Sonata #1 | guitar solo by Frank A. Wallace

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Sonata #1
by Frank A. Wallace

three movements for solo guitar in a romantic 12-tone style: Allegro, Grave, Presto
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Duration: 11 minutes; 10 pages

Instrumentation: classical guitar

Difficulty level: concert level, complex rhythms, fast passages and large stretches

Written: spring, 2005

Recording: by Frank Wallace on Elemental, Gyre, 2014

All Gyre compositions are ASCAP
Copyright ©2005 Frank A. Wallace
Cover photography and design by Nancy Knowles
All rights reserved.

The composer performs the Grave from Sonata #1 on a 1901 Ramirez

As with many guitarists my age, Julian Bream’s “20th Century Guitar Music” album of the late 60’s was a tremendous influence on me. Though my eventual path led to the study and performance for many years of Renaissance music, I never lost my love for the pieces by Britten, Martin, Smith Brindle and Henze on that magnificent recording. Certainly this Sonata came from years of holding those sounds in my heart. The powerful rhythm and harmony emerged in the midst of several tours in which I was debuting two song cycles in the winter/spring of 2005. It surprised me.