Different Trains
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| - | '''Repetitive music''' is [[music]] which features a relatively high degree of [[repetition (music)|repetition]] in its [[musical composition|creation]] or [[reception]]. Examples includes [[minimalist music]], [[krautrock]], [[disco]] (and its later derivatives such as [[house (music)|house music]]), some [[techno]], [[Igor Stravinsky]]'s compositions, [[barococo]], and the [[Suzuki method]]. (Fink 2005, p. 5) | + | '''''Different Trains''''' is a three-[[Movement (music)|movement]] piece for [[string quartet]] and [[Compact Cassette|tape]] written by [[Steve Reich]] in 1988. It won a [[Grammy Award]] in 1989 for [[Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition|Best Contemporary Classical Composition]]. |
| - | ==Types of repetitive music== | + | The work's three movements have the following titles: |
| - | Repetitive music (Hurttt) has often been negatively linked with [[Freud]]ian [[Death drive|thanatos]]. [[Theodor Adorno]] (1948, p. 178) provides an example in his criticism of [[Igor Stravinsky]], whose, "rhythmic procedures [[ostinato]] closely resemble the schema of catatonic conditions. In certain [[schizophrenia|schizophrenics]], the process by which the motor apparatus becomes independent leads to infinite repetition of gestures or words, following the decay of the ego." Similar criticism was levelled at [[Ravel's Bolero]]. | + | * America-Before the War (movement 1) |
| + | * Europe-During the War (movement 2) | ||
| + | * After the War (movement 3) | ||
| - | [[Wim Mertens]] (1980, p. 123-124) argues that "In repetitive music, repetition in the service of the [[death instinct]] prevails. Repetition is not repetition of identical elements, so it is not reproduction, but the repetition of the identical in another guise. In traditional music, repetition is a device for creating recognizability, reproduction for the sake of the representing [[ego]]. In repetitive music, repetition does not refer to [[Eros (love)|eros]] and the ego, but to the [[libido]] and to the death instinct." | + | During the war years, Reich made train journeys between [[New York]] and [[Los Angeles]] to visit his parents, who had separated. Years later, he pondered the fact that, as a [[Judaism|Jew]], had he been in [[Europe]] instead of the [[United States]] at that time, he might have been travelling in [[Holocaust trains]]. |
| - | Repetitive music has also been linked with [[Lacan]]ian [[jouissance]]. [[David Schawrz]] (1992, p. 134) argues that the repetition in [[John Coolidge Adams|John Adams]]'s ''[[Nixon in China (opera)|Nixon in China]]'' "trapping listeners in a narrow acoustic corridor of [[the Real]]" while [[Naomi Cumming]] (1997, p. 129-152) argues that the repetitive string ostinatos of [[Steve Reich]]'s ''[[Different Trains]]'' are "prearticulate" pieces of the Real providing a refuge from the [[Holocaust]] and its "horror of identification." | + | 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 communication|speech]] as a source for [[Melody|melodies]]. This followed [[Scott Johnson (composer)|Scott Johnson]]'s [[John Somebody]] of 1978, an early attempt to construct directed melodic motion by harmonising recorded speech. |
| - | ==Disco, House, and Rave music== | + | In ''Different Trains'', after each melody in the piece is introduced, usually by a single instrument (viola for women and cello for men<ref>{{cite video | people = Terry Gross, Steve Reich |
| + | | title = Fresh Air from WHYY: Steve Reich at 70 | ||
| + | | medium = Real Player Stream (SMIL) | ||
| + | | publisher = NPR | ||
| + | | url = http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6209213 | ||
| + | | location = Philadelphia | ||
| + | | date = 2006-10-06 }}</ref>), a recording 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 recording of the phrase or part of the phrase. The music for the strings makes extensive use of [[paradiddle]]s rhythms, with alternating pitches instead of alternating drum sticking. In addition to speech, the piece includes recordings of [[train]] sounds, as well as of sirens and warning bells, and prerecorded multiple lines by the string quartet, thus effectively creating four quartets out of one. | ||
| - | DJs at [[disco]] clubs in the 1970s played "... a smooth mix of long single disco records to keep people “dancing all night long.” The twelve-inch single was popularised as a means to this end. While [[disco]] songs do have some repetitive elements, such as a persistent throbbing beat, these repetitive elements were counterbalanced by the musical variety provided by [[orchestral build|orchestral arrangements]] and [[disco mix]]es that added different sound textures to the music, ranging from a full, orchestral sound to stripped-down "break" sections. | + | The recorded speech that forms the basis for ''Different Trains'' is taken from [[interview]]s 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'', Reich's governess Virginia and Lawrence Davis, a [[Pullman (car or coach)|Pullman]] porter, reminisce about train travel in the U.S. American train sounds are heard in the background. In the second movement, ''Europe — During the War'', three [[Holocaust]] survivors (identified by Reich as Paul, Rachel, and Rachella) speak about their experiences in Europe during the war, including their train trips to [[concentration camp]]s. European train sounds and sirens are heard in this movement. The American train whistles are long perfect intervals of fourths and fifths, while the European train whistles are mostly short triadic shrieks.<ref>{{cite book |
| + | | last = Reich | ||
| + | | first = Steve | ||
| + | | coauthors = Hillier, Paul (Editor) | ||
| + | | title = Writings on Music, 1965-2000 | ||
| + | | publisher = Oxford University Press | ||
| + | | date = April 1, 2002 | ||
| + | | location = USA | ||
| + | | isbn = 0-19-511171-0 | ||
| + | | page = 182 }}</ref> The third movement, ''After the War'', features the Holocaust survivors talking about the years immediately following World War II, along with recordings of Davis and Virginia. There is a return to the American train sounds from the first movement. | ||
| - | The [[electronic dance music]] genres that followed disco in the 1980s and 1990s, such as [[house (music)|house music]] and [[techno]] kept the bass drum rhythm introduced by disco but did not use the orchestral arrangements or horn sections. House and techno had a more minimalist sound that layered electronic sounds and samples over a drum machine drum part and a repetitive synth bass bassline. | + | Reich developed his 'speech melody' work further with projects such as ''[[The Cave (opera)|The Cave]]'' (1993) and ''[[City Life (music)|City Life]]'' (1995). |
| - | In the 1990s, an offshoot of one form of house music (acid house) developed into [[rave music]], a high-energy electronic music for dancing that depends heavily on samples. Initially "rave music" was considered a particular style that was a combination of fast breakbeat and more hardcore forms of techno. Rave music was played at massive dance parties ("raves") where many [[MDMA|Ecstasy]]-fueled dancers would dance all night to the throbbing, repetitive beat of rave songs. | + | Reich created these works by transferring his speech recordings into a [[sampler (musical instrument)|digital sampling keyboard]] (a Casio FZ-1). Musicians in the [[pop music|pop]], [[dance]] and [[electronica]] fields had been using samplers for years, but this was one of the very first '[[european classical music|classical]]' works to utilize samples in melodic development. ''City Life'' actually used sampling keyboards in performance (rather than using a backing tape) and the samples are notated and played in exactly the same way as the conventional instruments. |
| - | After some teens and young adults were injured in raves (either from drug overdoses or dehydration), the UK government introduced its [[Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994|Criminal Justice Bill of 1994]]. This was government attempt to ban large rave-style dance events featuring music with "repetitive beats" (e.g., rave music, house music, techno, etc) which were associated with illegal drug use. Although the bill did become law in November 1994, it had little effect, and rave music events continued in underground, illegal settings, such as empty warehouses or factories. | + | ==Notes== |
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| + | <div class="references"> | ||
| + | <references /> | ||
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| - | ==Source== | ||
| - | *Adorno, Theodor (1948). ''The Philosophy of Modern Music''. Trans. Anne G. Mitchell and Wesley V. Blomster (1973). Cited in Fink 2005. | ||
| - | *Cumming, Naomi (1997). "The Horrors of Identification: Reich's ''Different Trains''" ''Perspectives of New Music'' 35, no. I (winter). | ||
| - | *Fink, Robert (2005). ''Repeating Ourselves: American Minimal Music as Cultural Practice''. ISBN 0-520-24550-4. | ||
| - | *Mertens, Wim (1980/1983/1988). ''American Minimal Music'', trans. J. Hautekiet. ISBN 0-912483-15-6. Cited in Fink 2005. | ||
| - | *Schwarz, David (1992). "Postmodernism, the Subject, and the Real in John Adams's ''Nixon in China''" ''Indiana Theory Review'' 13, no. 2 (fall). Cited in Fink 2005. | ||
| - | |||
| - | ==Further reading== | ||
| - | *Attali, Jacques (1977/1985). "Repeating" ''Noise''. ISBN 0-8166-1287-0. | ||
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Revision as of 09:06, 29 July 2010
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Different Trains is a three-movement piece for string quartet and tape written by Steve Reich in 1988. It won a Grammy Award in 1989 for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.
The work's three movements have the following titles:
- America-Before the War (movement 1)
- Europe-During the War (movement 2)
- After the War (movement 3)
During the war years, Reich made train journeys between New York and Los Angeles to visit his parents, who had separated. Years later, he pondered the fact that, as a Jew, had he been in Europe instead of the United States at that time, he might have been travelling in Holocaust trains.
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. This followed Scott Johnson's John Somebody of 1978, an early attempt to construct directed melodic motion by harmonising recorded speech.
In Different Trains, after each melody in the piece is introduced, usually by a single instrument (viola for women and cello for men<ref>Template:Cite video</ref>), a recording 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 recording of the phrase or part of the phrase. The music for the strings makes extensive use of paradiddles rhythms, with alternating pitches instead of alternating drum sticking. In addition to speech, the piece includes recordings of train sounds, as well as of sirens and warning bells, and prerecorded multiple lines by the string quartet, thus effectively creating four quartets out of one.
The recorded speech that forms the basis for Different Trains 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, Reich's governess Virginia and Lawrence Davis, a Pullman porter, reminisce about train travel in the U.S. American train sounds are heard in the background. In the second movement, Europe — During the War, three Holocaust survivors (identified by Reich as Paul, Rachel, and Rachella) speak about their experiences in Europe during the war, including their train trips to concentration camps. European train sounds and sirens are heard in this movement. The American train whistles are long perfect intervals of fourths and fifths, while the European train whistles are mostly short triadic shrieks.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The third movement, After the War, features the Holocaust survivors talking about the years immediately following World War II, along with recordings of Davis and Virginia. There is a return to the American train sounds from the first movement.
Reich developed his 'speech melody' work further with projects such as The Cave (1993) and City Life (1995).
Reich created these works by transferring his speech recordings into a digital sampling keyboard (a Casio FZ-1). Musicians in the pop, dance and electronica fields had been using samplers for years, but this was one of the very first 'classical' works to utilize samples in melodic development. City Life actually used sampling keyboards in performance (rather than using a backing tape) and the samples are notated and played in exactly the same way as the conventional instruments.
Notes
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