The Kreutzer Project: Beethoven • Anna Clyne • Colin Jacobsen • Janáček
The Knights
Eric Jacobsen, conductor
Colin Jacobsen, solo violin
Karen Ouzounian, solo cello
Colin Jacobsen, Emily Daggett Smith, violins
Mario Gotoh, viola · Eric Jacobsen, cello
Logan Coale, double bass
26th August 2022
AV2555
£12.99 (1CD Digipack | 24-page booklet)
Summary:
“Colin Jacobsen’s orchestration of Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata is mostly convincing … had you never heard the original, you might accept this as a viable slice of Beethoven … Shorthand is an elegiac piece for much of its length, and packs a real emotional punch, with cellist Karen Ouzounian’s passionate playing leading the way” ★★★★★ – BBC Music Magazine
“Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata reimagined as a concerto … successfully emphasises is the theatrical power of the piece, it’s highly effective. The new pieces between them work well, especially Anna Clyne’s Shorthand.” – Andrew McGregor, BBC Record Review
“The Kreutzer Project can be called a complete success.” – Pizzicato
The Knights, the bold Brooklyn-based orchestral collective, embody the spirit of exploration with The Kreutzer Project, a programme that posits Tolstoy’s response to Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” Sonata:
What exactly is it? I don’t understand. What is music?
What does it do?
And why does it do what it does?
Beethoven and Tolstoy in turn inspired Czech composer Leoš Janáček, whose first string quartet is also called “Kreutzer Sonata”. The Knights’ response to these iconoclastic touchstones is to reimagine the Beethoven as “Kreutzer Concerto”, arranged by The Knights’ co-founder Colin Jacobsen who is also the orchestrated version’s violin soloist; and the Janáček as orchestrated by The Knights’ co-founder and conductor Eric Jacobsen. They keep the canon going with Colin’s newly composed “Kreutzings”, which makes buried allusions to both Beethoven and Janáček; and a commission from Anna Clyne, whose piece “Shorthand” takes its title from a line in Tolstoy’s novella: “music is the shorthand of emotion”.
Tracklist:
The Kreutzer Project
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
LEOŠ JANÁCEK (1854–1928)
‘Kreutzer Sonata’
String Quartet No.1 JW 7/8 ‘Z podnštnu Tolstého Kreutzerovy sonáty’
(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
The Knights
Eric Jacobsen, conductor
Recorded: 8–10 February 2020, University of Wisconsin–Madison;
*21–23 July 2020, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, Katonah, New York
Publishers: vavavooviemusic (Kreutzings); Boosey & Hawkes (Shorthand) Producer: Jesse Lewis
Engineer: Tom Caulfield; *Jody Elff
Editing: Shauna Barravecchio, Jesse Lewis, Zenas Hsu
Mixing & Mastering: Jesse Lewis
Related Releases:
