An Unlikely Combination: Percussion and Organ Duet

Dave Hall, UNL's Assistant Professor of Percussion and Jazz Studies, gave his percussion recital on Saturday evening. As usual with percussion recitals, the variety of sounds, styles, and instruments was fascinating and colorful. No one can fail to be impressed by the talent that goes into playing all the different kinds of percussive instruments.

The oldest piece of music on the program was composed in 2009, a composition by the performer, and the newest was written as recently as 2016. One delightful piece had the title "Azucar," or "sugar," and had a sweet and delicious sound as one would expect!

The highlight of the evening was, beyond a doubt, the grand finale which was a work composed by Kurt Knecht for Dave Hall and Christopher Marks, UNL's professor of organ. Featuring different percussion instruments for each movement, the work is a masterpiece of blending two instruments that one would not normally imagine working together--rhythms and harmonies highlighted one instrument or the other as they played both rousingly at times or peacefully. You can enjoy the performance (given earlier at Marks' recital) in the video below:

Lincoln's Choral Scene: bright and beautiful

Lincoln Choral Artists came together to celebrate choral music in the Capitol city today with Lincoln Lutheran Choir and the Sacred Arts Homeschool Choirs. On a beautiful November afternoon with sunlight shining through the stained glass windows of College View Church, the audience was treated  to an hour-and-a-half concert with a lovely blend of styles and selections of music.

The setting of the Capitol City Choirs Concert:
College View Church

Perhaps best of all, in a concert featuring local choirs, local composers were featured as well. Jean Henderson, Garrett Hope, David von Kampen, and Kurt Knecht had pieces sung, to name just a few. Music was sung praising God, celebrating Nebraska, and some just for fun.

A crowd pleaser was "I'll Tell My Ma" with clapping and stomping along with the music, although Salmo 150, also sung by the Lincoln Choral Artists, was also attention grabbing in an entirely different way. The children's "Scales and Arpeggios" was delightful and fun, while the combined pieces with all three choirs to end the concert were excellent selections allowing moments where the children's voices rang out clear and then were joined in full chorus.

The homeschool choirs' presence lent a hopeful quality to the concert. The sight--and sound--of the children singing alongside the adult choirs could give no clearer a vision of the future of choral arts in the community: it is a bright one.

New (and old) music in a new place

Justin Lepard graduated with a Bachelor's degree from UNL this weekend, but he's already had a positive influence on the Lincoln Classical music scene. Last night, he held his senior recital at The Pilgrimer, a unique coffee house supporting the Lincoln community. Earlier this year, he performed a concert featuring new and exciting pieces which you can read more about here.

Justin Lepard
photo by James Dean

Last night's program featured a variety of styles of music from the Romantic time period to serial music and concluding with Jazz.

The setting was intimate. Just a few rows circling the small stage. Sounds from next door, a pub, were audible through the wall and several times, bass was heard thumping from traffic going by outside. It's not what we're accustomed to in our usual concert-going experience of sitting in a still, quiet, and expansive concert hall. It makes you think that this is how so much music has been experienced over the centuries from chamber ensembles in the 18th-19th centuries and before to the start of so many "garage bands" in the past decades. We're not just passive listeners, we're active participants in the musical experience.

Each piece was exciting and provoking in its own way. Brahms Cello Sonata in E Minor, performed with collaborative pianist, Emily Tidd, was an example of Romantic music, and it was exciting and emotional--especially in that intimate setting. Le Grande Tango of Astor Piazzolla, also performed with Tidd, was a flashy and fun piece showing more modern and Latin inspired Classical music.

While the intimate experience could've been put to even better use by Lepard sharing more thoughts about each piece or by drawing attention to the musical structure or themes to give a sort of listening guide to the audience, he did share one thought that was thought-provoking.

Lepard was about to perform the last three movements of the serialist Six Pieces for Violoncello by Roger Sessions, the first movements of which he had cleverly interspersed before and between the Brahms and Piazzolla, when he started talking about the Beatles. That reference had to get people's attention. Lepard said that the music of the Beatles is more musically complex and creative than you would expect, but when Paul or John would be asked about why they had chosen a specific chord, they wouldn't always even know what that chord was--they just liked it. Why bring this up in reference to a serial piece? Even though serial music is so organized that it is composed using "algorithms" and a matrix, it too is for our experience. Basically, listen; experience. Whether it's the Beatles or Roger Sessions, you can experience music or marvel at the mathematic organization of it--and there's always something to stretch your ears a little.

The cello-bassoon duo was certainly a piece that required an open mind and ear. A piece originally composed for two bassoons by Sofia Gubaidulina, Lepard transcribed the second bassoon part for cello (and had to tune the cello down in order to play it). Performing on the bassoon was Jeffrey McCray, bassoon professor at the School of Music. With two very different instruments, it was fascinating to see and hear the way in which Lepard used his cello--creatively finding techniques with which to perform almost bassoon-like passages.

At the end, Lepard had some fun in store for the audience as Kurt Knecht and Eric Hitt joined him on the tiny stage for some jazz. Evident here was not the concentration and effort seen earlier in the young performer, but the simple and unadulterated joy in creating music.

Lepard is promoting some great ideas: bring art music (of all kinds) to the community in coffee houses and unconventional venues and perform new music and compositions.

These ideas are growing and are awesome to see gaining momentum among Lincoln musicians.

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A Night of Cello: Featuring the freedom and fun of contemporary Classical music

Justin Lepard, a cellist in the Lincoln area, was the driving force in putting together the program and concert for Tuesday, February 3, 2015 at St. Mark’s-on-the-Campus. Lepard has a passion for contemporary Classical music and hopes that this is only the first of many more performances of contemporary Classical music in Lincoln. 

Cellist Justin Lepard
courtesy of Myles Jasnowski and Justin Lepard

The Night of Cello concert featured the works of three contemporary composers: Nels Drue Daily, a Lecturer of Music at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, Jason Eckardt, a composer and musician residing in New York City, and our oft-featured Lincoln resident and composer, Kurt Knecht who was also the pianist for the concert.

Works of Nels Drue Daily

The program opened with Freight Train, a work by Nels Daily that was commissioned by Justin Lepard as the opener for this concert. The composer describes it as “an incessantly motoric and rhythmic piece that requires a firm hand from the performer.” That “firm hand” is certainly evident as the cello digs into the music with driving rhythms and harsh, energetic bowing. The piece is for solo, unaccompanied cello and certainly requires a virtuosic performance by the cellist. You can hear the endless energy even as the freight train seems to run into the distance and then approach again as the dynamics and range of the cello are explored. 

With something that is always a fascinating facet of contemporary Classical music, this piece enjoys the freedom of modern music to explore new harmonies and tonalities (or lack thereof) while focusing on rhythms and harmonies that serve their own unique purpose be it a mood, a picture, a scene, or even a color. Rhythm becomes the organizing and driving force above all else—and aptly so in a piece such as Freight Train.

Composer Nels Drue Daily
courtesy of Justin Lepard

Daily was also the composer of the second piece featured on the concert, Daydream. Here, the audience is treated to a different set of emotions and technical challenges for the performer. Much more legato than the first work performed, the audience member hears varying intervals in the melody, perhaps the wandering thoughts of a daydreamer. The piano accompanies, entering in slowly and then joining in for change of scene and color midway through the piece. The composer explains that this piece “is a meditation on two cradle songs. The first is mine, and the second is from Brahms.” 

The piano features almost an ostinato, a recurrent rhythm and shape to the chords—that suddenly stops, and a new rhythm, harmony, and color emerges. There is a certain repetitious feeling—but the energy and pitch continues growing to a climax! Then, a pause, a peace returns. The piano with mostly single notes and a return to a legato melody played on the cello. Quietly, and beautifully, it fades away.

Featured Piece of Kurt Knecht

The third work on the program was entitled El Café Iridiscente and is the work of Kurt Knecht which was commissioned by NMTA and LMTA for their 2014 NMTA Conference. When LincolnCMN spoke with Knecht before the premier of this work for cello and piano at the conference, he shared that he thinks it should be “super fun music” and that “most of it is not too heavy or serious. I think there is a problem amongst composers now with this issue. Beethoven wrote a lot of light music, but we never think of that because his ‘light’ works haven’t survived history as well.”

Regardless of whether this work “survives history,” audiences can certainly enjoy it today as Knecht interweaves his love of Latin rhythms, Ginastera, Milhaud, and Latin charts he played in jazz bands. The work is broken into four movements titled, “Rojo, Azul, Perla, and Morado.” 

Composer and pianist Kurt Knecht
courtesy of Justin Lepard

Rojo (red) is fast and fun. The sound is vibrant and features exciting Latin rhythms. Both the piano and cello exude rhythm and color. The cello has both legato and pizzicato moments and the piano features rhythmic chords that make you want to dance along. The music doesn’t slow down, but rushes along excitedly right to the very end. 

Azul (blue) is a little calmer than the first movement and gives a smoother Latin feel, featuring more legato in the piano. A sliding sensation is created—perhaps this blue movement reminds the listener a little of the waves of the ocean as we relax on a sunny, southern beach. There is still a rhythmic energy running throughout—an excitement that makes the audience smile throughout with the happy azul waves. This movement has a sort of aching ending with a slight ritardando as the cello’s melody reaches up and then sinks down for a gentle conclusion.

Perla (pearl) is another slow movement, the slowest of the four, in fact. The cello begins with single notes plucked—and the piano begins with sustained, arpeggiated chords. Can you see the pearl gleaming—round, smooth, and still? After that intro, the bow returns to the strings in a beautiful legato melody, still evoking the smooth, gentle color and shape of a pearl. It is the most reflective of the movements, but with an abrupt ending that reminds you of the fun that is at the heart of this work.

Morado (purple) brings a faster tempo—a more vibrant color. The piano and cello both dive in with driving rhythms from the very start. Still more legato in texture than Rojo, the movement is aptly named: purple is a vibrant and deep color—but exciting and energetic all the same. Once more, the rhythms and harmonies are driving and invigorating. The Latin rhythms are still clearly visible as the driving force as the movement carries the listeners forward to a fast and forte finale.

Are the descriptions apt? What do you hear in the pieces? At Knecht’s blog, you can find the recordings and video of this piece. Listen for the colors yourself!

Work of Jason Eckardt

Composer Jason Eckardt
courtesy of Justin Lepard

The last programmed piece of the concert was the work of Jason Eckardt. His interesting bio describes him as a jazz and metal band guitarist until, upon hearing the work of Anton Webern, Eckardt “immediately” devoted himself to composition. On this program, the audience was treated to a work entitled, A Way (tracing). A more serious piece than the one preceding it, Eckardt’s work has a very modern sound—once again featuring the driving rhythm and creative harmonies made possible by the freedom of contemporary Classical music. The solo cellist has his work cut out for him with the strenuous bowing and multiple stops required. The harmonies are harsh and rushing—and then a brief moment, they stop, another moment and the melody suddenly rises above for a moment of clarity and serene beauty before rushing back into the incessantly driving rhythm. The motion slows down, a few notes here and there…a rush back into rhythm…a pause…a note… The rhythm and notes coming and going require the listeners to keep their ears tuned — you have to sit at the edge of your seat. 

Think that modern music is awful or that you need tonality? No! Just open your ears and enjoy the freedom and blend of sounds and techniques that are influenced by history, by modern music, by the emotions and lives of those who write and perform them now!

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2014 NMTA Conference: Kurt Knecht's colorful composition

Kurt Knecht has featured in interviews and reviews here quite often from his performances to premieres of his compositions. This year, he is the commissioned composer for the NMTA Conference. Last year, Libby Larsen’s Ghosts of Old Pianos, a solo piano piece, was the commissioned piece for the conference.

Kurt Knecht - 2014 NMTA Commissioned Composer
photo courtesy of Kurt Knecht

This year, NMTA members will be treated to a cello sonata with piano accompaniment. The title of the piece is “El café iridescente.”

“…each movement is named after a color, so:  1. Rojo 2. Azul 3. Perla 4. Morado”

As you might guess from the language of the title and movements, “the whole work is based around Latin rhythms.” Knecht chose to focus on Latin rhythms for a number of reasons:
“I think part of it might come from growing up in Tampa where I was constantly exposed to Cuban culture, so I kind of heard those rhythms growing up. Also, as an undergrad, I was enthralled with any sort of Latin rhythms. I loved Jobim and the whole bossa nova thing. I loved Ginastera. I loved those Saudades do Brasil by Milhaud, and I played in jazz bands where we would do Latin charts. So, it seemed time to concentrate all of that in one piece.”

Hopefully the audience will enjoy this “super fun music.” Knecht says, “most of it is not too heavy or serious. I think there is a problem amongst composers now with this issue. Beethoven wrote a lot of light music, but we never think of that because his ‘light’ works haven’t survived history as well.” Perhaps the music won’t “survive history” as well, but right now, it can be enjoyed and inspire musicians and students to enjoy music right now.

Knecht also described a little bit of the process that went into the creation of this piece:

“As far as the process, it’s not really standardized. When I was in school, one of my composition teachers used to say, ‘You throw more music away than any of my other students.’ He said that because I would be working on a string quartet or something and one week I would have 100 measures of a movement written, and the next week it was replaced. He would say, ‘What happened to the other movement?’ I would say, ‘I’m not using it.'

The truth is, I save all of that stuff. When I get a commission, I will often look back through those old ideas and rework them. In this case, I had sketches for these movements written from 10 years ago. I completely reworked them. Tried the re-worked version with Justin Lepard who is playing them with me. I listened to the reworked versions and decided that the first three movements needed a complete overhaul again. 

So, to answer how long it takes…Every piece takes my whole life long to write, but checks and deadlines are an incredible tool for focusing years into minutes.”

Hopefully you’ll get the chance to hear this fun music, this culmination of Knecht’s whole life, from Tampa to undergrad to today, but meanwhile, enjoy some of his other works over at his youtube channel.

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Hear Lincoln’s Composition Contest winners perform this weekend

The Lincoln Music Teachers’ Association (LMTA) sponsors a composition concert open to various ages and levels from early elementary up through adult student entries and teacher entries. This year, the adjudicator for the contest was Kurt Knecht, and you can hear the winning pieces that he selected performed on a concert this weekend on Sunday, April 7 at 5pm. The performance will take place at Grace Lutheran Church (22^nd and Washington Streets). This recital is free and open to the public.

Knecht, who has been featured on previous articles, spoke with Examiner.com again regarding this composition contest. As far as the works he saw entered in this contest, Knecht said that “they were mostly piano compositions” that featured a wide range of harmonic vocabularies. Everything from tonal to atonal, pentatonic, whole tone...really the whole range. And they were generally of high quality. It was fairly easy to pick the winner in each category, but picking 2^nd, 3^rd, and honorable mention was tricky.”

In selecting the winners, Knecht would look for a few things. He shared some of the questions that he had going through his mind during the process:

“1. Is there a clear formal structure?

2. Does the music have some sort of emotional direction and flow?

3. Is there enough variation to prevent monotony, and is there enough similarity to create unity?

4. Is the texture appropriate for the musical idea being conveyed?

5. Is the score clean and clearly marked?”

Of course, the performance on Sunday will give everyone a chance to hear the pieces that best exhibited these qualities, and the audience will also have a chance to hear Knecht perform one of his own compositions: “I'm going to be performing my Nocturne in memoriam Robert Helps.” Knecht has come a long way since his first attempts at composing: “my development was fairly typical. I wrote a few things that aren’t worth mentioning when I was young. Then, by middle school, I started improvising on my piano pieces.” By high school, Knecht had committed to writing fairly serious music and has spent the years since studying music and writing some wonderful pieces.

His advice for students who are trying their hand at composing is that “everyone should write because everyone has something to say.” But, “That doesn't mean that everyone is going to become a successful composer. It does mean that you will create something that is very unique, and putting that something into the world is a great and courageous act. It may be that lots of other people want to hear the way that you organize sound. Even if they don't, you will certainly gain insight into yourself and the compositions of the great masters. If you really enjoy it, you should get lessons with someone.”

Hear Knecht and some of Lincoln’s beginning composers on Sunday!

Music and dance to commemorate 9/11

The 9/11 service at St. Mark's will also feature quiet and reflective candlelight.

Credits: Scott Robinson, via flickr

On September 11, 2001, the world watched in shock and horror as the terrorists attacked our great nation. Ten years have gone by, although for some, it still feels like it was yesterday for the loss and grief never quite go away. For the first anniversary, the Lincoln community remembered and honored those who died with a tribute in music at Kimball Recital Hall, and this year, on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011, St. Mark's-on-the-Campus will host a service in memory of the event.

St. Mark's-on-the-Campus is located at 13th and R Sts. at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln campus, and the event is set for 8:00pm. Many people are collaborating to bring this together including Lincoln's own Dulces Voces, the UNL Dance Department, UNL viola professor and LSO member, Clark Potter. The first movement of Kurt Knecht's newly commissioned piece, "Ordo Rachelis," will be performed by Dulces Voces, and the composer's piece "Meditation" will be performed by Clark Potter.

 

This will be a time for the Lincoln community to gather together, regardless of religious affiliation, and join together in memory, reflection, and prayer--much as we all did 10 years ago on September 11th.

The composer's reflections after the premiere of 'Media Vita'

Program cover for the premier of Kurt Knecht's work, "Media Vita."

Credits: publicity image via Lincoln Lutheran Choir

Dr. Kurt Knecht premiered his choral work, Media Vita, this past Sunday. It was a huge success, and Knecht agreed to tell a little of the story of how this piece came about. “The Lincoln Lutheran Choir commissioned me to write a piece that would pair with the Fauré Requiem,” Knecht said and explained that “the orchestration choice was very practical.” He needed to use the same resources as the Fauré Requiem as arranged by Rutter. However, he chose to use the piano instead of the organ in the hopes that it would be easier to use in future performances for those places that do not have an organ.

The texts that he chose came from a discovery some years ago when Knecht came across a burial responsary in a Lutheran hymnal:

“I thought the texts would serve nicely as a pairing with the Fauré and fit in well with the tradition of vernacular text settings. Interestingly, all of the texts come from responsaries from the Little Hours for the Dead from the monastic tradition. I also found that the Lutheran's tended not to adjust funeral liturgies which is rather surprising since they felt free to adjust liturgies at will after the Reformation. Of course, they didn't really do much to adjust actual liturgies (at least in the same way that Calvinists did). So, it is not very surprising to find Roman Catholic rites continued in the Lutheran tradition. How they decided to pick these texts from several different Little Hours and compile them into a set is still a mystery. Ultimately, though, I really loved the theological motion of the texts themselves.”

Although he speculates on whether or not personal beliefs affect text settings since there are many beautiful settings of religious texts by atheists, Knecht does “absolutely” share the beliefs conveyed in these texts. His thoughts on the doctrine of the Resurrection of the Dead are that it “is a much misunderstood doctrine. For many Christians, the belief is that we have an immortal soul that goes to live with God when we die. If that was the ultimate reality, Jesus would have never shown his wounds to the disciples after the Resurrection. It is very important to understand that the ultimate reality is that I will see God ‘in my flesh,’ as the passage from Job says. This very body that I'm in right now is going to be transformed into something lasting. Our hope is that death is not the final word.” Of course, the hope that Knecht has was also the theme of the concert and came across in a very fitting manner in all the selections of the evening.

Some of Knecht’s musical reasons are ones that are important to him in all of his works, of great concern to him is the use of counterpoint because “so few know how to write good counterpoint any more. So, the first movement begins in free counterpoint in a minor mode and moves to a slow moving fugue in major for the ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord" text.” For the second movement, Knecht started with the strings and horns and moved to the harp. He also employed “a Bachian obbligato violin part over the fugue.” In the second movement, Knecht wanted to write something that began “in quiet conviction and moved to defiance. I certainly had the powerful instrument of Bill Shomos in my head when I was writing. He is spectacular and an inspiration for a composer to have that sort of sheer volume when orchestrating.” For the third movement, Knecht felt that it “just needed to be a Mendelssohn inspired piece that ended in a fugue. It was the only way to communicate that much excitement.” The fourth movement was written with his second soloist in mind, knowing Becky Shane’s inspiring voice. “I knew she could deliver the most poignant performance of that text if I provided her a vehicle in which to drive. As usual, she delivered an incredibly moving performance.” In the fifth movement, Knecht wanted to end with everyone singing "We are the Lord's" over and over. So that “the overall scope should move from questions and resignation at the beginning to comfort and hope at the end.”

Visit Knecht’s blog to hear each movement of the piece here.

World premiere of 'Media Vita'

Lincoln Lutheran Choir gives the world premiere of Kurt Knecht's 'Media Vita."

Credit: by Amy Flamminio

In the midst of Lincoln, Media Vita (In the Midst of Life) was given its world premiere on Sunday. The Lincoln Lutheran Choir performed this newest choral work of Kurt Knecht at the Church of the Holy Trinity Episcopal. Despite the heat and a church with broken air conditioner, the audience filled most of the church and fanned themselves with programs.

The title of the program was “Eternal Light” and featured the Requiem of Gabriel Faure and Kurt Knecht’s Media Vita. However, interspersed with the longer works were hymns that the congregation joined in singing. The choir’s artistic director and conductor, Joshua Norris, explained the theme for the evening in the program “I wanted to focus on one of the most significant, but neglected of themes: death and eternal life… The choir has worked diligently to present to you in a thoughtful way what we believe is one of the most important of Christian ideals to remember: life is indeed eternal!”

Si credimus

The hymns on the program were “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say,” “Now the Green Blade Rises,” and “For All the Saints.” Some are about death, but always returning to the theme of hope and faith in resurrection and eternal life. The Faure Requiem featured soloists Rebecca Shane (soprano) and Dr. William Shomos (baritone) and goes from the dark moments like “Dies illa, dies irae” (That day, the day of wrath) to the beautiful, angelic closing movement “In Paradisum” (Into Paradise).

After intermission, the audience was finally treated to the premiere of Media Vita. With the composer at the piano, an orchestra consisting of violin, viola, cello, bass, horn, harp, and timpani performed along with the choir. The composer stated that he found the text for this piece in the Lutheran “Little Hours for the Dead” which he had not previously known to exist but found in an old Lutheran hymnal. The texts come from Job, St. Paul, and Isaiah and focus on the themes of the concert: death and eternal life.

As usual with Knecht’s pieces, many musical techniques and styles were in play throughout the piece. He has a great talent in using all the musical styles from the past and present. One moment might sound like it’s from the Renaissance, another from the Baroque, and then a chord happens that reminds us that the 20th century brought atonality to the scene. Knecht created a musical panorama utilizing exactly the musical style that he needed to bring the text to life.

The five movements of Media Vita were: Si Bona Suscepimus (Shall we receive good), Credo, quod Redemptor meus (I know that my Redeemer), Si credimus (If we believe), Ecce, quomodo moritur Justus (Behold, how the righteous dieth), and In pace in id idipsum dormiam (I will lay me down in peace and sleep). Shomos sang a baritone solo for the second movement, and the fourth movement began with a soprano solo sung by Shane.

Despite the printed request in the program that the audience hold their applause until the end of the concert, the church erupted in applause as the audience leapt to their feet at the end of the piece.

Keep track of Knecht’s recitals, concerts, and premieres by following his blog or his facebook page.

'Sonatas and Toccatas:' The organ recital of Kurt Knecht

The program for Kurt Knecht's recital "Sonatas and Toccatas."

Credits: background picture by Amy Flamminio, inset from UNL website

Nebraska Wesleyan University’s O’Donnell Auditorium was the location of Kurt Knecht’s organ recital yesterday evening. On the program were works by Bach, Rheinberger, and Jongen, composers that are heard at many organ recitals, but unique to this performance was the first performance of Dr. Knecht’s own organ piece entitled “Sursum Sonata.”

According to his official website, Dr. Knecht already has choral compositions that are a “staple of the modern choral festival literature having been performed on All State and ACDA concerts in over 15 states.” His work, “Manly Men,” has been a hit with men’s choirs (TTBB) and audiences for years.
Dr. Knecht received his Doctor of Music Arts degree in Musical Composition from UNL and was awarded the prestigious Folsom Distinguished Dissertation Award for his composition, “Missa Prolationem,” a beautiful piece incorporating historical compositional techniques with modern ones. This piece was for soloists, choir, string quartet, and organ.

Spinning toward Euphoria from the Sursum Sonata

On last night’s recital, the program was:

• Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C Major BWV 564 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

• Sursum Sonata by Kurt Knecht (b. 1971)
• 1. Surging Fluctuations
• 2. Suspended Mirrors
• 3. Spinning towards Euphoria

• Sonate No. 7 in f minor Op. 127 by Joseph Rheinberger (1839-1901)
• 1. Preludio – Allegro non troppo
• 2. Andante
• 3. Finale – Grave – Vivo

• Toccata Op. 104 by Joseph Jongen (1873-1953)

The highlight of the evening was the premier of Dr. Knecht’s “Sursum Sonata.” Despite his many compositions and published works, Dr. Knecht has only composed one piece for organ before this work. He wrote the “Sursum Sonata” a few years ago for an undergraduate student who was studying organ at UNL, but the piece has not been performed publicly until now. Dr. Knecht introduced the piece by telling the audience to listen to the contrasting sections that make up the first movement of a sonata. Then he told the audience that the second movement would make use of inversion. According to the online Britannica Encyclopedia, “to invert a melody means to change its ascending intervals to descending ones and vice versa.” Imagine a melody in a mirror—reflected back at itself. That seems to be the inspiration for the title of that movement, “Suspended Mirrors.”

Lincoln should keep an eye out for further works and performances of Dr. Kurt Knecht!