Frank Wallace: Song of Albin. Antrim: GYRE Publications, 2011. 16 pp. No Price Marked. (Soundboard magazine - September , 2011)
Guitar composition in the 21st century stretches from neo-Renaissance compositions to pieces showcasing specialized tricks of the composer, and from beautiful simplistic melodies to the delights of 12-tone. In attempting to captivate those who want to walk away humming and those who want to hear innovations, composers must walk a delicate tight rope. Frank Wallace strides across that rope with his six movement solo guitar suite Song for Albin written in honor of Wallace’s Scottish ancestors. These are rich, intricate concert works that would work well as a set or individually. Embedded within these works are fascinating, dense harmonies; complex contrapuntal textures; several extensive shifts; and some challenging slur techniques.
The set begins with “Reviresco” where the simple, lilting, rhythm gradually gives way to intricate rhythmic sequences and scale passages as it passes through 7 different time signatures. “My Trust” introduces the slur technique in which the second note of a descending slur is accompanied by another plucked note. This technique takes some advanced hand and finger independence and is not easily accomplished at a rapid tempo. This second movement will push the player’s interpretive chops to new heights as it weaves long shifts, rhythmic schemes, slurs, and modern harmony around gorgeous melodic lines. In the third movement, “The Glen of Ellersly,” Wallace develops a three-note motif over rhythmic displacement, octave displacements, adds harmony at varied times to the beginning, middle, or end of the motif, creates counterpoint lines, and transcends the fretboard in the process. “Birling” is the simplest and shortest movement in the set and a magnificent piece to introduce a young player to Wallace’s beautiful sense of melody while giving a player who takes on the entire suite a breath to relax. The fifth movement, “Cuthon,” maintains a fairly constant rhythmic theme throughout while adding drama through harmony and the use of specific single strings for widely spaced melodies. “Red Lion” concludes the suite with quintuplet and sextuplet arpeggios, no time signature, and a breadth of atonal harmony with resolution in the final two bars.
In addition to the wonderful music contained on these pages is the beautiful physical presentation that comes from GYRE. An original piece of artwork, often a photograph from Wallace’s wife Nancy Knowles, graces each cover, the music is well-organized, it is easy to read, and contains plenty of essential left hand fingerings. The back cover lists the mountain of varied publications available from GYRE which deserve to be explored.
-David Isaacs
