Bream, Julian (Alexander)

(b Battersea, London, 15 July 1933). English guitarist and lutenist. He

was taught by his father, and played to the Cheltenham Guitar Circle
at the age of 14. He then studied at the RCM, working privately at the
guitar, which at that time was not taught there. He made his London
dbut in 1950, and was soon playing throughout Britain to audiences
for whom hearing the classical guitar in public was a new experience.
Recitals in Switzerland in 1954 led to European tours. In 1956 he met
Villa-Lobos, and the following year gave the first British performance
of his Guitar Concerto. His American dbut was in 1958, and soon
after he made his first tours of the Far East and south-east Asia.
In 1950 Bream began to study the Renaissance lute, on which he
quickly became a leading performer. His collaboration with Peter
Pears in Elizabethan lute-songs led to a revival of interest in this
music and influenced Berkeley, Britten, Henze and Tippett, among
others, to write for voice and guitar. In 1959 he formed the Julian
Bream Consort, initially to perform Morleys First Book of Consort
Lessons; the groups success did much to stimulate the subsequent
popularity of early consort music. Bream has also inspired composers
to write substantial works for the guitar, both solo and with orchestra,
including Arnold (Guitar Concerto, Fantasy), Bennett (Guitar
Concerto, Impromptus, Sonata), Lennox Berkeley (Guitar Concerto,
Sonatina, Theme and Variations), Britten (Nocturnal after John
Dowland), Brouwer (Concerto elegiaco, Sonata), Henze (Royal
Winter Music), Rawsthorne (Elegy), Takemitsu (All in Twilight), Tippett
(The Blue Guitar) and Walton (Five Bagatelles).
In international recitals and recordings Bream has collaborated with
various artists, including George Malcolm (lute and harpsichord) and
John Williams (guitar duo). On television he has conducted a series
of masterclasses, and presented a history of the Spanish vihuela and
guitar. In a prolific recording career he has consistently matched the
breadth of his recitals with recordings covering the entire spectrum of
the guitar and Elizabethan lute repertories.
Breams stature as one of the greatest masters of the guitar has been
established for many years. The deep intensity of his playing, the
sheer beauty of his tone control, and his profound empathy with a
great range of music, have enabled him to achieve a radical
extension of the guitar repertory and to reach the widest possible
audience for half a century. Moreover, through his enthusiastic
advocacy of the Elizabethan repertory he has pioneered early music
in recital and brought the lute into the worlds concert halls. In 1976
he received the Villa-Lobos Gold Medal from the composers widow;
he has been awarded honorary doctorates from the universities of
Sussex and Leeds, and fellowships of the RCM and RNCM. He was
made an OBE in 1964 and a CBE in 1985.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

On Playing the Lute: Julian Bream in Conversation with J.M.

Thomson, EMc, iii (1975), 34851
G. Wade: Traditions of the Classical Guitar (London, 1980)
T. Palmer: Julian Bream: a Life on the Road (London, 1982)
Guitar International, xiii/12 (19845) [Bream issue]
M.J. Summerfield: The Classical Guitar: its Evolution and its Players
since 1800 (Newcastle upon Tyne, 1992)
C. Kilvington: The Guitar is the Music of the Streets: Julian Bream in
Conversation, Classical Guitar, xi (19923), no.12, pp.1116; xii
(19934), no.1, pp.1622
A. Kozinn: Julian Bream on Record: a Complete Discography,
Guitar Review, no.96 (1994), 2636
G. Walters: Julian Bream at 60: an Interview, Guitar Review, no.96
(1994), 215
S.W. Button: Julian Bream: the Foundations of a Musical Career
(Aldershot, 1997)
PETER SENSIER/GRAHAM WADE