Steve Goss

composer

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Wynwood Walls

2022 | 25 mins | for guitar and strings, with optional percussion

Bathers at Asnières
I want my time with you
Sunflower Seeds
Nighthawks
No Woman, No Cry
#Lamentation
Selfie with Sunflowers
Infinity Room
Seurat’s Bathers

“Wynwood Walls, a sort of Pictures at an Exhibition for guitar and string quartet, takes inspiration from Seurat, Hopper’s Nighthawks, a neon sign by Tracey Emin, and others. None of this background information should deter the adventurous listener, since all is intriguing, while obviously repaying repeated attention.” British Music Society

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Wynwood Walls was commissioned by Mesut Özgen for the 2023 Miami GuitART Festival with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. The concerto is scored for guitar, strings, and percussion and received its premiere on February 23rd 2023 as part of the festival. Wynwood Walls is based on 20th and 21st century artworks, which give their titles to the nine sections. The piece is also available in a version for guitar and string quartet.

Landscape and Memory

2022 | 10 mins | for two guitars and strings

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Landscape and Memory is based on Simon Schama’s history book unlike any other. In a series of journeys through space and time, Schama examines our relationship with the landscape around us – rivers, mountains, forests – the impact each of them has had on our culture and imaginations, and the way in which we, in turn, have shaped them to answer our needs. In my single-movement concerto, musical material suggesting these three landscape types interacts, overlaps, and diverges.

Landscape and Memory was commissioned by Adam Cicchillitti and Steve Cowan with funds from the Canada Council for the Arts and CALQ. The first performance took place on 19th March 2022 at the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre, Ottawa, Canada, where Adam and Steve were joined by Ottawa-based chamber orchestra Thirteen Strings. Landscape and Memory is published by Doberman-Yppan.

Canadian ensemble Collectif9, directed by Thibault Bertin-Maghit recorded the piece on the album Re/String for the Leaf Music label, which was released on February 14th 2025.

La Serenissima

2022 | 5 mins | for violin and strings

La Serenissima is an Adagio for solo violin and strings that evokes Venice at the time of Marco Polo. It is adapted from the first movement of Invisible Cities (2017), a concerto for violin, guitar, strings, and percussion, based on Italo Calvino’s novel.

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“‘Memory’s images, once they are fixed in words, are erased.’ Italo Calvino

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. Published by Doberman-Yppan. Recorded by Max Baillie and the Asaka Quartet on Landscape and Memory, Deux-Elles (DXL 1202© 2024)

Koblenz Concerto

2019 | 25 mins | for two guitars and orchestra

(2 + picc.2.2.2., 4.2.3.0., timps + 2, 2 solo guitars, strings)

Rhine Falls
Lorelei
Rhein II
Castles in the Sky
Symphony of Light

Listen Score Notes

The Koblenz Concerto explores the rich history of the local area and its connection with the river Rhine. The solo guitarists journey along the river from the Bodensee to Köln. Along the way, the changing musical landscape is shaped by ancient myths and artworks that were inspired by the river.

The concerto begins and ends bathed in light: J.M.W. Turner’s impressions of the Schaffhausen waterfalls and Gerhard Richter’s bold stained glass windows in Köln Cathedral. The central movement, and still centre of the concerto, evokes Andreas Gursky’s Rhein II – an artistically manipulated photograph that reduces the Rhine to calm, static, horizontal bands of colour. Interspersed are two intermezzi. One tells the story of the Lorelei and the other portrays the Romantic castles that adorn the hillsides along the river.

All five movements flow into one another – there are no breaks between movements.

The premiere took place on 7th June 2019 at the Rhein-Mosel-Halle, Großer Saal, Koblenz – Lorenzo Micheli and Matteo Mela (guitars), Mihhail Gerts (conductor), with the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie, as part of the Koblenz International Guitar Festival. The performance given on June 2nd 2022 in Germany was subsequently broadcast on Deutschlandfunk Kultur on 31st October 2022.

Theorbo Concerto

2018 | 20 mins | for theorbo and strings

Prelude – Interlude 1
Scherzo – Interlude 2
Passacaglia – Interlude 3
Finale

Commissioned by Matthew Wadsworth with funds from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the North York Moors Chamber Music Festival, and Arts Council England.

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The first performance took place on 11th July 2018 as part of the Third Altamira Hong Kong Guitar Symposium. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra toured and recorded the piece in the second half of July. The first English performance took place at the North York Moors Chamber Music Festival on 18th August. The version for theorbo and string quartet was first performed at the Fishguard Festival in July 2019 by Matthew Wadsworth and the Fitzwilliam String Quartet. Recorded on Landscape and Memory, Deux-Elles (DXL 1202© 2024)

Published by Doberman-Yppan © 2020.
Full Score ISBN: 978-2-89796-090-2
Solo Theorbo Part ISBN: 978-2-89796-089-6
Theorbo and string quartet ISBN: 978-2-89796-091-9

“The world’s first concerto for theorbo is unashamedly clever. Listen without the contextual notes and you experience a sensory whirlwind in which the theorbo is catapulted into the present, reinventing itself with a range of extended techniques and, under Matthew Wadsworth’s deft fingers, soloistic effects it never knew it was capable of. Between the Scottish Chamber orchestra’s tightly-executed themes that combine a whiff of Elgar and Shostakovich with bach and Blues, Wadsworth shimmers, jostles, and dances – holding his own in this new territory…”

Hannah French – BBC Music Magazine – May 2019

A Concerto of Colours

2017 | 16 mins | for guitar and wind ensemble

(fl, ob (ca), cl (bcl), s.sax (t.sax), a.sax (t.sax), bn (cbn), 2 hns, tpt, b.trb, timp, perc x 2, gtr, cb)

Albuquerque Turquoise
Still Black
Green Movement
Nocturne in Blue and Gold
Red Rocks

Score Notes

The impetus behind A Concerto of Colours is the vivid, resonant landscape of the American South West. There are five short, highly contrasting, movements.

Commissioned by Andrew Zohn and Jamie Nix through a consortium of American university wind ensembles and guitar professors. The first performance took place in Columbus, Georgia on 28th September 2017.

Published by Doberman-Yppan © 2020
Full score ISBN: 978-2-89503-931-0
Piano Reduction ISBN: 978-2-89796-077-3

Invisible Cities

2017 | 29 mins | for violin, guitar, strings, and percussion

Cities & Memory
Dialogue 1
Cities & Desires
Dialogue 2
Cities & Eyes
Dialogue 3
Continuous Cities
Dialogue 4
Hidden Cities

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The double concerto Invisible Cities takes structural and thematic ideas from Italo Calvino’s 1972 novel of the same name. Five main movements evoke particular categories of fantastical cities: these are separated by dialogues between the two soloists.
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.

Carnival of Venice

2017 | 17 mins | for guitar and orchestra

(2.2.2.2./3.2.2.0./timps+1/guitar/strings)

Introduction
Theme (The Carnival of Venice)
Harlequin (after Schumann)
Colombina (after Richard Strauss)
Cadenza
Pierrot (after Leoncavallo)
Masquerade Waltz (after Ravel)
Cadenza
Pulcinella (after Domenico Gallo)
Pantalone (after Pergolesi)
Il Dottore (after Rossini)
Coda

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Carnival of Venice is a light-hearted festive concerto for guitar and orchestra. The different sections of the piece draw on the character masks worn at the Venice Carnival. Commissioned by Artyom Dervoed for the “XII Guitar Virtuosi Moscow International Festival". First performance 20th March 2017, Tchaikovsky Hall, Moscow, Artyom Dervoed – guitar, Mikhail Agrest – conductor, State Academic Symphony Orchestra Evgeny Svetlanov.

The Paganini Concerto

2014 | 28 mins | for guitar and orchestra

(2.2.2.2/2.2.0.0/T+1/gtr/str)

Allegro risoluto
Romanze
Andantino variato

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Commissioned by Artyom Dervoed for the Russian National Orchestra. First performance 26th September 2014, Tchaikovsky Hall, Moscow, Artyom Dervoed – guitar, Mikhail Pletnev – conductor, The Russian National Orchestra.

Concerto for Five

2013 | 30 mins | for violin, saxophones, cello, piano, double bass and orchestra

(2.2.2.2/4.2.3.0/T+2/vln,sax,vlc,pno,bass/str)

Prelude
Gnossienne
Stomp
Images
Nocturne
Tango

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Commissioned by the Orpheus Foundation for the Orpheus Sinfonia, Max Baillie, Pete Whyman, Thomas Carroll, Graham Caskie and Laurence Ungless. First performance, 11th July 2013, Cadogan Hall, London.

Piano Concerto

2013 | 28 mins | for piano and orchestra

(2+picc.2.2.2+contra/4.2.3.1/T+2/pno/str)

Fanfare
Moto Perpetuo
Adagio
Finale

“A work I am sure is going to be taken up by many other pianists. After a Fanfare first movement and Moto perpetuo second comes the heart of the piece: a serene, elegiac Adagio – deftly and economically scored like the whole work. The energetic finale is a tour de force for both orchestra and soloist.” Gramophone

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Guitar Concerto

2012 | 25 mins | for guitar and orchestra

(2.2+ca.2+bcl.2/3.2.1.0/T+2/gtr/str)

Bold and Bright
Adagio sostenuto, homage to Elgar
Finale, Allegro Molto

“I don’t know of any guitar concerto which is as consistently successful on all fronts.” John Williams “It is unquestionably an important contemporary contribution to the genre.” Gramophone

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Commissioned for Graham Roberts by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and The Royal and Derngate. First performance, 5th February 2012 at The Derngate, Northampton. Graham Roberts – guitar, Simon Wright – conductor, with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Albéniz Concerto

2009 | 28 mins | for guitar and orchestra

(2 + picc. 2 + ca.2.2/2.2.0.0/T + P/10.10.8.8.5)

El Albaicin
Cataluña
Evocación – Cadenza
Aragón

“The Albéniz Concerto is a wonderful orchestral showpiece in which the guitar takes centre stage… This is a strong work that one hopes will become a permanent part of the repertoire.” Gramophone “The Albéniz Concerto is a true masterpiece.” Soundboard

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Commissioned by EMI Classics for Xuefei Yang and the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra. First UK performance, Shi-Yeon Sung – conductor, Xuefei Yang – guitar, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, 24th October 2009. Recorded on EMI Classics 5099969836121 © 2010. Published by Doberman-Yppan © 2014. Available in full orchestral score or as a reduction for guitar and piano. Watch the ‘making of’ film here.