Barcarolle (Op 51 No 1, Napoléon Coste)

Barcarolle Op 51 No 1 In A Major

Composer: Napoléon Coste (1806 - 1883)

Claude Antoine Jean Georges Napoléon Coste (27 June 1805 – 14 January 1883) was a French classical guitarist and composer. In Paris he studied under Fernando Sor and quickly became a virtuoso guitarist. His work was influenced by the Early Classical-Romantic composers of the time including Hector Berlioz. Coste had a special fondness for playing on a seven string guitar. Besides original compositions, Coste is known as one of the first composers to transcribe guitar music of the 17th century into modern musical notation.


The pieces in Coste's "Récréation du Guitariste", op. 51 ("Recreation of the Guitarist" or "The Guitarist's Break") were originally written for a "Héptacorde", 7-string early romantic classical guitar, built by French luthier François René Lacôte. Barcarolle is the first song from op. 51 and now is played on the 6th string guitar. It is a beautiful song for the entry level guitarists.