Main content

Steve Reich's Different Trains: Minimalism and Memory

Tom explores Steve Reich’s 1988 work Different Trains, its use of sampling and speech melodies, and its evocation of the Holocaust. Our witness is the author and journalist Jonathan Freedland.

Producer: Ruth Thomson

Available now

29 minutes

Music Played

  • Steve Reich

    Different trains for string quartet and tape

    Performer: Kronos Quartet.
    • Nonesuch.
    • 9791762.
  • Leos Janáček

    The Cunning little vixen - opera in 3 acts [Prihody lisky Bystrousky]

    Performer: Dalibor JedliÄŤka. Performer: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • DECCA.
    • 5739286778.
  • Steve Reich

    It's gonna rain (for tape)

    • NONESUCH.
    • 075597927382.
  • Henryk MikoĹ‚aj GĂłrecki

    Symphony no. 3 Op.36 (Symphony of sorrowful songs) for soprano and orchestra

    Performer: Dawn Upshaw. Performer: London Sinfonietta. Conductor: David Zinman.
    • ELEKTRA/NONESUCH.
    • 7559--79282 2.
  • Arnold Schoenberg

    A Survivor from Warsaw Op.46 for narrator, male chorus and orchestra

    Performer: Gottfried Hornik. Performer: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
    • 431-774-2.
  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Symphony no. 13 in B flat minor Op.113 (Babiy Yar) for bass solo, bass choir and orchestra

    Performer: Vitaly Bromadsky. Performer: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Kirill Kondrashin.
    • RUSSIAN DISC.
    • RDCD 11191.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 6 Nov 2022 17:00
  • Fri 11 Nov 2022 16:30

Why do we call it 'classical' music?

Tom Service poses a very simple question (with a not-so-simple answer).

Six of the world's most extreme voices

From babies to Mongolian throat singers: whose voice is the most extreme of all?

How did the number 12 revolutionise music?

How did the number 12 revolutionise music?

How Schoenberg opened a new cosmos for composers and listeners to explore.

Why are we all addicted to bass?

Why are we all addicted to bass?

Bass is everywhere, but why do we enjoy it? Join Tom Service on a journey of discovery.

Watch the animations

Join Tom Service on a musical journey through beginnings, repetition and bass lines.

When does noise become music?

We like to think we can separate “noise” from “music”, but is it that simple?

Podcast