a Jew, the composer Steve Reich thought about the fact that there were tons of Jews on the Holocaust train while he was on a train traveling from New York to Los Angles; he was just on a “different train.”
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