Posted by Mary Wimberley on 2008-04-25

Carillonneurs Richard Watson and Steven Brooks Knight will offer a variety of composers and musical styles during concerts celebrating the 40th anniversary of Samford University's Rushton Memorial Carillon.

Watson's May 5 concert at 4:30 p.m. will open with Louis Bourgeois' Old Hundredth doxology and The Star-Spangled Banner, followed by Arthur Lynds Bigelow's Fantasia in F, Bach's Bist du bei mir, Matthias van den Gheyn's Preludio IX in F major, Ronald M. Barnes' Serenade I (Sicilienne and Milonga), Benoit J. Franssen's Gondolilra, Fritz Kreisler's The Old Refrain (arr. Anton Brees), and F. Percival Price's Air with Variations in classic style for carillon.

Watson will also play three North American folksongs arranged for carillon by Milford H. Myhre: Cindy, He's Gone Away and Blow the Man Down; three dance movements for carillons: Georges Clement's Pavane, Kamiel Lefevere's Gavotte and Ronald M. Barnes' Sarabande; and two hymns arranged for carillon by F. Percival Price, the American folk hymn Jerusalem, my Happy Home and W. H. Monk's Abide with Me. 

Watson performed the pieces by Bigelow, Brees, van den Gheyn, Clement, Lefevere and Price at Samford 40 years ago when he gave the carillon's dedicatory concert in 1968.

Knight will open his May 7 and 8 concerts with his arrangement of Flemish Dance, followed by Kamiel LeFevre's arrangement of Mozart's Adagio for Glass Harmonica in C Major. 

He will also play Rusterholz' Theme and Variations, Gary C. White's Reflections, from Jean Miller's Three Short Pieces for Carillon---Air and Lullaby, and his original composition, Rondino for Carillon. 

In a nod to the country that is so closely associated with carillon production and playing, Knight will play the Dutch national anthem, followed by The Star-Spangled Banner. 

Knight plays at 4:30 p.m. on May 7 and at 6:45 p.m. on May 8.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.