Jacques Bosch

Jaime Felipe José Bosch (in Catalan: Jaume Bosch i Renard, in France known as Jacques Bosch) (26 May 1825 – 31 March 1895) was a Catalan guitarist and song composer who established himself in Paris.

Bosch was born in Barcelona and educated at the school of the Convent de la Mercè in Barcelona, where he began his studies in piano and guitar.

Before he emigrated, Bosch gave successful concerts in Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia between 1849 and 1852. From 1853 he settled in Paris and from 1857 toured frequently in France, the Netherlands and Germany. Bosch was a very good friend of the painter Édouard Manet and posed for him many times, one portrait being used as illustration for one of Bosch's publications, Plainte Moresque op. 85, which is also dedicated to Manet. Besides many original compositions he wrote a Méthode de guitare (1891, see below) and an opera (Roger de Flor, 1868), which was not performed. In Paris, Bosch was much praised at the aristocratic salons and had a large number of pupils, including the brothers Alfred and Jules Cottin. His best-known piece was to be his song collection Dix Mélodies, which was praised by Felipe Pedrell as a "true model of what a composer's inspiration may create in this genre". Bosch died in the 17th arrondissement of Paris.

Most of Bosch's guitar works were not published at the time they were written but in collections of Dix Pièces (ten pieces) in 1887 and 1894, 12 Pièces faciles (12 easy pieces) in 1892 and a further six easy pieces in 1894. A later edition of ten easy pieces (1923) reprints some previously published pieces together with seven pieces that had apparently not previously been published.

Bosch's Méthode de guitare is very much a composer's method insofar as it contains numerous original compositions of varying length and difficulty. In the course of its 116 pages there are 16 Leçons (distributed over pages 3–14), 31 Exercises (pages 22–92) and 39 original compositions, ranging in length from one to five pages. Most of them are dedicated to one of his pupils, who included Guy de Polignac, member of a famous French noble family. Among the more substantial works there are two movements of a Sonata dialogue, dedicated to the memory of Fernando Sor (an Adagio on pp. 63–4, and an Allegro on pp. 102–4), a Jota (pp. 69–72), and Iberia (subtitled Valse de concert), pp. 110–4 (see below for full listing).

Guitar solo

Guitar duo

Guitar method

Songs for voice and guitar

Songs for voice and piano

Chamber music

Free scores by J. Bosch at IMSLP