Cavatina (Myers)

"Cavatina" is a 1970 classical guitar piece by British composer Stanley Myers written for the film The Walking Stick (1970), and popularised as the theme from The Deer Hunter some eight years later. As the Italian diminutive of cavata, cavatina is a musical term frequently applied to any simple, melodious air.

History

The piece had been recorded by classical guitarist John Williams, long before the film that made it famous. It had originally been written for piano, but at Williams' invitation Myers re-wrote it for guitar and expanded it. After this transformation, it was first used for the film The Walking Stick (1970). In 1973, Cleo Laine wrote lyrics and recorded the song as "He Was Beautiful", accompanied by Williams.

After the release of The Deer Hunter in 1978, Williams' instrumental version became a UK Top 20 hit. Two other versions also made the Top 20 in the same year: another instrumental recording by The Shadows, with an electric guitar played by Hank Marvin, released on their album String of Hits with the name "Theme from The Deer Hunter" (number 9 in the UK singles charts[1] and number 1 in The Netherlands); and a vocal version (using Cleo Laine's lyrics) by Iris Williams.

Later recordings

In 1982, guitarist Liona Boyd included it in her "Best Of" Collection, also with arrangement alongside Eric Robertson and Williams.

Angel Romero recorded a version of Cavatina on his 1988 Telarc release "A Touch of Class".

Norbert Kraft included a version of Cavatina on his 1996 Naxos Records release "Guitar Favourites".

The tune was recorded in 2004 by trumpeter and flugelhorn player Vaughn Nark on his Panorama album Summit Records, featuring Nark on flugelhorn and Rick Whitehead on classical guitar.

The tune was also recorded by Paul Potts on his 2007 debut album, One Chance.

There is a gospel version set to "Cavatina" called "Beautiful"; the author is Billy Evmur and it appears in the Dove On A Distant Oak Tree collection. Another vocal version with different lyrics was recorded by Vince Hill (released on the compilation The Ember Records Story Vol. 2 - 1960–1979).

In 2009, the song was the tenth track of Camilla Kerslake's début album Camilla Kerslake.

In 2011, the song was recorded by singer Joe McElderry and guitarist Milos Karadaglic for McElderry's second album, Classic.

In 2013, the song was recorded by Mark Vincent for his album Songs from the Heart.

In 2016, the song was recorded and released by Japanese guitarist Kaori Muraji on her Decca Records album Rhapsody Japan.

Other usage

Williams played the piece for the Amnesty International benefit concert, film and soundtrack The Secret Policeman's Ball in 1979.[2]

The piece is also played at the end of the Battlestar Galactica episode "Scar" after Kara "Starbuck" Thrace toasts the memory of pilots who had been tragically killed doing what they loved. See also Music of Battlestar Galactica (re-imagining).

"Cavatina" was also used to accompany "The Gallery" in the children's programme Take Hart, and its predecessor Vision On, during the 1970s. It was also used for some time in the 1970s as the close-down music when BBC radio went to sleep at 2 a.m.[3]

The song was featured in the 2005 film Jarhead.

References
  1. "UK Official Chart: Shadows". Official Charts Company. 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  2. The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979) at IMDb
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-04-15. Retrieved 2011-10-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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