Cocktail List

Cocktail List (2022) for two guitars    Stephen Goss

Iron Lady - Nobilmente            
Piña Colada - Cha cha cha            
The Last Word - Fast Funk            
Negroni - Aria nostalgica        
Caipirinha - Choro                 
Vieux Carré - Blues                    
Bloody Mary - Hungover             
Alabama Slammer - Song                        
Mojito - Son                
Boulevardier - Hot                    
Vodka Martini - Agitato, non mescolato    
Manhattan - Stomp                 

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).  

In concert, any number of cocktails can be performed in any order. However, if Manhattan is selected, it should end the set.

Zoran Dukić and Aniello Desiderio gave the first performance of Cocktail List at the Kurfürstliches Schloss, Koblenz, Germany, on 2^nd June 2022, as part of the 30^th Koblenz International Guitar Festival. The piece was funded by invited individuals who each chose a cocktail to be characterised in music, either for themselves or as a gift for someone else.