Manchester Collective: Different Trains at Royal Northern College of Music

Different Trains is an exhilarating journey through time and memory.

From the sweet sound of forest birdsong to the grinding gears of industry, the music in this show encapsulates a huge range of human experience.

Inspired by Steve Reich’s childhood memories of railway journeys, Different Trains intricately weaves together a live score for strings with field recordings and fragments of spoken word. Through mesmerising repetition and rhythmic patterns, Reich vividly evokes the contrasting destinies faced by train travellers – from passengers on leisurely trips to those caught in the horrors of the Holocaust. “It’s as much terror as it is music” says Pitchfork.

Popping up everywhere from state funerals to trance raves, Samuel Barber’s iconic ‘Adagio’ has lost none of its emotive power since its first performance 85 years ago. A musical catalogue of birdcalls by Cassandra Miller, and fresh new work from subversive British-Malaysian composer Jasmin Kent Rodgman, catches us up to the 21st century.

This voyage from nature to the man-made, past to present, may be turbulent at times. But it’s definitely worth it.