Stephen Goss

composer

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Intermezzi

2022 | 16 mins | for fortepiano and romantic guitar

Moto Perpetuo
Nocturne
Bagatelle
Serenade
Lament
Ballad

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.

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.

Exhalation

2021 | 4 mins | for organ

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Exhalation was commissioned by Stephen Farr for the London Bach Festival 2021. The piece was filmed at St. George’s, Hanover Square, London, on 17th March 2021 and broadcast from June 3rd. Exhalation is based on Ted Chiang’s short story of the same name. It is published by Doberman DO1454.

The Lake of Time

2020 | 8 mins | for marimba and theorbo

Sea of Tranquillity
Ocean of Storms
Bay of Rainbows

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.

Motherlands

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

Incantation
Roah Veroh
Hymn
Kosichka
Motherless Child
Beirut

Watch Score CD CD

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.

Songs of Ophelia

2016 | 7 mins | for soprano and guitar

text by William Shakespeare

How should I your true love know?
Tomorrow is Saint Valentine’s day
And will ’a not come back again?

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Songs of Ophelia was commissioned by Adélia Issa and Edelton Gloeden who gave the first performance on 11th August 2016 at the Mindlin Library, University of São Paulo, Brazil. They will record the work in September. The text is taken from Act 4 Scene 5 of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

The Miller's Tale

2015 | 10 mins | for solo theorbo

Prologue
Estampie, John
Chanson, Alisoun
Toccata, Nicholas
Serenade, Absalon
Epilogue

“Editor’s Choice” Gramophone, August 2017 “Loosely based on the form and characters of Chaucer’s yarn, it exploits the distinctive tunings, shades and resonances of the theorbo. Goss weaves together an eclectic range of influences in an idiomatic work – at once retrospective and forward-looking.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2017

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The Miller’s Tale is based on one of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. It was commissioned by John Williams for Matthew Wadsworth. The piece received its first performance at the Wigmore Hall in London, on 6th March 2017. The performance was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. The score is published by Doberman.

The Book of Songs

2014 | 18 mins | for tenor and guitar

text by Chinese poets from 800 BC to 700 AD

She Threw me a Quince
Oh, You with the Blue Collar
Plucking the Rushes
Pastoral
In the Tavern
Lament

“Goss’s ‘The Book of Songs’ is a striking series of miniatures, written with clear understanding of Bostridge’s distinctive instrument. The voice croons in musical androgyny in ‘Oh, you with the blue collar’ and barks in broken speech in ‘In the tavern’ " Gramophone, November 2016

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Commissioned by Xuefei Yang and Ian Bostridge. First performance 30th November 2014, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe, London. Published by Doberman.

River Winds

2011 | 12 mins | for violin and piano

Invocation, Arab Spring (violin solo)
Scherzo
Matsu Kaze

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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.

Caught Between

2011 | 20 mins | for cello and piano

Sharjah
Alba
Fractured Loop
Nocturne in Blue and Silver
Precipitato

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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

The Sea of the Edge

2010 | 6 mins | for solo flute

“The Sea of the Edge is as hauntingly desolate as the moon feature after which it’s named.” The Independent

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Commissioned by Music on the Edge for Susie Hodder-Williams. First performance, Guildford International Music Festival, UK, 22nd March 2011. Recorded on Northern Lights FMR Records FMRCD303-0311 © 2011. Published by Doberman-Yppan © 2014

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 voice 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

Score Notes CD CD

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

Listen Watch Score Notes CD CD CD CD CD CD Notes

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

Listen CD

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).

Defying Gravity

1997 | 10 mins | for voice and guitar

Commissioned for the wedding of Alan Chadwick and Mary Williams. First performed at St Giles’ Church Ashtead, 6th September 1997.

Under Milk Wood Songs

1990 | 11 mins | for soprano and guitar

text by Dylan Thomas

Polly Garter
Lily Smalls
Rosie Probert and Captain Cat
Oh, What’ll the Neighbours Say, What’ll the Neighbours…
Pretty Polly Hums and Longs

“Here the characters of Polly Garter, Rosie Probert, Captain Cat et al are given fresh voice with Goss’s sensitive setting” International Record Review

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First performed at the Glynn Vivien Art Gallery, Swansea, October 1990 as part of the Swansea Festival. Recorded on Songs from Britain and America, (Tantallon, CD 31 © 1993), Frozen Music (CACD0711 © 2007) and Jarring Sounds (© 2014). Published by Doberman-Yppan © 2014. ISBN : 978-2-89503-669-2

Six Inventions

1986 | 8 mins | for solo cello

Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre’s Young Writers’ Festival. First performed by Sian Bell at the Royal Court, 23rd October 1986.