Music on Thursdays
|
|
Thursday 25th September 2025
|
|
VOLT DUO
classical & Spanish guitar music with
Gus McQuade
&
Gonçalo Maia Caetano
Programme
Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)
from the lyric drama La Vida Breve (1904-05)
1st Dance, or Dañza Espanola
Sergio Assad (b1952)
Tres Cenas Brasileiras for Two Guitars: (1984)
I Pinote Bucking Horse/Frolic
II Vitoria Regia Amazonian Giant Waterlily
III Recife Dos Corais Coral Reef
Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pacsual (1860-1909)
from Suite Española No 1 Op 47 (1882-89)
8 Cuba
Sir James Paul McCartney (b1942) &
John Winston Ono Lennon (1940-1980)
arr Leo Brouwer (b Juan Leovigildo Brouwer Mezquida, 1939)
She’s Leaving Home (1967)
Stephen Cuthbert Vivian Dodgson (1924-2013)
Promenade I (1988)
Stephen Goss (b 1964)
Cocktail List (2022)
Caipirinha
Piña Colada
The Last Word
Negroni
Vieux Carré
Mojito
Manhattan
Concert duration approx: 45+ minutes
Please donate to help fund these concerts at: cafdonate.cafonline.org/14455
Due to harpsichordist Myriam Lowe's academic commitments we plan to bring you the Lowe Ensemble concert in 2026
Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)
from the lyric drama La Vida Breve (1904-05)
1st Dance, or Dañza Espanola
Sergio Assad (b1952)
Tres Cenas Brasileiras for Two Guitars: (1984)
I Pinote Bucking Horse/Frolic
II Vitoria Regia Amazonian Giant Waterlily
III Recife Dos Corais Coral Reef
Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pacsual (1860-1909)
from Suite Española No 1 Op 47 (1882-89)
8 Cuba
Sir James Paul McCartney (b1942) &
John Winston Ono Lennon (1940-1980)
arr Leo Brouwer (b Juan Leovigildo Brouwer Mezquida, 1939)
She’s Leaving Home (1967)
Stephen Cuthbert Vivian Dodgson (1924-2013)
Promenade I (1988)
Stephen Goss (b 1964)
Cocktail List (2022)
Caipirinha
Piña Colada
The Last Word
Negroni
Vieux Carré
Mojito
Manhattan
Concert duration approx: 45+ minutes
Please donate to help fund these concerts at: cafdonate.cafonline.org/14455
Due to harpsichordist Myriam Lowe's academic commitments we plan to bring you the Lowe Ensemble concert in 2026
Gonçalo Maia Caetano • VOLT DUO • Gus McQuade
Volt Duo
Volt Duo is an award-winning classical guitar duo formed by Gus McQuade (UK) and Gonçalo Maia Caetano (Portugal), based in London. Their repertoire spans centuries and styles, with a particular focus on their own bespoke arrangements — from Pat Metheny and Jean-Philippe Rameau to Alexander Scriabin — alongside works by composers such as Sergio Assad, Manuel de Falla, The Beatles, and more.
The pair began collaborating in 2018 while studying at the Royal Academy of Music, performing together in guitar duos, quartets, and chamber ensembles before officially forming Volt Duo in 2022. Since then, they have performed extensively at festivals and venues across the UK and Europe, including the Llantwit Major Chamber Music Festival and City Music Society, and were prize-winners at the Lagoa International Guitar Competition in Portugal.
Individually, Gus is a New Elizabethan Award winner and City Music Foundation Young Artist, with appearances at Wigmore Hall, the Purcell Room, and St Martin-in-the-Fields. Gonçalo has received several international prizes, including the prestigious Prince’s Prize, and is set to perform Malcolm Arnold’s Guitar Concerto in a Julian Bream Trust concert at the Royal Academy’s Duke’s Hall.
The pair began collaborating in 2018 while studying at the Royal Academy of Music, performing together in guitar duos, quartets, and chamber ensembles before officially forming Volt Duo in 2022. Since then, they have performed extensively at festivals and venues across the UK and Europe, including the Llantwit Major Chamber Music Festival and City Music Society, and were prize-winners at the Lagoa International Guitar Competition in Portugal.
Individually, Gus is a New Elizabethan Award winner and City Music Foundation Young Artist, with appearances at Wigmore Hall, the Purcell Room, and St Martin-in-the-Fields. Gonçalo has received several international prizes, including the prestigious Prince’s Prize, and is set to perform Malcolm Arnold’s Guitar Concerto in a Julian Bream Trust concert at the Royal Academy’s Duke’s Hall.
Recordings of the works in today's concert
Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)
from the lyric drama La Vida Breve (1904-05)
1st Dance, or Dañza Espanola [2:35]
Let's start our musical journey with two of the best! Here is a recording by Julian Bream and John Williams, made in 1973, and many online believe it had not been beaten yet.
from the lyric drama La Vida Breve (1904-05)
1st Dance, or Dañza Espanola [2:35]
Let's start our musical journey with two of the best! Here is a recording by Julian Bream and John Williams, made in 1973, and many online believe it had not been beaten yet.
Sergio Assad (b1952)
Tres Cenas Brasileiras for Two Guitars: (1984) [6:50]
I Pinote Bucking Horse/Frolic
II Vitoria Regia Amazonian Giant Waterlilly
III Recife Dos Corais Coral Reef
From the range of recordings of these Three Brazilian Scenes we have selected the Kupinski Guitar Duo. This Polish duo comprises husband and wife Ewa Jablczynska & Dariusz Kupinski.
Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pacsual (1860-1909)
from Suite Española No 1 Op 47 (1882-89)
8 Cuba Allegro moderato [4:30]
In this recording by the Mascarade Guitar Duo we do not get to see the players. However, we do know their names. They are Marco Sambola and Raimon Toria.
Sir James Paul McCartney (b1942) &
John Winston Ono Lennon (1940-1980)
arr Leo Brouwer (b Juan Leovigildo Brouwer Mezquida, 1939)
She’s Leaving Home (1967)
Maybe you have to be a teenager to perform this song, but then, we almost all have been teenagers, at some time! Here are Bradley Johnson and Alexandra Whittingham, in 2020, performing this Beatles song, and receiving much acclaim for it.
Alexandra studied at the Royal Academy of Music, leaving with both Bachelor and Master degrees and several prizes too. This week she is in Canada and about to leave for Germany and Austria.
Bradley took his BMus at the Royal Northern College of Music before moving to the RAM for his Masters and the Advanced Diploma (the RAM's highest award.) He also plays both early and modern music - on the mandolin.
Stephen Cuthbert Vivian Dodgson (1924-2013)
Promenade I (1988)
For Dodgson's Promenade we have a recording by the MorrisLenson Duo, Jacob Lenson and Mark Morris. Both took their Bachelors degree at the royal College of Music, moving to the RAM for postgraduate. They were only the third guitar duo to qualify together for the Advanced Performance Certificate.
Stephen Goss (b 1964)
Cocktail List (2022)
*Caipirinha Choro
*Mojito Son
Boulevardier Hot
*Piña Colada Cha cha cha
*The Last Word Fast Funk
*Negroni Aria nostalgica
Alabama Slammer Song
Bloody Mary Hungover
Iron Lady Nobilmente
*Vieux Carré Blues
Vodka Martini Agitato, non mescolato
*Manhattan Stomp
*these will be played in the concert
You may be more used to seeing that list with prices against the items. Here though it represents parts of a suite of works by Stephen Goss. As they are quite fun and relatively short, and we've found a very good recording, let's listen to the complete suite. The guitars are under the fingers of Aniello Desiderio and Zoran Dukić, who, as it tells us below, commissioned the work. Maybe they enjoy cocktails too.
Recording notes:
Cocktail List is a collection of twelve miniatures for two guitars commissioned by Zoran Dukić and Aniello Desiderio. The cocktails vary in length from just a few seconds to around three minutes. They take in a broad range of musical styles from Italian opera to Brazilian choro, from Berlin cabaret to Detroit funk.
Many of the cocktails parody or pay homage to specific musical genres, while others are adaptations or distortions of existing music. For instance, Iron Lady draws on the style of Elgar's 'Pomp and Circumstance' marches, while Negroni evokes the film scores of Ennio Morricone. Alabama Slammer is an arrangement of Kurt Weill's 'Alabama Song', whereas Caipirinha and Vieux Carré rework pieces by Nazareth and Gershwin respectively. Manhattan, written in collaboration with pianist Graham Caskie, draws on several sources, including music by Rachmaninoff, Chopin, and Gershwin (again).
Zoran Dukić and Aniello Desiderio gave the first performance of Cocktail List at the Kurfürstliches Schloss, Koblenz, Germany, on 2nd June 2022, as part of the 30th Koblenz International Guitar Festival. The piece was funded by invited individuals who each chose a cocktail to be characterized in music, either for themselves or as a gift for someone else.
Previous concert
18 September 2025 - Wing Tung Fan & Thomas Ang, violin & piano - click here
Next concert
2 October 2025 - Alastair Penman, saxophone & Rory McInroy, jazz piano, click here |
|
