Stroma – Different Trains

Different Trains brings together three landmark works of American minimalism that explore time and memory, accompanied by film.

The programme begins with Steve Reich’s groundbreaking 1988 work Different Trains, which was composed using speech recordings to generate material for musical instruments. Described by the New York Times as “a work of such astonishing originality that breakthrough seems the only possible description”, the music is accompanied Beatriz Caravaggio’s film, which she created in response to Reich’s composition and was described by Reich himself as a “brilliant multi channel video… which really works as something to watch on its own and as a way to intensify listening to Different Trains".

Mishima String Quartet (String Quartet No.3) originally appeared as parts of the film score for Mishima, but later became a concert piece in its own right and is here performed alongside French filmmaker Man Ray’s surrealist short film Emak-Bakia.

The programme finishes with Terry Riley’s composition In C, described by Gustav Dumadel (LA Phil) as a “revolutionary” work that’s closer to rock and jazz than classical, it revolves around a repeated piano C octave in eight notes drawing heavily on folk melodies. The work is accompanied by real-time visuals responding to sound, created by Wellington artist Zoë Bell.