Artistic Creation as an Act of Identification: Examining Steve Reich’s Different Trains as a Window Into His Identity
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Authors
Fisher, Russell
Issue Date
2025-04-04
Type
Other
Language
en_US
Keywords
Autobiographical Music , Musical Identity and Memory , Steve Reich and Different Trains
Alternative Title
Abstract
Autobiographical art and music have the capacity to provide an exceptionally deep point of access for human connection, encouraging reflection on personal experiences and how they are woven into a web of events that define identity. Steve Reich (b. 1936) has written two major works for string quartet and prerecorded electronics that engage with tragic subject matter. In the first, Different Trains (1988), Reich reflects on the cross-country train journeys he made between New York and Los Angeles from 1939 to 1942, as well as the “different trains” he might have taken had he grown up in Europe as a Jewish child. In WTC 9/11 (2010), Reich reflects on the tragic attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. This paper explores, through formal and rhetorical analysis, the ways in which Reich accesses the intimate space of autobiographical art that engages with tragedy and identity in Different Trains. Rhetorically, Different Trains occupies a space in which Reich—often regarded as a stoic “process” composer—reveals a deeply personal dimension of his artistic voice. By analyzing the ways in which Reich “gives an account of himself” musically, this study demonstrates the power of music to communicate profound, and sometimes subconscious, thoughts and emotions.
Description
UB Rise 2025
College of Science and Society
Music Department