Steve Goss

composer

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Ophelia's Garden

2025 | 5 mins | for two Renaissance 8-course lutes

Ophelia’s Garden was commissioned by Nigel North and Michal Gondko for their forthcoming album The Elizabethan Garden. It was recorded in April 2025 for release later in the year. The piece is based on Ophelia’s speech from Act 4, Scene 5, of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, where she hands out flowers from her garden. Each section of Ophelia’s Garden is based on one of the flowers.
“There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that’s for thoughts. There’s fennel for you, and columbines. There’s rue for you, and here’s some for me. We may call it herb of grace o’ Sundays. O, you must wear your rue with a difference! There’s a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they wither’d all when my father died.”

Preludes or Postludes

2024 | 6 mins | for cello and guitar

Prelude or Postlude 1, Lively
Prelude or Postlude 2, Calm and Expressive
Prelude or Postlude 3, Static

Preludes or Postludes are pieces designed to be played as a prelude or postlude to other works in a recital. They are based on the three Interludes from Steve’s Theorbo Concerto, but reimagined for cello and guitar. They were commissioned by the Patterson/Sutton duo who will give the first performance at the Cleveland Guitar Festival on 6th June 2025.

La Catedral Sumergida

2024 | 6 mins | for flute and guitar

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La Catedral Sumergida was commissioned by Emily Andrews and Francisco Correa for an album of Steve’s flute and guitar music scheduled for release on the Deux-Elles Classical Recordings label in February 2025. Steve has added flute parts to two well known guitar pieces in B minor – Sor’s Etude Op 35 No 22 and the final movement from Barrios’s La Catedral – Allegro Solemne. The guitarist plays the Sor and Barrios pieces in their original form, while the flautist plays new material on top. The piece is published by Doberman-Yppan DO1535 © 2024.

Paganini Variations

2023 | 5 mins | for violin and guitar

“ The Paganini Variations, which Goss crafted alongside the violinist Max Baillie, sounds distinctly difficult (!) and at times as if Paganini were a wee bit tipsy. Fun.” Soundboard

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The Paganini Variations are based on a theme from the first of Paganini’s Centone di Sonate MS112. The piece was originally scored for violin, mandolin, and guitar – the three instruments which Paganini played. It was commissioned by the Paganini Guitar Festival and the first performance took place in Parma on 27th May 2023 with Giulio Plotino – violin, Carlo Aonzo – mandolin, and Giampaolo Bandini – guitar. This version, for violin and guitar, was edited by Max Baillie. It’s published by Doberman-Yppan DO1532 © 2024. Recorded by Max Baillie and Francisco Correa on Landscape and Memory, Deux-Elles (DXL 1202© 2024)

Intermezzi

2022 | 16 mins | for fortepiano and romantic guitar

Moto Perpetuo
Nocturne
Bagatelle
Serenade
Lament
Ballad

“Intermezzi is a duet for romantic guitar and fortepiano, based on songs by Schubert. Both instruments can sound underwhelming in the wrong hands, but guitarist Alexander-Sergei Ramirez and fortepianist Sheila Arnold make only lovely, shimmering sounds in their performance. The allusions to Schubert are mostly subdued, but in “Moto perpetuo” the turning of Gretchen’s spinning wheel is nicely suggested. The last movement is “Ballad,” partaking of Schubert’s miniature psychodrama “Der Erlkönig” with the galloping figure of the original song well represented." Soundboard

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Intermezzi is a collection of 6 pieces for fortepiano and romantic guitar, based on Schubert Lieder. It was commissioned by Sheila Arnold and Alexander-Sergei Ramirez and received its first performance on 19th August 2022 at the Celle Sommerkonzerte, Germany. It is published by Doberman DO1462. Recorded on Landscape and Memory, Deux-Elles (DXL 1202© 2024)

Dialogues from Invisible Cities

2022 | 7 mins | for violin and guitar

Dialogue 1
Dialogue 2
Dialogue 3

Italo Calvino’s novel, Invisible Cities, has no plot or character development. It is a meticulously structured collection of 55 prose-poem descriptions of cities, framed by dialogues between the Venetian explorer Marco Polo and the Mogul emperor Kublai Khan. In Dialogues from Invisible Cities, Marco Polo is portrayed by the violin, and Kublai Khan by the guitar.

Score Notes

The Dialogues from Invisible Cities are taken from my concerto Invisible Cities, for violin, guitar, strings, and percussion. The concerto borrows structural and thematic ideas from Calvino’s novel. Five main movements evoke specific categories of fantastical cities: these are separated by dialogues between the two soloists which also comprise this standalone piece for violin and guitar.

Invisible Cities was commissioned by Nicolò Spera with funds from the University of Colorado. The first performance was given by the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra at the Macky Auditorium, Boulder, on 22nd April 2017. The soloists were Nicolò Spera and Charles Wetherbee and the conductor was Michael Butterman.

The Lake of Time

2020 | 8 mins | for marimba and theorbo

Sea of Tranquillity
Ocean of Storms
Bay of Rainbows

Score Notes

The Lake of Time was commissioned by Chiltern Arts for Evelyn Glennie and Matthew Wadsworth who gave the first performance on 5th March 2020, at the Chiltern Arts Festival. The title of the piece and the names for the individual movements come from the names of oceans of the moon. It is published by Doberman DO1455.

Motherlands

2019 | 14 mins | for soprano saxophone (or viola) and guitar

Incantation
Roah Veroh
Hymn
Kosichka
Motherless Child
Beirut

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Commissioned by Henry Sanger and Joyce Berman. First performance, Michael Brockman and Michael Partington, 13th March 2019, Brechemin Auditorium, Seattle, Washington, USA.

Still Life

2018 | 15 mins | for cello and guitar

PH-929, 1974 (Black)
Groove
PH-247, 1951 (Blue)
Scherzo
PH-960, 1960 (Space)
Albion
PH-972, 1959 (Colour)

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Still Life (2018) is a celebration of the life and work of the abstract artist Clyfford Still (1904-1980). Four of the movements are musical meditations on Still’s paintings – these are interspersed with three movements that explore Still’s passion for Jazz, Beethoven, and William Blake.

The paintings that give their names to movements 1, 3, 5, and 7, exemplify four tropes in Still’s work – black paintings, blue paintings, paintings that use a lot of space and emptiness, and paintings that use areas of highly contrasting colours.

Still Life was commissioned by Patrick Sutton and Kimberly Patterson. The first performance took place at the Clyfford Still Museum, Denver, CO, on 21st March 2019. Published by Doberman-Yppan © 2020 ISBN: 978-2-89796-078-0

Still Life was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award in 2021.

River Winds

2011 | 12 mins | for violin and piano

Invocation, Arab Spring (violin solo)
Scherzo
Matsu Kaze

“Highlights include the neoclassical ‘River Winds’ for violin and piano – its impact intensified by violinist Tatiana Berman’s expressive performance in the first and last movements” Gramophone

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Commissioned for The Playground Ensemble by Henry Sanger as a birthday present for his wife Joyce. The first performance was given by Sarah Johnson, violin, and Heidi Leathwood, piano, on 18th September at Matsu Kaze, Littleton, Colorado. Recorded by Tatiana Berman and Michael Csányi-Wills on Landscape and Memory, Deux-Elles (DXL 1202© 2024)

Caught Between

2011 | 20 mins | for cello and piano

Sharjah
Alba
Fractured Loop
Nocturne in Blue and Silver
Precipitato

“All five movements of ‘Caught Between’ for cello and piano, are reworkings of older material, from Pat Metheny to Miles Davis. The work’s electrifying close is based on the infamous Precipitato from Prokofiev’s seventh sonata (here played by the fearless Graham Caskie), overlaid with Thomas Carroll’s frenetic cello obbligato. I do not expect to hear a more thrilling piece of chamber music this year.” British Music Society

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Commissioned by the Guildford International Music Festival for Thomas Carroll and Graham Caskie. First performance, 14th March 2011 at the GIMF, Surrey, UK. Recorded on Landscape and Memory, Deux-Elles (DXL 1202© 2024).

American Pastoral

2010 | 17 mins | for violin and guitar

Route 46
Echoes of Silence
Outlaw Bluegrass
Nocturne in Blue and Silver
24/7

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The Autumn Song II

2010 | 7 mins | for cello (or flute) and piano

Score Notes

Originally commissioned by Natalie Clein (cello) and Xuefei Yang (guitar) for their concert tours in 2009 and 2010.This version was made for cellist Thomas Carroll and pianist Graham Caskie. Recorded on Northern Lights FMR Records FMRCD303-0311 © 2011. Published by Doberman-Yppan © 2014.

The Autumn Song

2009 | 7 mins | for cello (or flute) and guitar

“Based on Chinese poems, The Autumn Song is a beautifully evocative composition and was eloquently performed by both artists, with Clein’s winning lyrical style proving ideally suited to it” The Strad

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Commissioned by Natalie Clein and Xuefei Yang for their concert tours in 2009 and 2010. First performance Macau Festival, Macau, China, 13th October 2009. UK premiere, Wigmore Hall, London, 3rd February 2010.. Recorded on Northern Lights FMR Records FMRCD303-0311 © 2011. Published by Doberman-Yppan © 2014.

Welsh Folksongs

2008 | 12 mins | for melodic instrument and guitar

Dafydd y Garreg Wen
Wrth fynd hefo Deio i Dywyn
Suo-gân
Lliw Gwyn Rhosyn yr Haf
Lisa Lân
Hela’r ‘Sgyfarnog

“This group of short Welsh folksongs never outstays its welcome, the composer’s inventive powers using the instruments to great effect… Stephen Goss brings to each piece a keen musical intelligence that does not preclude the warmth of an instinctual response. I believe that these qualities make him one of the most consistently interesting composers in Britain today.” Colin Cooper, Classical Guitar Magazine

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From Honey to Ashes

2007 | 16 mins | for flute and guitar

Hot
Milonga
Interlude in a discrete mode
Brazil
Malabar Hill
The Raw
Flutes and Fiddles
Alba
The Hotel Kempinski
Tango Brawl
The Ajman

“Stephen Goss’s suite of short pieces ‘from Honey to Ashes’, is full of gems – jazzy and poetic. This is a piece all [flute and guitar] duos should make an effort to discover.” MusicWeb International

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Dark Knights and Holy Fools

2006 | 14 mins | for percussion and guitar

Agamemnon and the Minotaur
The Voyages of Jeliza-Rose
Brazil
Don Quixote’s Vigil or Arms
The Great Red Shark

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Commissioned by Craig Ogden and Paul Tanner. First performance 19th July, 2006 at a Musica Viva ‘Menage’ concert, The Llama, Perth, Australia by OgdenTANNER. Published by Doberman-Yppan (ISBN 978-2-89503-728-6 © 2015). Recorded on Frozen Music (CACD0711© 2007).

Park of Idols

2005 | 12 mins | for cello and guitar

Jump Start
Cold Dark Matter
Fractured Loop
Malabar Hill
The Raw
Sharjah

“Stephen Goss does not write in a vacuum, and the piece contains references to Frank Zappa, Cornelia Parker (who destroyed a garden shed in a controlled explosion), Shostakovich, Pat Metheney, John McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth and Robert Fripp. Bewildering? Not at all: Stephen Goss synthesises the lot, making it a personal expression that is rare in the guitar world. And when I read that Fractured Loop is built from reorganised fragments of a Pat Metheney guitar solo superimposed over a cello pizzicato bass line, I was impatient to hear it. The result is one-and-a-half minutes of total pleasure, modern jazz and modern classical at the same time.” Colin Cooper, Classical Guitar Magazine

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Commissioned by Leonid Gorokhov and Richard Hand. First performed on 9th November 2005 at the Keele Concert Society. Recorded on The Garden of Cosmic Speculation (CACD0604© 2006) and Cold Dark Matter (MS1430 © 2013). Published by Doberman-Yppan © 2014 ISBN : 978-2-89503-646-3

Gymnopédies after Erik Satie

2003 | 7 mins | for flute and piano

Gnossienne No.3
Gymnopédie No.3
Gnossienne No.2

“Goss’s exquisite ‘Gymnopédies after Erik Satie’ is seven minutes of heaven – the flute dances above understated keys, giving an impression of true light and space.” Musician

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Commissioned by Dexter Norville, who gave the first performance at the University Surrey on 21st May 2003 and subsequent performances in Barbados, West Indies. Second performance given by Ian Clark at the All Flutes Festival July 2003.

First Milonga, Last Tango

2002 | 8 mins | for flute and guitar

“First Milonga is serene and stately… Last Tango has a bite which could splinter the guitar: at times aggressive, at times bitter but performed with a conviction that drew you in.” Classical Guitar Magazine

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Commissioned by William Bennett and Jonathan Leathwood, who gave the first performance at the Guildford International Music Festival on 25th March 2003. Recorded by Anna Noakes and Richard Hand on First Milonga, Last Tango (quartz music, QTZ2031© 2005).