Different Trains by Steve Reich – Artistic Testimonies

Thinking back to his childhood as a child of divorced parents and his adventurous train rides between Los Angeles and New York, Reich also has a disquieting memory of Jewish children and their deportations to extermination camps during the Nazi regime. He is aware that he would have boarded very different trains if he was in Europe at that time and his train journeys would have undergone a drastic change of destination. With “Different Trains”, Reich interweaves his personal experiences and memories with those of Jewish children in the days of National Socialism. Reich’s work is built on train noises and audio recordings of his governess, a former porter and three Holocaust survivors, and a string quartet accompaniment.

 

The first movement “America – Before the war” addresses Reich’s travels back and forth between his parents’ residences. The music and speech recordings convey feelings of excitement, youthful carefreeness and childlike joy and fascination for the simple things in life. I can envision a little boy looking out of the window while excitedly and curiously asking all sorts of questions and being eager for knowledge as well as ready to discover and explore the big wide world. It reflects a pleasant anticipation and a lighthearted childhood.

 

“Europe – During the war”, the second movement of the piece, induces a growing feeling of discomfort and uncertainty as the Holocaust survivors and witnesses Paul, Rachel and Rachella look back on their traumatic experiences in Nazi-occupied Europe. A highly threatening and disturbing mood is created, and at the same time one is overcome by an inconsolable sadness upon hearing the voices that chronicle the events suffered at the hands of Nazi Germany. Initially, the music slows to a more depressing mood, but then it speeds up and becomes increasingly hectic, signifying a great commotion. Specific loud sounds are alarmingly similar to piercing screams of people. Even when the tune calms, the anxiety remains. The video footage of the performance of the piece that incorporates visuals displays a black screen, thus referring to the victims’ hopeless situation and that they could not see a way out.

 

The third and final movement “After the war” generates mixed feelings. In the midst of the enormous relief that the war ended, there also lurks the deep grief for the loved ones lost. The places that once had been their home countries became foreign, and survivors were scattered throughout the world and in search of their surviving relatives. Paul saying, “And the war was over”, and Rachella’s comment, “Are you sure?”, directs my thoughts to the painful reminder of the fact that the war left behind physical, psychological and mental turmoil. Most of the survivors lost everything: neither did they have a home, nor a family or clothing or food. Furthermore, the end of the war did not equate to the vanishing of anti-Semitism. Holocaust survivors were still not safe from hatred and contempt and had a hard time rehabilitating.

 

The title of Reich’s piece immediately reminded me of Frank Meisler’s monument “Trains to Life – Trains to Death” in memory of the Jewish children’s opposing fates during the NS period. The bronze sculpture portrays two groups of children: one group is being deported to their deaths and the other group has their lives saved by the children’s transports to England. Different trains with different destinations. The memorialization of “Different Trains” operates a bit differenty as it applies a musically creative approach. All these factors make it an unforgettable musical experience that touches and moves the heart. It integrates spoken sentences of Holocaust survivors’ reminiscences that are arranged into fragmented, rhythmical and recurring sequences of tones. The emotional effect of Reich’s work evidently confirms that Reich succeeded in combining “a documentary reality” with “a musical reality”.