Description

“Cavatina” is a 1970 classical guitar piece by British composer Stanley Myers based on music he originally wrote for the soundtrack of the film The Walking Stick (1970). After Myers expanded the piece and it was recorded by guitarist John Williams, “Cavatina” was popularized as the theme from the 1978 film The Deer Hunter.

I arranged the piece for two guitars many years ago when I was working with Nick Webb, with whom I would found Acoustic Alchemy in 1980, as we needed popular tunes for the many restaurants and wine bars we worked in to make ends meet. Originally Nick played the melody on steel stringed acoustic guitar, which worked well, and I played the accompaniment on classical guitar (nylon strings). As a solo piece it is challenging but as a duet quite manageable. We often swapped parts for fun.