Frank Wallace
Joy: Carols and Songs
© 2007 Frank Wallace (700261227542)
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Fabulous new arrangements of traditional and ancient carols of the holiday season for guitar solo.
tracks
- 1 Joy to the World
- 2 The First Noel
- 3 Silent Night
- 4 Sing We to this Merry Company
- 5 There is no Rose
- 6 O Come Emmanuel
- 7 Les Pasteurs de la Judea
- 8 Beata Progenies
- 9 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
- 10 Star in the East
- 11 A Shining
- 12 Cuando el Rey Nimrod
- 13 A los Maytines / Aro que Nostre
- 14 March
- 15 Greensleeves
- 16 Coventry Carol
- 17 Medley: Noel Nouvelet, Master in This Hall, Amb un Viudo, Stella
- 18 Medley [cont.] On This Day, Carillon, Dawn of the Doves
- 19 Away in a Manger
- 20 O Holy Night
- 21 J'ai Ouy la Voix / Santa María Strella do Dia
- 22 Venite a Laudare / Per Nadal Farem Gran Festa
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Frank Wallace’s new CD on Gyre contains original songs and fabulous new arrangements for solo guitar of traditional and ancient carols of the season. Joy, carols and songs for a season of light is a collection of 30 standards and works that were beloved songs from Wallace’s days of making music with lutes, viols and voices with Trio LiveOak and the Quadrivium in Boston. It is a joyous coming together of past and present. Four original works are included.
Review, November 2007 -- http://www.christmasreviews.com/wfrankwallace4.shtml
Ah, Frank Wallace's Joy: Carols and Songs for a Season of Light is an instrumental album for guitar connoisseurs. Armed with tremendous talent and a classical guitar, Wallace works his way through nearly a full hour (59 minutes!) of spectacular holiday fare, smartly sprinkling the familiar with the lesser known, and including several Wallace originals as well. The artist excels on all levels. As an accomplished classical guitarist, he brings great depth and virtuosity to every track. His own record label, Gyre Music, provides a flawless recording with acoustics that are both clean and warm. This is the sort of album that makes a great companion while I work on endless projects, both personal and professional, as the holidays approach.
The album embodies quiet elegance, yet never projects formality. Although Wallace's musical expression is complex, the tracks embrace the intrinsic pleasures of simple things, the everyday marvels that make life a treasure. I love the intimacy and immediacy of music like this; indeed, it should have universal appeal across many audiences.
Everything works very well. From the first bars of the opening Joy to the World, which Wallace takes to a whole new level, to the album's closing moments Venite a Laudare/Per Nadal, I was enthralled. Of the Wallace originals, my favorite is probably the somewhat exotic and incredibly delicate A Shining, which makes me feel as though I hold starlight in the palm of my hand.
Frank Wallace and his Joy deserve a standing ovation. The classical guitar's gently expressive voice has never been more alive than in Wallace's capable hands. Bravo!
--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2007)
Wallace’s previous CDs have been praised for their "...elegant virtuosity and Gyre's gorgeous sonics..." Jed Distler, classicstoday.com. Fanfare magazine has dubbed him a composer with “an authentic expressive voice” who writes with a “high standard of musical interest” and performs with “flawless technical proficiency”.
Guitarist Lou Arnold says of the current work: "I got to read a lot of these today and they are really terrific. I don't normally think of artistic content and commercial success at the same time but I think that this collection should be very successful. I have most of the commercially available collections of Christmas music for CG and yours is really the best for a number of reasons and I think most players would agree. Everything lies beautifully on the instrument and the modal harmonies and counterpoint [are] reminiscent of many pieces from Francesco da Milano to Sylvius Weiss! It's a great work and I wish you the best.”
American Record Guide calls Frank Wallace's compositions “exciting, unpredictable, and fresh”. Fanfare magazine has dubbed him a composer with “an authentic expressive voice” who writes with a “high standard of musical interest” and performs with “flawless technical proficiency”. His compositional style has many influences, from the blues and jazz to medieval and avant garde . His melodies are memorable, his harmonies and rhythms complex. Great passion and a sense of humor infuse his work.
Wallace is a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory but drove across country the day after graduation and met his wife to be, soprano Nancy Knowles just a few weeks later. In addition to the New England Conservatory, Wallace has taught at Plymouth State College, Emmanuel College, Keene State College and Franklin Pierce College. He is the Artistic Director of the Boston Classical Guitar Society and lives in the Monadnock region of New Hampshire, where he teaches at the Two Rivers Music School and privately. Frank Wallace's complete works as well as his recordings are available at www.gyremusic.com. His compositions have been published by Tuscany Publications, and Clear Note Publications and his works have been featured in Guitar Review, Fingerstyle Magazine and The LSA Quarterly.
Wallace's compositions have been twice honored by the New Hampshire Council on the Arts' prestigious Artist Fellowship Award, in 2001 for Frank Wallace, his own new works (Gyre 10012), his debut recording on Gyre of his own compositions, and in 2006 for the Duo LiveOak CD Woman of the Water (Gyre 10082)