Napoleon Coste's Biography

Napoléon Coste was born in 1806 in Amondans, France. He began his guitar studies under his mother’s tuition, who was an accomplished player. As a teenager he quickly became familiar with the instrument and its capabilities and has had numerous appearances in the region.

In 1830, at the age of 24 he moved to Paris where he studied with famous guitar virtuoso of the time Fernando Sor. He quickly established himself as the leading French virtuoso guitarist even if by the time he arrived there, the demand for guitarists was in decline, and though his brilliance provided financial stability, he failed to find a publisher for his music which he had to fund himself.

In 1863 Coste broke an arm as a result of an accident which compromised his career. He hired an assistant and continued to teach guitar and composition. Unfortunately, after Sor’s death, Coste did a disservice to his friend’s memory by editing and republishing Sor's original method for guitar as "Méthode complète pour la Guitare par Ferdinand Sor, rédigée et augmentée [refingered and expanded] de nombreux exemples et leçons par N. Coste".

Coste had a special fondness for playing on a seven-string guitar. He is known as one of the first composers to transcribe guitar music of the 17th century into modern musical notation
Napoleon Coste died in 1883 at the age of 77. He left a significant catalogue of music for the guitar, but much of it quickly fell from the repertoire.