by Kurt Knecht | Jan 22, 2015 | Uncategorized
In the old way, you never showed your personal compositions to your composition teacher. So, when Alban and Anton showed up to Prof. Schoenberg’s class, they did exercises. They did a lot of model writing, harmony exercises, counterpoint, etc. One of the good...
by Kurt Knecht | Dec 24, 2014 | Uncategorized
I had a free hour yesterday and was able to get to five more requests. Actually, I got to six because I combined two in this first bit. Josh Norris had asked for the Widor Toccata in the style of John Rutter. I had initially refused on the basis that I was only doing...
by Kurt Knecht | Dec 23, 2014 | Uncategorized
At least once a year I wind up in a friendly discussion with a pianist (usually several) because I don’t believe in such a thing as “touch” or “tone” on the piano because PHYSICS! My pianists friends then rally behind each other with the...
by Kurt Knecht | Dec 19, 2014 | Uncategorized
I only had time for two yesterday, but they are pretty fun.The first is “You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch” in the style of a Handel aria. This clever suggestion came from Grant Anderson.A very challenging suggestion from Brittany Downey was to play...
by Kurt Knecht | Dec 17, 2014 | Uncategorized
I only had time for two yesterday, but they were both excellent suggestions. Connie Backus Yoder suggested “The Holly and the Ivy” in the style of Bach. For this one, I took something like the accompaniment figure from the cantata setting of Nun Danket and...
by Kurt Knecht | Dec 16, 2014 | Uncategorized
I had time for a few of the more interesting and challenging requests yesterday. I think the hardest request so far has been by Stan Kleppinger who asked for “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” in the style of Hindemith. I thought about this one enough...
by Kurt Knecht | Dec 13, 2014 | Uncategorized
Yesterday, I had time to do two more. The first was “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” suggested by Tinsley Silcox. It is one of the best combinations suggested to date. Debussy goes well with Irving Berlin. I lifted the voicing of the first chord...
by Kurt Knecht | Dec 11, 2014 | Uncategorized
Today started with a nice request from Nathaniel Sullivan. “O come, O come, Emmanuel” in the style of Cole Porter. This one came out particularly nicely, I think. Next, Brett Epperson requested “O Holy Night” played as a Scott Joplin rag....
by Kurt Knecht | Dec 11, 2014 | Uncategorized
Yesterday, I managed three more. I had a request from my sister for “Santa Baby” in the style of Haydn. I decided to play it on the organ because it was more convenient. I really like how this one turned out.Kendall Reimer suggested “Rocking around...
by Kurt Knecht | Dec 9, 2014 | Uncategorized
I only had time to do two today.Aliana Kae asked for “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” in the style of Rachmaninov. I adapted the opening of the C# minor prelude and used the melody as a replacement bass line. I then played part of the melody in a Rachmaninov...
by Kurt Knecht | Dec 8, 2014 | Uncategorized
The latest set of requests for Christmas Carol mashups brought some fun options. It seems that the favorite from this round is a request by one of our compositions students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Cambria Butcher requested “Baby it’s cold...
by Kurt Knecht | Dec 5, 2014 | Uncategorized
I had some time today between students to fulfill a few more of the requests.Today’s first mashup comes from a wonderful suggestion by one of my composition students. Caitlin Gilmore suggested “Grandma got run over by a reindeer” in the style of Bela...
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