Napoléon Coste (June 27, 1805 ? February 17, 1883) was a French guitarist and composer. Napoléon Coste was born in France in 1805 and was first taught the guitar by his mother. As a teenager he became a teacher of the instrument and appeared in many concerts in the region. At the age of 24 he moved to Paris where he studied under Fernando Sor and quickly established himself as the leading French virtuoso guitarist. However the demand for guitarists was in decline and though his brilliance provided financial stability, he failed to find a publisher for his music and so had to fund its publication himself. He broke his arm in 1863 as a result of an accident and this brought his career to a premature end. He left a significant catalogue of music for the guitar.
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".
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