Julian Alexander Bream (15 July 193314 August 2020) was an English classical guitarist and lutenist. he played a significant role in improving the public perception of the classical guitar as a respectable instrument. Over the course of a career that spanned more than half a century, Bream also helped revive interest in the lute. to Henry and Violet Jessie (née Wright) Bream. His father was a commercial artist and an amateur jazz guitarist, who was unable to read music but had a finely attuned ear and could play a lot of popular music. His mother, of Scottish descent, His father taught him the basics. The president of the Philharmonic Society of Guitarists, Boris Perott, gave Bream further lessons, He made his debut guitar recital at Cheltenham on 17 February 1947, aged 13; in 1951, he debuted at Wigmore Hall. Bream pursued a busy career playing around the world. His first European tours took place in 1954 and 1955, followed (beginning in 1958) by extensive touring in the Far East, India, Australia, the Pacific Islands and many other parts of the world. His first North America tour was in 1959. 1960 saw the formation of the Julian Bream Consort, a period-instrument ensemble with Bream as lutenist. In 1963, Bream performed for the Peabody Mason Concert series in Boston with the US debut of his Consort.

In addition to master classes, Bream was a tutor of the music summer school at Dartington. He also participated in a recital and concerto performances of works by Tōru Takemitsu at the Japan Festival in London with the London Symphony Orchestra. Bream's work showed that the guitar could be capably utilized in English, French, and German music.

Bream met Igor Stravinsky in Toronto, Canada, in 1965. He tried unsuccessfully to persuade the composer to write a composition for the lute and played a pavane by Dowland for him. The meeting between Bream and Stravinsky, including Bream's impromptu playing, was filmed by the National Film Board of Canada in making a documentary about the composer.

Recordings

Bream recorded extensively for RCA Victor and EMI Classics. These recordings won him several awards, including four Grammy Awards, two for Best Chamber Music Performance and two for Best Classical Performance.

Despite his importance as a classical guitarist, many of his RCA recordings (including the series of 20th-century guitar music) were out of print for several years. In 2011, RCA released My Favorite Albums, a 10-CD set of albums chosen by Julian Bream himself. In 2013, RCA issued Julian Bream: The Complete RCA Album Collection, a 40-CD set which also includes two DVDs with The Lively Arts – Julian Bream: A Life in the Country, the 1976 BBC film; and four BBC shows: Omnibus: Anniversary of Sir William Walton [1982], The Julian Bream Consort (1961), Monitor – Film Profile of Julian Bream [1962], and The Julian Bream Consort (1964).

Television and video

A film, A Life in the Country, was first shown on BBC TV in 1976. In it, the narrator and Bream discuss his beginnings and his life as a concert guitarist. Bream also presented a series of four master-classes for guitarists on BBC TV.

In 1984 he made eight film segments on location in Spain for Channel 4. The collection of segments ¡Guitarra! A Musical Journey Through Spain explored historical perspectives of Spanish guitar music.

The 2003 DVD video profile Julian Bream: My Life in Music contains three hours of interviews and performances. It has been declared by Graham Wade "the finest film contribution ever to the classic guitar" and it became "Gramophone DVD of the year".

Dedications and collaborations

left|thumb|Bream (right) in [[Liechtenstein, 1985]]

Many composers worked with Bream, and among those who dedicated pieces to him were Malcolm Arnold, Richard Rodney Bennett, Benjamin Britten, Leo Brouwer, Peter Racine Fricker, Hans Werner Henze, Humphrey Searle, Tōru Takemitsu, Michael Tippett, William Walton and Peter Maxwell Davies. Britten's Nocturnal is one of the most famous pieces in the classical guitar repertoire and was written with Bream specifically in mind. It is an unusual set of variations on John Dowland's "Come, Heavy Sleep" (which is played in its original form at the close of the piece).

Bream also took part in many collaborations, including work with Peter Pears on Elizabethan music for lute and voice, with whom he adopted a son. After their divorce he married Isabel Sanchez in 1980. In 2009 he moved to a smaller house in the neighbouring village of Donhead St Andrew. Bream was keen on the game of cricket

Pieces written for Bream

Many compositions were written for Bream, including:

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  • Reginald Smith Brindle: Nocturne for Guitar Solo (1946)
  • Reginald Smith Brindle: El Polifemo de Oro (1956)
  • Lennox Berkeley: Sonatina, Op. 52, No. 1 (1957)
  • Benjamin Britten: Songs from the Chinese for high voice and guitar, Op. 58 (1957)
  • Hans Werner Henze: Drei Tentos (Kammermusik 1958)
  • Denis ApIvor: Variations for Guitar, Op. 29 (1958)
  • Tristram Cary: Sonata (1959)
  • Malcolm Arnold: Concerto for Guitar and Chamber Orchestra, Op. 67 (1959)
  • Benjamin Britten: Nocturnal after John Dowland, Op. 70 (1963)
  • Richard Rodney Bennett: Impromptus (1968)
  • Tom Eastwood: Ballade-Phantasy (1968)
  • Peter Racine Fricker: Paseo (1969)
  • Reginald Smith Brindle: Variants on two themes of J. S. Bach (1970)
  • Richard Rodney Bennett: Guitar Concerto (1970)
  • Malcolm Arnold: Fantasy, Op. 107 (1971)
  • Alan Rawsthorne: Elegy (1971)
  • William Walton: Five Bagatelles (1972)
  • David Lord: Soliloquy (1973)
  • Humphrey Searle: Five (1974)
  • Lennox Berkeley: Guitar Concerto, Op. 88 (1974)
  • Hans Werner Henze: Royal Winter Music (first sonata, 1976)
  • Giles Swayne: Suite, Op. 21 (1976)
  • Peter Maxwell Davies: Hill Runes (1981)
  • Michael Berkeley: Sonata in One Movement (1982)
  • Richard Rodney Bennett: Sonata (1983)
  • Michael Tippett: The Blue Guitar (1984)
  • Giles Swayne: Solo for Guitar (1986)
  • Leo Brouwer: Concerto elegiaco (Guitar Concerto No. 3) (1986)
  • Tōru Takemitsu: All in Twilight (1987)
  • Leo Brouwer: Sonata (1990)
  • Peter Maxwell Davies: Sonata (1990)
  • Tōru Takemitsu: Muir Woods (In the Woods) (1996)
  • Harrison Birtwistle: Construction with Guitar Player: Beyond the White Hand (2013) (Commissioned by the Julian Bream Trust)
  • Leo Brouwer: Ars Combinatoria (Sonata No. 5) (2013) (commissioned by the Julian Bream Trust)

Awards and recognitions

  • 1964: Officer of the Order of the British Empire
  • 1964: Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance at the Grammy Awards of 1964 for Evening of Elizabethan Music performed by the Julian Bream Consort
  • 1966: Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music
  • 1968: Edison Award
  • 1972: Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra) at the Grammy Awards of 1972 for André Previn (conductor), Julian Bream & the London Symphony Orchestra for Villa-Lobos: Concerto for Guitar
  • 1996: Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist's Award
  • 1999: Doctor of Philosophy from London Guildhall University
  • 2009: Honorary Doctorate from the Open University
  • 2013: Gramophone Classical Music Awards – Lifetime Achievement
  • The Art Of Julian Bream (November 1960), RCA Victor LSC-2448
  • Guitar Concertos (January 1961), RCA Victor LSC-2487
  • The Golden Age of English Lute Music (September 1961), RCA Victor LDS-2560
  • An Evening Of Elizabethan Music (1963), RCA Victor LDS-2656 (reissued March 1971 as LSC-3195)
  • Julian Bream: Rodrigo, Vivaldi Concertos, Britten Dances from "Gloriana" (1964), RCA Victor LSC-2730
  • Dedication, RCA ARL1-5034
  • Julian Bream Plays Dowland, CLP 1726
  • A Bach Recital for the Guitar, Westminster CLP 1929
  • Baroque Guitar (1966), RCA LSC-2878
  • The Classical Guitar (3 – LP set), Westminster WMS −1029
  • Collection of the Greatest Performances of Julian Bream, Vol. II, Westminster
  • Concertos for Lute and Orchestra, RCA ARL1-1180
  • Julian Bream in Concert, (with Peter Pears, 1965) RCA LSC2-2964
  • 20th Century Guitar, (1967) RCA LSC2-2964
  • Dances of Dowland, RCA LSC-2987
  • Elizabethan Lute Songs, RCA LSC-3131
  • Elizabethan Music by The Julian Bream Consort, RCA LSC-3195
  • The Golden Age of English Lute Music, RCA LSC-3196 RCA LD-2560
  • J.S. Bach Lute Suites Nos. 1 and 2 (1966), RCA LSC-2896
  • Julian & John, (1972) RCA LSC-3257
  • Julian Bream 70s, (1973) RCA ARL1-0049
  • Julian & John/2, (1974) RCA ARL1-0456
  • Julian Bream's Greatest Hits, Westminster
  • Julian Bream's Greatest Hits Volume Two, Westminster 9008-8185
  • Lute Music of John Dowland, RCA ARL1-1491
  • John Dowland: 14 Lute Pieces, Westminster W-9079
  • Music for Voice and Guitar with Peter Pears, RCA LSC-2718
  • Popular Classics for Spanish Guitar, RCA
  • Rodrigo: Concerto De Aranjuez, Berkeley Guitar Concerto (1975), RCA
  • Sonatas for Lute and Harpsichord—Bach, Vivaldi with George Malcolm, RCA LSC-3100
  • Julian Bream plays Villa-Lobos: Guitar Concerto; Preludes with André Previn & London Symphony Orchestra (1972), RCA LSC-3231
  • Villa-Lobos, Twelve Etudes for Guitar, Suite populaire bresillienne (1978), RCA ARL1-2499 / RVC-2233
  • Julian Bream, The Art of the Spanish Guitar (1970) RCA SRS 3002
  • The Woods So Wild, RCA LSC-3331
  • ¡Guitarra!: The Guitar in Spain (1985), RCA (contains material not on the CD)

CDs

  • Fret Works (1990), MCA
  • Guitarra: The Guitar in Spain (1990), RCA
  • Joaquin Rodrigo: Concerto Elegiaco/Fantasia Para Un Gentilhombre (1990), RCA
  • Julian Bream plays Bach (1990), RCA
  • Julian Bream Plays Granados & Albéniz (Music of Spain, Volume Five) (1990), RCA
  • Music of Spain, Vol. 7 (1990), RCA
  • Two Loves with Peggy Ashcroft (1990), RCA
  • Baroque Guitar (1991), RCA
  • La Guitarra Romantica (1991), RCA
  • Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez; Villa-Lobos: Preludes (1991), RCA
  • Romantic Guitar (1991), RCA
  • Baroque Guitar (1993), RCA
  • A Celebration of Andrés Segovia—Bream (1993), RCA
  • Highlights from the Julian Bream Edition (1993), RCA
  • Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez; Fantasía para un gentilhombre No1-5 (1993), RCA
  • Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez; Takemitsu: To the Edge of Dream with Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1993), Capitol
  • Together/Julian Bream & John Williams (1993), RCA
  • Together Again/ Julian Bream & John Williams (1993), RCA
  • Villa-Lobos: Guitar Concerto; Preludes; Etudes with André Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra (1993), BMG International
  • Bach Guitar Recital (1994), EMI Classics
  • Bach: Lute Suites, Trio Sonatas (1994), RCA
  • Guitar Concertos (1994), RCA
  • Julian Bream Consort, Vol. 6 (1994), RCA
  • Music of Spain (1994), RCA
  • Popular Classics for Spanish Guitar (1994), RCA
  • Romantic Guitar (1994), RCA
  • Sonata (1995), Angel
  • 20th Century Guitar I (1996), RCA
  • The Golden Age of English Lute Music (1996), RCA
  • Music for Voice & Guitar (1996), RCA
  • Music of Spain: Milán, Narváez (1996), RCA
  • Popular Classics for the Spanish Guitar (1997), RCA
  • Julian Bream Edition, Volume 1: The Golden Age of English Lute Music (28 CDs) (1998), RCA
  • The Romantic Hours (1998), RCA
  • Spain—Sor, Vol. 24 (1998), BMG Classics
  • Guitar Concertos (1999), RCA
  • Guitar Music by Albeniz, Vivaldi, Rodrigo & Grandos (2 CDs) (1999), RCA Classics/BMG
  • Woods So Wild (1999), RCA
  • Nocturnal: Martin, Britten, Brouwer, Lutoslavski (2000), EMI
  • The Ultimate Guitar Collection (2 CDs) (2000), RCA
  • Duos de Guitares with John Williams (2001), RCA
  • Spanish Guitar Music (remastered) (2001), Deutsche Grammophon
  • Spanish Guitar Recital (2001), RCA
  • Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez; Fantasía para un gentilhombre; Tres piezas espanolas; invocacion y danza (remastered) (2004), RCA
  • Spanish Guitar Recital (2004),
  • Guitar Recital: Bach, Sor, Turina, Tippet, Schubert (2005), Testament
  • Music of Spain (2005), RCA
  • Elizabethan Lute Songs, Decca
  • Julian Bream & Friends, Musical Heritage Society
  • Lute Music from the Royal Courts of Europe, BMG Classics
  • Music of Spain: The Classical Heritage, RCA
  • My Favorite Albums, RCA/Sony Classical

References

Sources

  • Photographs by Daniel Meadows, includes discography (pp.&nbsp;204–16)
  • Website at www.julianbreamguitar.com
  • Biography at julianbreamguitar.com
  • Julian Bream at myspace.com
  • Biography at hazardchase.co.uk (Archive)
  • Interview at gramophone.co.uk
  • LP covers at Oviatt Library Digital Collections