Amanda’s Dance | guitar solo by Frank A. Wallace

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Amanda’s Dance
by Frank A. Wallace

for guitar solo
inspired by Amanda by Justin Morgan
SUGGESTED DONATION $8.00

Duration: 6 minutes; 4 pages

Difficulty level: Difficult

Written: February, 2017

Dedicated to: Detlev Bork

World premiere: April 22, 2017 in Bern, Switzerland by Frank Wallace

Recording: A Distant Wind, 2019, by Frank Wallace on Gyre

All Gyre compositions are ASCAP
Copyright ©2017 Frank A. Wallace
Cover photography and design by Nancy Knowles
All rights reserved.

Amanda’s Dance first movement on 1941 Hauser

Ensemble Inversus singing in an April 2, 2011 concert at the Church of St. John the Evangelist in Montreal, Quebec.

Thomas Canning: Fantasy on a Hymn Tune by Justin Morgan

American hymn

Amanda’s Dance is based on an American hymn called Amanda by Justin Morgan. It’s long been a favorite of mine, with its haunting harmonies and stark words. The surprising use of a cross relation [D# and D at the same time] in the third chord of the song always captivated me and I had long wanted to write a set of variations or other work based on this chord and the related melodies. In the winter of 2017, I began the project and dedicated the piece to my German friend Detlev Bork in thanks for many favors and his love of new music. The opening dance gives way to a contrapuntal fantasy on the melodic elements of the original work and slowly works its way back to a reprise and enhancement of the opening theme.

Justin Morgan (February 28, 1747 – March 22, 1798) was a U.S. horse breeder and composer. READ MORE at WIKIPEDIA. He was born in West Springfield, Massachusetts, and by 1788 had settled in Vermont. In addition to being a horse breeder and farmer, he was a teacher of singing; in that capacity he traveled considerably throughout the northeastern states. He died in Randolph, Vermont, where he also served as town clerk.

My favorite stanza

Death, like an overflowing stream,
Sweeps us away; our life’s a dream,
An empty tale, a morning flower,
Cut down and withered in an hour.