Search - Steve Reich :: Reich: Different Trains; Piano Counterpoint; Triple Quartet

EMI Classics celebrates the 75th birthday of the inimitable Steve Reich, hailed by the New York Times as "our greatest living composer," with a new album from the London Steve Reich Ensemble, an exciting young group dedicated to the composer's music and heartily endorsed by Reich himself. The album features one of Reich's most popular pieces - the Grammy award-winning Different Trains, a piece which traces his childhood coast-to-coast US train trips during World War II, juxtaposing them with the very different trains Jews were being forced to ride in Europe at the same time. The music features various recordings - including holocaust survivors discussing their experiences and the sounds of trains from the 30s and 40s - along with strings imitating the speech melodies and mechanical noises. The album also features the Bartok-inspired "Triple Quartet" and the world-premiere recording of "Piano Counterpoint", arranged by Vincent Corver from "Six Pianos." Reich is a towering figure in contemporary music, and was instrumental in one of the greatest 20th century developments - minimalism. He has garnered a host of awards and accolades, from a Grammy to a Pulitzer Prize, and continues to produce remarkable new works each year. The London Steve Reich Ensemble have gained a fanatical following for their emotionally-charged performances - they approach the endless repeats of Reich's minimalism not with a sense of mechanical exactness, but rather with a sense of continuation and development, introducing subtle variations and extensions to each repetition, driving the music inexorably forward. In the words of Reich himself, "these performances pulse with life."