World To Come

About this event

The evening is a complete survey of Steve Reich’s string quartets – three works that, despite their minimalist construction, span immense emotional arcs. Reich, the pioneer of minimal music, turns repetitive rhythmic cells and recorded speech melodies into a hypnotic musical experience. The Mivos Quartet, active in both Vienna and Offenbach, developed the three quartets in close collaboration with the composer and is the first ensemble to perform the complete set. In “Different Trains,” Reich’s childhood memories of American train journeys collide with the testimonies of Holocaust survivors, creating a dense weave of strings, pre-recorded voices and train sounds. “Triple Quartet” layers a live quartet with two pre-recorded ones into a precisely timed, almost orchestral fabric. “WTC 9/11” commemorates the September 11 attacks by intertwining the voices of those affected with psalm texts, forming a reflective, haunting soundscape. The concert in the NAXOS hall is an absorbing listening experience that won’t easily let you go – with its shimmering repetitions and abrupt shifts of mood. Anyone open to the minimalist sound world will find a performance that combines technical precision with quiet intensity.