#30- JULIAN BREAM

Julian Bream C.B.E. (born July 15, 1933) is an internationally celebrated British guitarist and lutenist, widely recognized as one of the most important classical guitarists of the 20th century. He has also been successful in renewing popular interest in the Renaissance lute.

Bream was born in London and brought up in a very musical environment. His father played jazz guitar and the young Bream was impressed by hearing the playing of Django Reinhardt. He was encouraged to play the piano but also the guitar (though using a plectrum).

On his 11th birthday, Bream was given a classical guitar by his father. He became something of a child prodigy, at 12 winning a Junior Exhibition Award for his piano playing, enabling him to study piano and cello at the Royal College of Music. He made his debut guitar recital at Cheltenham in 1947, aged 13. After national service he resumed a busy career playing around the world, including annual tours in the U.S. and Europe for several years. He played part of a recital at the Wigmore Hall on the lute in 1952 and since has done much to bring music written for the instrument to light.

1960 saw the formation of the Julian Bream Consort, a period-instrument ensemble with Bream as lutenist. The consort led a great revival of interest in the music of the Elizabethan era. His first European tours took place in 1954 and 1955, and were followed by extensive touring in North America (beginning in 1958), the Far East, India, Australia, the Pacific Islands and other parts of the world.

Bream has recorded extensively for RCA and EMI Classics. These recordings have won him several awards, including four Grammy Awards, two for Best Chamber Music Performance and two for Best Classical Performance. RCA also released The Ultimate Guitar Collection, a multi-CD set commemorating his birthday in 1993.

In 1984 Bream’s arm was seriously injured in a car accident. It cost him great effort to regain his previous technical ability.

Bream's recitals are wide-ranging, including transcriptions from the 17th century, many pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach arranged for guitar, popular Spanish pieces, and contemporary music, much for which he was the inspiration. He has stated that he has been influenced by the styles of Andrés Segovia and Francisco Tárrega.

Many composers have worked with Bream, and among those who dedicated pieces to him are Malcolm Arnold, Richard Rodney Bennett, Benjamin Britten, Leo Brouwer, Peter Racine Fricker, Hans Werner Henze, Humphrey Searle, Tōru Takemitsu, Michael Tippett and William Walton. 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 has also taken part in many collaborations, including work with Peter Pears on Elizabethan music for lute and voice, and three records of guitar duets with John Williams.

Bream's playing can be characterized as virtuosic and highly expressive, with an eye for details, and with strong use of contrasting timbres. The above, along with his many radio and television appearances, have made Bream an important ambassador for the classical guitar. Despite his importance, many of his RCA Records recordings (including the series of 20th century guitar music) are out of print. The 2003 DVD video profile "Julian Bream: My Life In Music" contains three hours of interview and performance. It has been declared by Graham Wade "the finest film contribution ever to the classic guitar."

His series "Guitarra!" was made for British television and charts a journey across Spain. Bream has stated that even though he had some 'sessions' with Segovia, he never really studied with him — Bream also does not exclusively hold his right-hand fingers at right angles to the strings, but has stated that he uses a less rigid hand position for reasons of tonal variety. Bream has for over 40 years lived in a Georgian farmhouse at Semley in Wiltshire.

Awards and Recognitions (incomplete)

• 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
• 1967: Grammy Award for Best Classical Performance – Instrumental Soloist or Soloists (with or without orchestra) at the Grammy Awards of 1967 for Baroque Guitar (Works of Bach, Sanz, Weiss, etc.)
• 1968: Honorary Doctorate from the University of Surrey
• 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
• 1973: Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance at the Grammy Awards of 1973 for Julian Bream & John Williams for Julian and John (Works by Lawes, Carulli, Albéniz, Granados)
• 1981: Fellowship of the Royal College of Music
• 1983: Fellowship of the Royal Northern College of Music
• 1984: Honorary Doctorate from the University of Leeds
• 1985: Commander of the Order of the British Empire
• 1988: Honorary Member of the Royal Philharmonic Society
• 1996: Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist's Award

Pieces written for Julian Bream (in chronological order)

1. Reginald Smith Brindle Nocturne for Guitar Solo (1946)
2. Reginald Smith Brindle El Polifemo de Oro (1956)
3. Lennox Berkeley Sonatina, op. 52, no. 1 (1957)
4. Tristram Cary Sonata (1959)
5. Malcolm Arnold Concerto for Guitar and Chamber Orchestra, op. 67 (1959)
6. Benjamin Britten Nocturnal after John Dowland, op. 70 (1963)
7. Richard Rodney Bennett Impromptus (1968)
8. Tom Eastwood Ballade-Phantasy (1968)
9. Peter Racine Fricker Paseo (1969)
10. Reginald Smith Brindle Variants on two themes of J. S. Bach (1970)
11. Richard Rodney Bennett Guitar Concerto (1970)
12. Malcolm Arnold Fantasy, op. 107 (1971)
13. Alan Rawsthorne Elegy (1971)
14. William Walton Five Bagatelles (1972)
15. Humphrey Searle Five (1974)
16. Lennox Berkeley Guitar Concerto, Op. 88 (1974)
17. Hans Werner Henze Royal Winter Music (first sonata, 1976)
18. Giles Swayne Suite (1976)
19. Peter Maxwell Davies Hill Runes (1981)
20. Michael Berkeley Sonata in One Movement (1982)
21. Richard Rodney Bennett Sonata (1983)
22. Michael Tippett The Blue Guitar (1984)
23. Leo Brouwer Concerto elegiaco (Guitar Concerto No. 3) (1986)
24. Tōru Takemitsu All in Twilight (1987)
25. Leo Brouwer Sonata (1990)

Source: Wikipedia

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