Taking On "Different Trains"

Steve Reich is perhaps the preeminent composer living today, and one of his most heart-wrenching and affecting works is called "Different Trains for String Quartet and Tape". It tells the story of Steve Reich's early childhood - his train trips between the East and West coasts to visit his separated parents - and also of the train trips Jews were forced to take during the Holocaust.

The piece, commissioned by the Kronos Quartet in 1988, is notoriously difficult to play. But the Borromeo String Quartet recently took up the challenge. Jenny Attiyeh, producer of the podcast and public radio interview program Thoughtcast, attended a rehearsal at the New England Conservatory, where the Borromeo is currently in residence.

(Photo by Liz Linder)