The Lineup
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Julian Bream 1933 – 2020 Britain’s foremost classical guitarist dies aged 87
English classical guitarist Julian Bream passed away at his home in Wiltshire on 14 August, aged 87. He will be remembered as one of the greatest solo guitar players to emerge in the 20th century, following Spain’s Andrés Segovia in bringing classical guitar to wider recognition and acclaim at a time when it had struggled to do so. With a repertoire drawing on European works, as well as the Spanish and Latin worlds of Segovia, Bream’s legacy is all the more remarkable for the obstacles he overcame early on while pursuing classical guitar.
In childhood, Bream played piano and cello but was inspired to pick up a guitar after taking his first lessons with his jazz-playing father and hearing the music of Django Reinhardt. However, by the mid 1940s, Bream had made the decision to study classical guitar after hearing Segovia on record. He gained entrance into London’s Royal College of Music as a pianist, cellist and composition student in 1949 but left the school after it disapproved of him bringing his guitar through the front door to play. Bream later spent time in the army, before pursuing his career as a classical guitarist again, continuing the film-soundtrack work he had done as a student to earn money and session playing for radio plays. By the late 1950s he was touring internationally.
During his career, Bream commissioned pieces from composers that have now become influential works for classical guitar, such as 1963’s Nocturnal After John Dowland by Benjamin Britten. Largely self-taught, he was also a celebrated Renaissance lute player, helping
to inspire a revival of the instrument after taking it up in 1950. In 1959 he formed the Julian Bream Consort – a wind, string and lute ensemble – to perform and record Elizabethan ensemble music.
In 1984 Bream faced adversity once more when he shattered his right elbow in a serious car accident. As a result of prolonged reconstructive surgery and rehabilitation, the flexibility of his arm was limited, but Bream was able to rework his technique to continue his concert and recording career.
“I devoted my life to music for a reason, and the reason wasn’t because I wanted to get on or make money but to try to fulfil myself and also to give people pleasure,” Bream told The Guardian in 2013. “That’s been my credo.”