In his 1988 composition 'Different Trains', Reich considers his childhood memories of train journeys between his separated parents in New York and Los Angeles in the light of the simultaneous use of trains to transport European Jews to concentration camps in Nazi-Germany. Reich must have reasoned that had he been in Germany he would probably have been on very 'different trains', considering his Jewish heritage. In this way, his this hertiage probably strengthens his passion for the subject of the Nazi concetration camps and the music is indeed heartfelt and moving. It is also, in many ways, among the most graspable classical compositions I know of: the clear symbolic value of the trains makes interpretation and understanding a lot easier while the use of distinct sounds and rythms makes listening fun and easy.

The composition is in three movements, 'America- Before the War', 'Europe- During the War' and 'After the War' - each movement derives its meloy from a spoken phrase quoted from taped interviews about the era of the Second World War. This somewhat unorthodox method of composition gives the music a quite unique sound and structure and futhers the thematic focus of the work.

The 1989 Kronos Quaret recording, which was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition in 1990, was paired up with Reich's 1987 composition 'Electric Counterpoint' for electric guitar and tape (played, then, by Pat Metheny) when released. Though severely different, 'Different Trains' and 'Electric Counterpoint' both feature many elements of the minimalist music that Reich pioneered two decades prior to their composition and can serve as good introductions to the genre: the heavily experimental feeling of the earliest compositions has been replaced by a quite unique harmony and listenability.

Overall, two features are particularily outstanding about the album - the listenability and the interest it ('Different Trains' in particular) stimulates: Reich makes the extermination of Jews in Nazi Germany feel highly relevant and moving even sixty years after it ended. Considering recent conflicts in the Middle East, however, maybe that empathy has become an absolute necessity in the modern world?