Angel Of Shavano by Jim Bosse

A few of the musicians he performed with achieved success in popular music - most notably Billy Joel, who Jim performed with from 1962-1967.

His interest gradually shifted to classical music. Jim has studied privately with most of Colorado's finest guitarists, including Charles Wolzein, David Honig, Ricardo Iznaola, Masa Ito, and Alex Komodore. He has participated in over 30 master classes with many of the world's greatest guitarists. In 1986, he founded the Southern Colorado Classical Guitar Society and served as it's first president. Jim taught guitar at Adams State College in Alamosa from 1995-1997 and at the University of Southern Colorado in Pueblo from 1997-2000.

TEMPLE CANYON

This suite for solo guitar was composed from 1989-1991. The first two movements project a dark mood. Domum Relinquenti (Leaving Home) and Gravia Corde (Heavy Heart) evoke the emotions of depression, anxiety, and turmoil.

The mood changes in the third movement. Restoracio (Recovery) / Temple Canyon was composed after a pleasant outing with my wife. We hiked down to Temple Canyon. The Temple is a large shallow cave carved out of the side of a mountain by millions of years of water erosion. The cave sits in a box canyon, private, peaceful; the beauty of nature abounds. Ancient Indian petroglyphs attest that more primitive man also enjoyed this site.

Rock at Beaver Creek was inspired by a stately tower rock set amongst the serene flow of the small waterfalls located just north of the remote junction of East and West Beaver Creeks. The hike into the junction takes a few hours. The view of the steep canyons is well worth the effort.

The final outing to complete this suite was to the Mining Camp at Badger Creek. Upon entering the remote abandoned camp our first encounter was a large boiler amid the ruins of a large wooden structure, probably some type of ore processing mill. Boiler, ore processing mill and pick axe sounds appropriately appear early in this piece. This final movement is a theme and variations on the gold rush era folk song Lousy Miner.

SHAVANO SUITE

This set of four pieces was composed from folklore and campfire tales of the Mount Shavano / Maysville area of Colorado.

The snow on one side of Mount Shavano forms the shape of an angel. Folklore is that long ago two young Indians, Little Drum and Stone Face, who were childhood friends, both fell in love with Corn Tassel, the prettiest Indian maiden. Friendship put aside, they decided the only solution was to fight to the death - the survivor free to pursue the affections of Corn Tassel. They met at the base of Mount Shavano for the battle. Corn Tassel discovered the plan and hurried to stop them. As she approached, Little Drum turned to look at her. Stone Face took advantage of this and stabbed Little Drum. With his last dying breath, Little Drum drew his bow and shot an arror through Corn Tassel's heart. Despondent over the deaths of his lover and best friend, Stone Face wandered into the wilderness, never to be seen again.

Legend is that Corn Tassel's spirit rose to the side of Mount Shavano, forming the snow angel. The first movement of this suite, Angel of Shavano presents the events of this tale and is dedicated to my daughter, Krystyne.

The second movement depicts one day in the life of a pair of Tie Hacks, hearty men who made thier living cutting trees with a two man hand saw, then sectioning the tree into railroad tie lengths.

During the early settlement days of Maysville, two horse thieves were hanged on a large tree. The third movement, Hanging Tree, was inspired by memories of this tree and is dedicated to my eldest son, James. This piece is a theme and variations on the American folk song "Hangman".

While exploring the old Maysville cemetery, my son Richard accidentally tipped over the top half of a grave stone. That night I told a scary ghost story around the campfire of how Charlie Reynolds arose from his grave to seek the violator of his tombstone. The last movement, Grave of Charlie Reynolds, depicts this haunting campfire tale and is dedicated to my son, Richard.

TWO LAMENTS

The first Lament was composed in memory of my sister, Ellen, who died a few days before my 16th birthday after a lengthy illness that robbed her of much of her short life. Melodically this piece is based on a three note phrase - her initials "EFB".

The second Lament was composed for Paul and John, my wife's two brothers whom we lost in rapid succession. A Minuet by J.S. Bach was a special piece for Paul. I performed it, by his request, at his wedding - then two short years later at his funeral service.

Song Over The Sky by Masakazu Ito was a special song for John. I played it for him while visiting him during his battle with cancer and he loved it. He requested that this piece be played at his funeral service. The melody of the Lament is mostly fragments from these two pieces. Both laments were written in 1994, for three guitars.

The book "Angel of Shavano" containing all the music from this CD is also available by contacting Jim Bosse via his web page.

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