As It Could Be, a chamber suite

The Hartt School is the first institution in America to graduate a guitar major with a Bachelor’s Degree. Richard Provost graduated from Hartt and stayed on to start the Department himself in 1964. I am honored to have been chosen to write a major work in honor of the 50th Anniversary of that occasion. Of As It Could Be Dick writes, “We wanted this commission to leave a permanent record. Frank writes modern sounding music that has a broad appeal. His pieces are as satisfying to the audience as they are to the performing musicians. We chose Frank for this project simply because we like his music!”

As It Could Be begins with Changes Upon the Guitar, signifying past and future changes to our community as well as a reference to the ancient tradition of “change ringing” upon a set of tuned bells. Seven guitars play diatonic patterns derived from the names of the performers that create a layering of overtones that ring out from the cacophonous texture. Violin and viola join with competing melodic lines, a symbolic call to honor both this Guitar Department and it’s leader with a noble “call to worship,” as well as the changes that started 50 years ago within the guitar community that have led to this marvelous moment in time.

Eight works composed by Frank A. Wallace in winter 2014 comprise As It Could Be, a chamber suite commissioned by and dedicated to the Hartt School of Music Guitar Department and its founder/director Richard Provost on the occasion of their 50th anniversary. The project was conceived at dinner following a concert of the New England Guitar Quartet at the Hartt Festival in the summer of 2013. My interest in writing chamber music melded perfectly with Dick’s desire to plan a celebration/concert for the Anniversary. Dick suggested using The Man with the Blue Guitar by Wallace Stevens (a resident of Hartford, CT) as a source of lyrics for a song to include. This incredible testimony to art and its role in changing society became inspiration for the music and titles, though a song did not come forth.

The possibilities for chamber music with guitar, guitar orchestra and ensembles are only beginning to be fully realized. Thank you Dick (and all your colleagues) who brought the guitar out of the dark ages and into a brilliant new community of creativity and progress through your courage, hard work and vision. Thanks to the Augustine Foundation for their support of this project. Let us imagine a future as it could be: “Things as they are / Are changed upon the blue guitar.” [Wallace Stevens]

*Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a series of mathematical patterns called “changes”. Change ringing differs from many other forms of campanology (such as carillon ringing) in that no attempt is made to produce a conventional melody. Wikipedia