The Kreutzer Project
Album art by Alex Sopp
A BEAUTIFUL WEB OF INFLUENCES
The Knights embody the spirit of exploration with The Kreutzer Project, a program that weaves together Knightsian reimaginings of the “Kreutzer” Sonatas of Beethoven and Leos Janácek with contemporary responses by Colin Jacobsen and Anna Clyne.
Rodolphe Kreutzer was the violinist to whom Beethoven dedicated his ninth and finest violin sonata, and its piano part is recast for orchestra in this new arrangement. Colin Jacobsen gives a commandingly eloquent account of the solo part, the orchestra fleshing out the piano writing into a full-blown, concerto-style accompaniment. Janáček’s String Quartet No. 1—named “Kreutzer Sonata” after a Tolstoy novella—gets a similar orchestral treatment, in a vividly spiky performance by the Brooklyn-based ensemble The Knights. Shorter pieces by Colin Jacobsen and Anna Clyne complete an album that draws intriguing threads of influence through a group of composers not normally yoked together.
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“A Complete Success”
8/26/2022 • 9 tracks • 1 hour 15 minutes
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827)
‘Kreutzer Concerto’
Violin Sonata No.9 in A Op.47 (arr. Colin Jacobsen)
1. I. Adagio sostenuto – Presto 14:27
2. II. Andante con variazioni 15:21
3. III. Finale: Presto 9:07
Colin Jacobsen, solo violin
COLIN JACOBSEN (b. 1978)
4. Kreutzings 6:48
ANNA CLYNE (b. 1980)
5. Shorthand 11:06
Karen Ouzounian, solo cello
Colin Jacobsen, Emily Daggett Smith, violins
Mario Gotoh, viola · Eric Jacobsen, cello · Logan Coale, double bass
LEOS JANACEK (1854–1928)
‘Kreutzer Sonata’
String Quartet No.1 JW 7/8 ‘Z podnštnu Tolsteho Kreutzerovy sonaty’
(arr. Eric Jacobsen, orch. Michael P. Atkinson)
6. I. Adagio – Con moto 4.22
7. II. Con moto 4.24
8. III. Con moto – Vivo – Andante 4.18
9. IV. Con moto – Adagio – Più mosso 5.15
℗ 2021 The Knights
This recording was made with support from The Knights’ Carmela S. Haklisch Innovation Fund. To learn more, please visit the Innovation Fund page.