i El testament d'Amèlia, ii Cançó del lladre, iii El Mestre
These pieces are arrangements of folksongs, 15 pieces for Llobet's "Canciones populares Catalanas". One of the most famous is 'El testament d'Amèlia' (Amelia's Will). You will also hear Cançó del lladre (Song of the Thief) and El Mestre (The teacher)
This was composed in 1960 and is Poulenc's only guitar piece. The Sarabande was a slow dance that enjoyed great popularity in the Baroque period. It was also one of Poulenc's last works and comes from his Improvisation for Piano No. 13 (FP 170), from which he takes its motif and transforms it into an exploration of the dynamics and colours of the guitar.
This is Germaine Taillefere's only composition for solo guitar.
English guitarist and composer Laura Snowden wrote This Changing Sky. Incidentally, the composer has just released her debut album with the same name.
i Preludio, ii Coral, iii Cuna, iv Recitativo, v Canción, vi Muñiera
Federico Monpou was Catalan. Each movement evokes the essence of Santiago de Compostela — a historical Galician city in northwest Spain. The suite beautifully contains a variety of music styles and moods: a traditional Spanish feeling, archaic chants, a combination of church modes and twentieth century's modern harmony, elements that conjure up images of rainy Galician city or traditional lively dance by imitating the sound of ‘la Gaita (bagpipes)’ and Mompou's distinctive bell-like chords.
Un sueño en la floresta (A Dream in the Forest) was written in 1917. One of the most famous of Barrios’s works and popular for its extended tremolo. “The Paraguayan guitarist Agustín Barrios established himself as a performer throughout Latin America. His performances in Europe in the 1930s were followed by a final period spent teaching at the San Salvador Conservatory.
Hope Cramsie - Guitar
Hope Cramsie is a versatile classical guitarist and theorbo player based in London. Her performances showcase a diverse repertoire ranging from renditions of Renaissance music to the premiering of brand new works, and highlight the lyricism and sensitivity of her instrument. Fast establishing herself as an up and coming performer, Hope has given solo recitals at Buxton International Festival and St James Piccadilly. She has featured regularly in the International Guitar Foundation’s concert series, including performances at Kings Place during the London Guitar Festival in 2021. Other venues she has performed at include the National Portrait Gallery, Brussels Guitar Laboratory Festival, Klara Festival, HowTheLightGetsIn Festival, as well as featuring regularly in the RCM’s recital series and concerts including a recent appearance at the RCM String Showcase held at Wigmore Hall in 2025.
Hope graduated from the undergraduate course at the Royal College of Music with First Class Honours, part of which included an Erasmus exchange at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen with Jesper Sivebæk. Afterwards she completed her masters with Distinction at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels with Antigoni Goni and Xavier Diaz Latorre, before returning to the RCM to complete an Artist Diploma where she studied guitar with Gary Ryan and Chris Stell, and theorbo with Jakob Lindberg, supported by the Elmley Foundation, and as an RCM Ian Evans Lombe scholar, Help Musicians Postgraduate Award holder and Julian Bream Trust Scholar.
In 2021, Hope was awarded First Prize at Leicester Music Festival’s Advanced Guitar Competition. She is also a Young Artist of the Worshipful Company of Musicians after receiving First Prize at the Ivor Mairants Guitar Award in 2023. Also an active chamber musician, Hope is one half in the newly formed Vona Guitar Duo, an ensemble championing new music by female composers, and is a member of the National Youth Guitar Fellowship Ensemble.
Upcoming highlights this season include a solo recital at the Royal Albert Hall’s Elgar Room and a video release with Vona Duo in collaboration with Siccas Guitars.
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