Steve Reich's earlier work had frequently used tape, looped and played back at different speeds; however, Different Trains was a novel experiment, using recorded speech as a source for melodies. After each melody in the piece is introduced, usually by a single instrument, a tape of the spoken phrase from which the melody derives is played. The melody is then developed for a while, with the instruments playing along with the tape of the phrase or part of the phrase. In addition to speech, the piece calls for recordings of trainsirens.
Much of the recorded speech that forms the basis for Different Trains is among the first recordings made on magnetic tape. It is taken from interviews with people in the United States and Europe about the years leading up to, during, and immediately after World War II. In the first movement, America – Before the War, Americans speak about train travel in the US. American train sirens are heard in the background. In the second movement, Europe – During the War, Europeans, many being Holocaust survivors, speak about the conditions in Europe during the war, in particular how trains were used to transport millions of civilians to concentration camps, and the sirens used are European train sirens. The third movement, America – After the War, features people talking about the years immediately following World War II, and a return to the American train sirens from the first movement.
DifferentTrains, released in 1989, captures Reich harnessing a return to using speech patterns in his work, as in 'Rain,' with a spare though startling string accompaniment in the form of the Kronos Quartet.
The 'DifferentTrains' theme originates from Reich's childhood, several wartime years spent travelling with his governess between his estranged parents, his mother in Los Angeles and his father in New York.
By combining the sound of train whistles, pistons and the scream of brakes with extracts of speech by porter Lawrence Davis, who took the same rides as Reich between the big apple and Los Angeles, governess Virginia and three holocaust survivors (Paul, Rachel and Rachella), Reich creates music of great intensity and feeling.
DifferentTrains, for string quartet and tape, begins a new way of composing that has its roots in my early tape pieces It’s Gonna Rain (1965) and Come Out (1966).
The speech samples and train sounds were transferred to tape with the use of sampling keyboards and a computer.
DifferentTrains is in three movements, although that term is stretched here, since tempos change frequently in each movement.
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