Central
Illinois roots musician and songwriter Chris Vallillo found inspiration at the
Dana-Thomas house this summer. While performing a series of shows at the
Springfield state historic site as part of a new music program called Made for
Music (areas in the home were designed specifically for musical performances), Vallillo
was captivated by a statue that sits in the entrance alcove and a song was
born.
Frank Lloyd Wright and artist Richard Bock’s 1903
terra-cotta statue, Flower in a Crannied Wall, is an interesting and beautiful
statue of a woman either placing or removing a cube from a formation of
crystals. On the back are two inscriptions: One is the Lord Alfred Tennyson poem Flower in a Crannied Wall, of which the statue was named after; the other is
three musical chords.
Says
Vallillo, “This intrigued me to the point where I was allowed to examine the
statue and photograph the chords which I then transposed. This three chord
passage became the inspiration for the new composition.” After researching the
house and the statue for his new song, Vallillo hasn’t found anyone who knows
where the chords come from, what they represent or even why they are on the
statue.
The
seasoned musician adds, “I used the three
chords as the jumping
off point and tried to make the piece reflective of the experience of the house as I felt it. Being in the house
extensively as much as I was, I came to
almost feel a relationship with it. My
goal was to write a piece of music that reflected both the poem and the Dana-Thomas house.”
Vallillo’s lovely song
“Flower in Crannied Wall” (click on the link to listen to the song) will be on his new CD available at his website soon. The Dana-Thomas State Historic Site, 301 W. Lawrence, is open for tours Thurs.-Sun.
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Submit poems or ideas to astienstra@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Oct 9-15, 2014.
