Fish Fights | for flute and guitar by Frank A. Wallace

NOTES ON FISH FIGHTS

a work by Frank A. Wallace for flute and guitar, op. 100
Commissioned by Daniel Acsadi & Meghan Jacoby
Composed in January 2020

The titles of movement one and two of Fish Fights, Melville / Hemingway, were suggested by an old friend, luthier Stephan Connor. I was trying to decide on a central theme of survival of species, birds or fish of New England specifically. I awoke one morning with two words on my mind — fish fights. Loved the pun, and the symbolic connection to my personal battle with cancer. My fists are clinched, ready to fight an epic battle, to win, to conquer, to emerge victorious.

I knew Steve was interested in the ocean and the environment. Being a resident of Cape Cod, I wrote to ask him what he knew of local endangered species. He responded inspirationally with the  the success story of the recovery of Osprey on the Cape. A couple days later, he wrote again with mention of his two favorite books, both about epic battles at sea: Moby Dick and The Old Man and the Sea.

Our oceans are in a mammoth battle with humans. Pollution, plastics and over-fishing are devastating populations of birds and fish. The Old Man Santiago, in Hemingway’s novella, cuts his hands badly trying to haul in the marlin he has hooked, which is subsequently ravaged by sharks. Captain Ahab is dragged to his death, caught in the lines that he hoped would capture his obsession, the White Whale. Both men are connected to the sea, to the natural world, by a thin line. One survives and cultivates his optimism for life, the other is a tragic bitter calamity. Both men fail, utterly, to control natural powers greater than they. Steve mentioned these two books as the ultimate examples of man’s struggle with nature, both his inner nature and Mother Nature. I chose the authors’ names as an invitation to contemplate great stories and story-telling along with the depths of our collective soul.

In this fight, the fight for all species to survive, it is not appropriate to say, “May the best man win.” We must ALL win – fish, fowl and humans. We must bless all life on Earth.

It is my solemn wish that Fish Fights will bring just a few more people into awareness of this life and death struggle via the concert hall. My 2005 composition How Fragile She Is: ten songs for soprano, baritone & guitar, op. 33, is a musical celebration of and prayer for our small planet. I have long wanted to spread the word that our lifestyle impinges greatly on the lives of so many plants and animals, birds and fish, mammals and reptiles, trees and grasses. Fish Fights explores the many textures of life in musical fantasy. Fights  happen, dissonant clashes between flute and guitar, along with calm and intermittent beauty, reflecting life to its fullest. The piece symbolizes my own struggle with a rare disease, ocular melanoma. I first lost most vision in one eye as a result of the initial tumor and its surgical and radiation treatments. A year and a half later, the cancer metastasized to my liver and now is spreading further. I too am fighting a battle for survival and Fish Fights is part of my battle, part of my struggle, part of my acceptance and healing. May we all accept our terrifying situation on earth and fight the good fight.

Frank A. Wallace

Biographies of Commissioner/performers

Flutist Dr. Meghan Jacoby has performed as a chamber and orchestral musician throughout the United States, England, Italy, Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, and Cuba. As a musician in the Boston area, she has also performed with Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), Emmanuel Music, and with the Portland, Indian Hill, and Cape Cod Symphonies. She is principal flute with the chamber orchestra Symphony by the Sea, under the direction of acclaimed bassist Donald Palma. Recent international travels have taken her to Lima, Peru, where she has been a guest artist at the Festival Internacional de Flutistas, and to Cremona, Italy, where she is on faculty in the summers at the Cremona International Music Academy. In addition to being on faculty at Phillips Academy Andover, Meghan is also on faculty at Saint Anselm College, New England Conservatory Preparatory School, Powers Music School, and Concord Academy.  READ MORE

As an acclaimed performer, educator, and arts administrator, Dr. Daniel Acsadi is creating exciting new directions for the classical guitar. Guided by his wide-ranging interests and Hungarian-American heritage, Dan’s musical projects and teaching link the great musical traditions of Europe and the Americas. Since winning his first guitar competition at the age of fifteen, Dan has performed extensively throughout the United States both as soloist and chamber musician. He has created  arrangements of 19th-century art songs, Portuguese fado, Brazilian bossa nova, Hungarian classical and folk music, and American traditional songs.  READ MORE