Stephen Goss (born 2 February 1964) is a Welsh composer, guitarist and academic. His compositional output includes orchestral and choral works, chamber music, and solo pieces. His music draws freely on a number of styles and genres. He is particularly known for his guitar music, which is widely performed and recorded.
As of 2020, he is Professor of Composition in the Department of Music and Media at the University of Surrey. He is also a professor of guitar at the Royal Academy of Music in London and the director of the International Guitar Research Centre, which he founded with John Williams and Milton Mermikides in 2014. Before moving to the University of Surrey in 1999, he taught at the Yehudi Menuhin School.
Goss studied at the Royal Academy of Music (where he won the Julian Bream Prize in 1986) and the Universities of Bristol and London (where he completed his doctorate in 1997). His composition teachers were Edward Gregson, Robert Saxton, Peter Dickinson and Anthony Payne, and he studied guitar with Michael Lewin.
Goss's work has included several projects with the guitarist John Williams, who recorded and toured his Guitar Concerto (2012) with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 2014.[1] Goss has collaborated with artists as diverse as Andrew Lloyd Webber, Alt-J, and Avi Avital. In his role as composer-in-residence for the Orpheus Sinfonia, he wrote the Concerto for Five (2013) for the combination of violin, saxophone, cello, bass, piano and orchestra, and the Piano Concerto (Signum Classics 2013) - the first classical concert piece to feature an interactive tablet app.[2]
A central theme running through Goss's work is the evocation of time (nostalgia and historical reference) and place (landscape and architecture). His uses of quotations and stylistic references help to shape his pluralist musical language, which is characterised by abrupt stylistic gear changes. As Kimberly Patterson has observed, ‘Goss’s compositional interests are in the continuum that lies between transcription and composition and in the ways in which pre-existing material can be used to create unusual and interesting music’.[4] Goss doesn't see ‘interpretation, transcription, arrangement, improvisation, and composition as different things with distinct boundaries between them.’ He suggests that ‘the distinctions can be useful, but they are artificial… rather like the colours of the rainbow’.[5] Jonathan Leathwood has proposed that Goss ‘denies traditional expectations of originality’ and that ‘the listener is drawn into a maze of referents’.[6]
An interest in music and landscape dates back to two collaborations with Charles Jencks, The Garden of Cosmic Speculation (2005) (which was featured on the South Bank Show) and Frozen Music (2006) (commissioned for the opening season of the Menuhin Hall). Through these and later projects, Goss has developed ways of balancing literal and metaphorical representations of landscape, architecture, and sculpture in music.
While Goss's influences can be traced in the work of many musicians (for example, Beethoven, Mahler, Stravinsky, John Adams, Georg Rochberg, Miles Davis, Uri Caine, John Zorn, and Frank Zappa), his compositional approach owes as much to literature and the visual arts – James Joyce, Umberto Eco, Italo Calvino, Jorge Luis Borges, Gerhard Richter, Grayson Perry, Terry Gilliam, and Thomas Heatherwick. The strong literary connection in the music has been pointed out by Leathwood, who states that ‘there can be little doubt that Stephen Goss intends to provoke, among other things, thought in the form of words - verbal association and a kind of wordplay encoded in the music; not symbolism, but semiosis in the literary sense that modern thought has tended to give it, an interest in music as text’.[6]
As a guitarist, Stephen Goss has worked with many leading composers (such as Toru Takemitsu, Hans Werner Henze, Peter Maxwell Davies and Elliott Carter) and has toured and recorded extensively with the Tetra Guitar Quartet and other ensembles. He has recorded more than 20 CDs as a soloist and chamber musician and has given recitals in Europe, North and South America, and Asia. He has performed alongside Paco Peña and John Williams and has played concertos with orchestras such as the Bournemouth Sinfonietta and the English Sinfonia.
Crunch Time (for viola, bass clarinet, and piano) 2019
The Garden of Cosmic Speculation (version for violin, viola, cello and piano) 2004/2016 Doberman 1055
The Flower of Cities (for violin, two guitars, double bass, and percussion) 2012 Doberman 852
Northern Lights (for flute, bass clarinet doubling B flat clarinet and optional soprano saxophone, and guitar) 2010 Doberman 969
Reflections on the Garden of Cosmic Speculation (for flute doubling piccolo & alto flute, bass clarinet doubling C clarinet and soprano saxophone, and guitar) 2010
Variations on a Burns Air: Scherzo (for piano quartet) 2009
Prelude and Gnossienne (for cello, piano and double bass) 2008
Theorbo Concerto on 'Stephen Goss, Theorbo Concerto', Matthew Wadsworth, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Deux-Elles (2019)
Watts Chapel on 'Watts Chapel', Adam Khan (2018)
The Flower of Cities on 'The Flower of Cities', John Williams and Friends, JCW (2018)
Songs of Ophelia on 'Puertas', Adelia Issa and Edelton Gloeden, Selo Sesc (2017)
The Miller's Tale on 'Late Night Lute', Matthew Wadsworth, Deux-Elles (2017)
Looking Glass Ties on 'Stephen Goss Guitar Works Vol.1', Rui Mourinho, Edições Musica XXI (2016)
Sound of Iona on 'Stephen Goss Guitar Works Vol.1', Rui Mourinho, Edições Musica XXI (2016) and 'Sound of Iona', Adam Khan (2019)
The Book of Songs on 'Songs from our Ancestors', Ian Bostridge and Xuefei Yang, Globe Music (2016)
Under Milk Wood Songs on 'Jarring Sounds', Danielle Reutter-Harrah and Adam Cockerham, Jarring Sounds (2014), 'Frozen Music', Jenevora Williams and Stephen Goss, Cadenza (2007)
Guitar Concerto on 'Concerto', John Williams, Paul Daniel and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, JCW (2014)
Marylebone Elegy on 'Stepping Stones', John Williams, JCW (2014)
Mahler Lieder on 'About Time', Tetra Guitar Quartet, BGS (2013) and 'Hometown Composers' Jugend gitarren orchester, Hamburg (2018)
Piano Concerto on 'Emmanuel Despax, piano', Thomas Carroll, Orpheus Sinfonia, Signum Classics (2013)
Park of Idols on 'Cold Dark Matter: Music for Cello and Guitar, Kimberly Patterson and Patrick Sutton, MSR (2013), 'The Garden of Cosmic Speculation', Leonid Ghorokov and Richard Hand, Cadenza (2006)
Circle Line (from Sonatina) on 'Kontinenti Live', Carlo Marchione, Guitar Art Festival (2012)
Still the Sea on 'Hidden Waters', ChromaDuo, Naxos (2012)
The Raw and the Cooked on 'Hidden Waters', ChromaDuo, Naxos (2012), 'The Raw and the Cooked', Albach Duo, Crystal Palace Records (2007), 'Songs Without Words', Hand-Dupre Duo, Cadenza (2005)
The Albéniz Concerto on 'Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez; Stephen Goss: Albéniz Concerto', Xuefei Yang, Eiji Oue, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, EMI Classics (2010), 'Classical 2012' Virgin Classics (2011)
Gnossiennes after Erik Satie on 'El Calor del Dia', Barrios Guitar Quartet (2011), 'Carmen', Tetra Guitar Quartet, Cadenza (2004)
Northern Lights on 'Northern Lights', Susie Hodder-Williams, Chris Caldwell, Graham Roberts, FMR Records (2011)
Reflections on the Garden of Cosmic Speculation on 'Northern Lights', Susie Hodder-Williams, Chris Caldwell, Graham Roberts, FMR Records (2011)
The Sea of the Edge on 'Northern Lights', Susie Hodder-Williams, Chris Caldwell, Graham Roberts, FMR Records (2011)
The Autumn Song on 'Northern Lights', Susie Hodder-Williams, Chris Caldwell, Graham Roberts, FMR Records (2011), 'The Autumn Song', Adam Khan (2018)
Welsh Folksongs on 'Northern Lights', Susie Hodder-Williams, Chris Caldwell, Graham Roberts, FMR Records (2011), 'Adam Khan and Michael Bochmann', The Barn Records (2010), 'Voyage to Patagonia', Welsh Argentine Guitar Duo, WAG Records (2010), 'we only came to dream', Molly Kittle and Colin Thurmond, Eisteddfod (2008), 'Songs from Britain and America', Jenevora Williams and Stephen Goss, Tantallon Records (1991)
Portraits and Landscapes on 'Portraits and Landscapes', Emmanuel Despax, SMCSG1 (2010)
Uneasy Dreams on 'Uneasy Dreams', Delta Saxophone Quartet, FMR Records (2010), 'Frozen Music', Delta Saxophone Quartet, Cadenza (2007)
Variations on a Burns Air: Scherzo on 'Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Dimitri Smirnov, Variations on a Burns Air', Primrose Piano Quartet, Meridian (2010)
Sonata for Guitar on 'Resonance', Michael Partington, Rosewood (2009), 'Frozen Music', Michael Partington, Cadenza (2007), 'Stephen Goss Guitar Works Vol.1', Rui Mourinho, Edições Musica XXI (2016)
El Llanto de los Suenos on 'For David', David Russell, Telarc (2009), 'Stephen Goss Guitar Works Vol.1', Rui Mourinho, Edições Musica XXI (2016)
Interludes on 'Préluds and Interludes', Graham Caskie, Cadenza (2008)
Japanese Water Garden on 'Guitar Exam Pieces Grade 4', Stephen Goss, ABRSM (2009)
Aeolian Harp on 'Guitar Exam Pieces Grade 3', Stephen Goss, ABRSM (2009)
Gymnopédies after Erik Satie on 'Ariel', Catherine Handley and Andrew Wilson-Dixon, HAL Records (2008)
The Chinese Garden on '40 Degrees North', Xuefei Yang, EMI Classics (2008), 'Stephen Goss Guitar Works Vol.1', Rui Mourinho, Edições Musica XXI (2016)
Frozen Music on 'Frozen Music', Students from the Yehudi Menuhin School, Cadenza (2007)
Dark Knights and Holy Fools on 'Frozen Music', Craig Ogden and Paul Tanner, Cadenza (2007)
From Honey to Ashes on 'Hidden Tango', Jennifer Stinton and Richard Hand, Cadenza (2007)
The Garden of Cosmic Speculation on 'The Garden of Cosmic Speculation', Gemini, Cadenza (2006)
Oxen of the Sun on 'The Garden of Cosmic Speculation', Jonathan Leathwood, Cadenza (2006)
an ideal insomnia on 'The Garden of Cosmic Speculation', Graham Caskie, Cadenza (2006)
First Milonga, Last Tango on 'First Milonga, Last Tango', Anna Noakes and Richard Hand, quartz music (2006), 'First Milonga, Last Tango', Virginia Taylor and Timothy Kain, ABC (2017)
Raise the Red Lantern on 'Si Ji', Xuefei Yang, GSP (2005)
Carmen Fantasy on 'Carmen', Tetra Guitar Quartet, Cadenza (2004), 'Carmen Fantasy', Tetra Gutar Quartet, Hallmark (1999), and 'Pluck, Strum, Hammer', Mela Quartet (2018)
Lachrymae on 'Carmen', Tetra Guitar Quartet, Cadenza (2004), and 'Tempi Moderni', Barrios Guitar Quartet (2018)
Under Milk Wood Variations on 'TETRA', Tetra Guitar Quartet, Tantallon Records (1991), and 'Obras para cuarteto de Guitarras', Cuarteto Eunoia, Universidad Nacional de Musica, Peru (2019)
Alborada del gracioso (Ravel) on 'Ravel, Debussy, Music for two guitars', ChromaDuo, Naxos (2016)
Libertango (Piazzolla) on 'The Classical Album 2015', Decca (2014), 'Cancion', Deutsche Grammophon (2013), 'Bravo! The Classical Album 2014', Deutsche Grammophon (2013), 'Guitar Moods' Deutsche Grammophon (2013), 'Latino Gold' Deutsche Grammophon (2013), 'The Classical Album 2013', Decca (2013), 'Latino', Deutsche Grammophon (2012), Milos Karadaglić
Four Pieces from the First Book of Consort Lessons (Thomas Morley) on 'About Time', Tetra Guitar Quartet, BGS (2013)
Bolero (Ravel) on 'Cancion', Deutsche Grammophon (2013), 'Guitar Moods' Deutsche Grammophon (2013), 'Latino Gold' Deutsche Grammophon (2013), Miloš Karadaglić
De Usuahia a la Quiana (Santaolalla) on 'Latino Gold' Deutsche Grammophon (2013), 'Cancion', Deutsche Grammophon (2013), 'Guitar Moods' Deutsche Grammophon (2013), Miloš Karadaglić
Quizás, quizás, quizás (Farré) on 'Cancion', Deutsche Grammophon (2013), 'Latino Gold' Deutsche Grammophon (2013), 'Latino', Deutsche Grammophon (2012), Miloš Karadaglić
Theme from Stephen Ward (Lloyd Webber) on 'Theme from Stephen Ward', Miloš Karadaglić, Deutsche Grammophon (2013)
Oblivion (Piazzolla) on 'Latino Gold' Deutsche Grammophon (2013), 'Latino', Deutsche Grammophon (2012), Miloš Karadaglić
Por una cabeza (Gardel) on 'Latino Gold' Deutsche Grammophon (2013), 'Latino', Deutsche Grammophon (2012), Miloš Karadaglić
La Cumparsita (Rodriguez) on 'Latino', Miloš Karadaglić, Deutsche Grammophon (2012)
Navarra (Sarasate) on 'The Best of the Classical Brits', David Garrett, Valeriy Sokolov, Xuefei Yang, David Charles Abell, London Concert Orchestra, Mail on Sunday (2008)
^ abLeathwood, Jonathan (2010). Ideas and idioms : composition, collaboration and interpretation in some recent guitar works (Ph.D.). University of Surrey.