Coste, (Claude Antoine Jean George) Napolon(b Amondans (Doubs), 27 June 1805; d Paris, 17 Feb 1883). French guitarist and composer. The son of an officer in the imperial army, Coste, according to tradition, at an early age learnt to play the guitar from his mother. In 1830 he moved to Paris, where his first guitar compositions were published that year. He became a pupil and friend of Fernando Sor with whom he also appeared in concert and seems to have been involved in the early-music revival instigated by Ftis. Coste suffered from the general decline in guitar interest in the 1830s and 40s, and although winning second prize in 1856 in a Brussels competition for guitar compositions organized by the Russian nobleman Nikolai Makaroff, for many years he maintained his work as a civil servant. He nevertheless persevered with teaching and composing throughout his life.Coste composed primarily for guitar. He reissued several of Sor's compositions, including a revised edition (c1851) of his guitar method. Coste was also the first to make transcriptions for modern guitar of music for baroque guitar written in tablature: several compositions by Robert de Vise (1686) are included both in the c1851 Mthode and in his later Le livre d'or du guitariste op.52. Coste's writing for guitar was influenced by Sor, but his style shows more Romantic characteristics both harmonically and in formal structure and in the use of descriptive titles and programmatic features. Coste wrote primarily for a guitar with an added seventh string, and is one of the most important guitar composers of the Romantic era.WORKSprinted works published in ParisEdition: The Guitar Works of Napolon Coste, ed. S. Wynberg (Monaco, c19813) [facs. and Urtext; 9 vols.]Gui: Variations et finale, op.2; 2 quadrilles de contredanses, op.3; Fantaisie, op.4; Souvenirs de Flandres, op.5; Fantaisie de concert, op.6; 16 walses favorites (J. Strauss), op.7; Divertissement sur Lucia di Lamermoor, op.9; Grand caprice, op.11, unpubd; Rondeau de concert, op.12; Caprice sur La Cachucha, op.13; Deuxime polonaise, op.14, unpubd; Le tournoi, fantaisie chevaleresque, op.15; Fantaisie sur deux motifs de la Norma, op.16; Souvenirs, sept morceaux pisodiques, opp.1723; Grand solo, op.24, unpubd; Le passage des Alpes, trilogie, opp.27, 28, 40; Fantaisie symphonique, op.28[b], unpubd; Divertissement, op.28[c], unpubd; La chasse des sylphes, grand solo, op.29; Srnade, op.30; Le dpart, fantaisie dramatique, op.31; Mazurka, op.33; 25 tudes de genre, op.38; Andante et menuet, op.39; Feuilles d'automne, op.41; La ronde de mai, divertissement, op.42; Marche funbre et rondeau, op.43; Souvenir du Jura, andante et polonaise, op.44; Divagation, fantaisie, op.45; Valse favorite, op.46; La source du Lyson, fantaisie, op.47; Quatre marches et six prludes, opp.4849; Adagio et divertissements, op.50; Rcration du guitariste, op.51; Le livre d'or du guitariste, op.52; Six pices originales, op.53; some works without op.no., DK-Kk

2 gui: Scherzo et pastorale, op.10; Duetto, unpubd; Grand duo, unpubd

Ob: Consolazione, romance sans paroles, ob, pf, op.25; Marche et scherzo, ob, gui, op.33[b]; Le montagnard, divertissement pastoral, ob, gui or pf, op.34; Fantaisie de concert, 2 ob, pf, op.35; Les regrets, cantilne, ob, pf, op.36; Cavatine, ob, pf, op.37; Concertino, ob, pf, unpubd; Sonate, ob, pf, unpubd

Vocal: Chant heroque, 1v, pf; songs, 1v, gui; arr. of lieder by Schubert and Beethoven, 1v, gui

WRITINGSed.: F. Sor: Mthode complte pour la guitare (Paris, c1851) [rev., with addl music and suppl. instructions for the 7-string guitar] BIBLIOGRAPHYE. Schwarz-Reifligen: Napolon Coste, Die Gitarre, viii/78 (1927), 437 S. Wynberg: Zur Rettung Napoleon Costes, Gitarre und Laute, iii/5 (1981), 2932 B. Jeffery: Napoleon Costes Jugend, Gitarre und Laute, iv/5 (1982), 2536 B. Jeffery and E. Marchelie: Napolon Coste, Les Cahiers de la Guitare, no.6 (1983), 913 E. Stenstadvold: Napoleon Costes Beitrag zu den 20 Etden von Fernando Sor, Gitarre und Laute, iv/3 (1984), 1417 ERIK STENSTADVOLD