While making music out of recorded speech samples was not a new idea in Steve Reich’s music, the Kronos Quartet’s release of Different Trains in 1989 gripped listeners with unprecedented potency. The work’s subject matter partly explains its impact—the voice recordings Reich uses recall both train journeys across America made in his childhood, and those made by Jewish prisoners to the death camps of the Holocaust. Howling train whistles haunt the textured soundscape woven by four string quartets (all played by Kronos), as the excitement of boyhood discovery morphs into unimaginable … read more
While making music out of recorded speech samples was not a new idea in Steve Reich’s music, the Kronos Quartet’s release of Different Trains in 1989… read more
While making music out of recorded speech samples was not a new idea in Steve Reich’s music, the Kronos Quartet’s release of Different Trains in 1989 gripped listeners with unprecedented… read more
Stephen Michael Reich (pronounced RYSHE; born October 3, 1936 in New York City) is an American composer. He is a pioneer of minimalism, although his music has increasingly deviated from a purely minimalist style. Reich's innovations include using tape loops to create phasing patterns (examples are his early compositions, "It's Gonna Rain" and "Come Out"), and the use of processes to create and explore musical concepts (for instance, "Pendulum Music" and ""Four Organs"). These compositions, marked by their use of repetitive fig… read more
Stephen Michael Reich (pronounced RYSHE; born October 3, 1936 in New York City) is an American composer. He is a pioneer of minimalism, although his music has increasingly deviated from a … read more
Stephen Michael Reich (pronounced RYSHE; born October 3, 1936 in New York City) is an American composer. He is a pioneer of minimalism, although his music has increasingly deviated from a purely minimalist style. Reich's innovati… read more