Whether it’s the recorded voices of WWII survivors in Steve Reich’s Different Trains, reimagined liturgical music in Yotam Haber’s work, the infinite reverential unfolding of the cello's Louange from Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, or the stories behind the Holocaust-era instruments of Violins of Hope, bringing these fragments together invites reflection, connection, and quiet acts of remembrance across generations.
STEVE REICH: Different Trains
During World War II, 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 had to ride on very “different trains.” He compares personal adventures as a child riding trains in America from New York to Los Angeles to the terror of a train taking Jews and others to concentration camps in Poland.
The piece, for string quartet and tape and composed in 1988, is in three movements (played without pause). In each part, recordings of spoken word are introduced, the short segments of voices generate musical material for the string quartet, matching the tone and rhythm of the speakers.
In the first movement, the American voices of Reich’s governess and a retired Pullman porter recount childhood trips. The Porter says:
One of the fastest trains
Crack train from New York
From New York to Los Angeles
Different trains everyday
In the second movement, three Holocaust survivors speak about their experiences in Europe during the war. Words imagine a European deportation:
No more school
You must go away
And she said, “Quick, go!”
And he said, “Don’t breathe”
Into the cattle wagons And for four days and four nights
The concluding section imagines survivors of the Holocaust riding trains in America, co-mingling European and American voices, conveying both relief and lingering anxiety.
Then the war was over
Are you sure?
The war is over
Going to America
To Los Angeles
The sonic texture is enriched by a live quartet playing alongside sampled sounds and layered recordings of three other quartets (The tracks are all recorded by the Kronos Quartet, who premiered the work). A sampler, technology new in the ‘80s, triggers train and siren sounds—their whistles and their tremendous power as they thunder across the countryside.
The composition is described by musicologist Richard Taruskin as “the only adequate musical response — one of the few adequate artistic responses in any medium —to the Holocaust” and credits the piece with earning Reich a place among the great composers of the 20th century.
YOTAM HABER: From the Book / From the Book of Maintenance & Sustenance
Global citizen Yotam Haber was born in the Netherlands and grew up in Israel, Nigeria, and Milwaukee, graduating from Nicolet High School in 1994. He is currently an associate professor of composition at Boston University.
In 2016 he was commissioned by the Kronos Quartet and Carnegie Hall for the 50 For the Future Project to write From the Book for string quartet. The piece is based on the litany Avinu Malkenu, continuing a cycle of pieces that take their launch point from archival recordings and transcriptions of music from the Italian Jewish community in the Piedmont region of Italy.
Written for viola and piano, From the Book of Maintenance and Sustenance again quotes archival recordings from the Italian Jewish liturgical music, moving from screaming harmonics to quiet passages reminiscent of plainchant— a snapshot of a soul in flux, moving from life to the afterlife.
OLIVIER MESSIAEN: Louange a l’eternite de Jesus, from QUARTET FOR THE END OF TIME
At the outbreak of World War II, Olivier Messiaen was drafted into the French army, captured and imprisoned at Stalag VIII-A. There he discovered among his fellow prisoners a violinist, cellist, and clarinetist, as well as a sympathetic guard who supplied him with music paper and pencils. There he wrote Quartet For the End of Time, one of the acknowledged masterpieces of the 20th Century. It was first performed in January 1941 to an audience of prisoners and prison guards, with the composer playing a poorly maintained upright piano in freezing conditions, and the trio playing third-hand unkempt instruments.
The fifth movement, Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus, is scored for cello and piano. Some melodic fragments come from a prior 1937 piece for 6 Ondes Martenot, written for a Paris Expo to accompany water fountains and fireworks. The tempo is marked “infinitely slow”, and magnifies with love and reverence the eternity of the Word, stretching majestically into a kind of gentle, regal distance in which time nearly comes to a standstill, achieving an almost spiritual dimension.
THE VIOLINS OF HOPE
VIOLINS OF HOPE is private collection of violins, violas and cellos, all collected since the end of World War II. Many of the instruments belonged to Jews before and during the war. Many were donated by or bought from survivors; some arrived through family members and many simply carry Stars of David as decoration.
Weaving a tapestry throughout our community, the Violins of Hope-Wisconsin residency will tell stories of instruments from the Holocaust, and the musicians who played them. As the Violins of Hope website says: “Remember me, remember us. Life is good, celebrate it for those who perished, for those who survived. For all people.”
THE ARTISTS Members of Present Music, Milwaukee's fearless contemporary music ensemble
Ji-Yeon Lee & Kyung Ah Oh, violins | Erin Pipal, viola | Adrien Zitoun, cello | J ohn Orfe, piano | Marty Butorac, sound engineer About Present Music
Since its founding 1982, Present Music’s mission has been to commission and perform new concert music, bringing over 100 new works to life. Ensembles range from a core group of seven musicians to an ensemble of 20 or more. Present Music has had the privilege of working closely with many of the nation's top composers, including John Adams, Henry Brant, David Lang, Caroline Shaw, Ingram Marshall, Missy Mazzoli, Bright Sheng, Roberto Sierra and Michael Torke. The not-for-profit organization has a long and impressive track record for identifying outstanding talent early in the artists’ careers. Present Music’s discography includes world premiere recordings on the Cantaloupe, New World Records, Argo, Albany, Aoede, Northeastern, Naxos and Innova labels. The group is led by Artistic Director Eric Segnitz and Conductor/Advisor David Bloom. Present Music was founded by conductor Kevin Stalheim, who was Artistic Director for the first 37 years of the ensemble’s existence until 2019.