The Ground Beneath Our Feet

Recorded live in concert at Dumbarton Oaks in DC, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Stravinsky’s chamber concerto at the Washington estate for which it was originally named, 'the ground beneath our feet' brings together radically divergent examples of the concerto grosso, by composers ranging from Bach and Haydn to those of the present day, by way of modern masters Stravinsky and Steve Reich. True to their collegial creed, The Knights’ own contribution to the form – the title track, …the ground beneath our feet, recorded here for the first time – is a genuine group composition, collaborative from inception to interpretation. Also receiving its world premiere recording is the Concerto for Santur, Violin, and Orchestra, which represents the third collaboration between longtime friends and musical partners Colin Jacobsen and Siamak Aghaei, leading exponent of the Iranian santur, or hammered dulcimer. The Knights juxtapose these two original concerto grossi with four earlier examples of the form. Representing its apotheosis in the Baroque is the Concerto for Violin and Oboe by J.S. Bach, whose third Brandenburg Concerto provided the model for Stravinsky’s neoclassical masterpiece “Dumbarton Oaks.” Steve Reich’s Duet for Two Violins and Strings is dedicated to Yehudi Menuhin and “the ideals of international understanding which he practiced throughout his life.”

"The range and inventiveness of the Knights, the New York orchestra founded and led by the brothers Eric and Colin Jacobsen, is everywhere on display in this beguiling new release." (SF Gate)

"Bach, Stravinsky, Reich and even a couple of the ensemble's own adventurous compositions commingle on this satisfying new release." NPR

"The first album from the Knights at their new home of Warner Classics hums with panache... Each player bites into their music with both guts and bonhomie." The Times ****