When I was learning classical guitar back in the early 1970s, it was
Julian Bream's recordings which awakened me to the depth of the
renaissance lute repertoire. For that I owe him greatly. I immersed
myself into quite a number of pieces which really inspired me (Semper
Dowland Semper Dolens, anyone?). One result of that influence was that
I attended a lute recital by Donna Curry at UCLA, and became a student
of hers. She was one of the main second-generation "HIP" teachers (she
studied under Herr Eugen Dombois at the Schola Cantorum). She sold me
one of her performing instruments (a 10-course Frei lute made by Robert
Lundberg. It has a wonderful sound).
After attending a recital by Julian Bream circa 1977 (at either UCLA or
Cal State Long Beach), I remember discussing his playing technique with
Donna. The first part of the recital was on lute, and after an
intermission the second part was guitar. I recall being surprised that
his right-hand lute technique was so guitar-like. I do not recall
noticing anything unusual about the lute that he played. It had a
normal lute shape, round back etc. The sound did not project to the
same extent as his guitar. (It was a large auditorium, and quite full.)
To this day, even though his technique perhaps wasn't so "HIP", I still
feel the sense of gratitude that without his recordings I may have
never been exposed to the exquisite lute-playing experience.
Moshe Davis
On Fri, 21 Jun 2019 at 23:09, John Mardinly <[1]john.mardi...@asu.edu>
wrote:
Bream was the primary inspiration for Paul O'Dette, as has been
documented in many O'Dette interviews.
A. John Mardinly, Ph.D., P.E.
On Jun 19, 2019, at 12:34 PM, Luke Emmet
<[1][2]luke.em...@orlando-lutes.com> wrote:
Julian Bream was an inspiration to so many people to take up the
lute
or to fall in love with it. I count myself among them.
How much visibility would our instrument have had without his
performances and recordings back in the day?
Yes his technique is obviously strongly guitar influenced, and
his lute
a compromise to meet his technique. But to me, his musical
insights,
particularly into Dowland, were second to none for many years.
I'm
still to this day prepared to go a long way to listen beyond the
sound
of his fingernails to be taken into his musical vision of what
was
latent in the music itself and could be brought forward for us to
marvel at.
Best wishes
- Luke
On 19-Jun-2019 16:46, Braig, Eugene wrote:
Hear, hear.
Eugene
-----Original Message-----
From:
[2][3]lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu<[3][4]lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu>
On
Behalf Of Ron Andrico
Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2019 11:09 AM
To: Gary Boye<[4][5]boy...@appstate.edu>; Edward C.
Yong<[5][6]edward.y...@gmail.com>
Cc: Jurgen Frenz<[6][7]eye-and-ear-cont...@protonmail.com>;
Lute
List<[7][8]lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Subject: [LUTE] Re: Julian Bream on Lute
I feel I must add a word of support for Julian Bream and his
many
contributions to the current lute revival.
As a 20th-century pioneering concert artist, Julian Bream
first and
foremost raised the lute from a quaint closet instrument,
best suited
to historians and eccentrics, to an instrument capable of
musical
expression that reached and communicated to modern
audiences.
Yes, Julian Bream developed and employed his own
characteristic
technique. And yes, he used instruments that were modified
from
historical models to suit his needs as a touring concert
artist. But
it was through his musical chops that he exposed a broad
audience to
the depth and the possibilities of old music for the lute.
Bream-bashing has been a popular sport among modern players
who like to
dwell on what is now considered proper lute technique, but
many of
these players for all intents and purposes dwell in glass
houses. For
instance, I still see an absurd number of modern players
(who really
should know better) using thumb-under technique on baroque
lute and
theorbo. This is patently unhistorical. In fact, it is
well known
that music from circa 1600 onward should be played with the
thumb out.
While the lute world is populated by an abundance of
opinionated
hobbyists, Julian Bream is a real musician, and probably
still has
chops most lute players will never attain. Let's give the
man the
respect he deserves.
RA
_______________________________________________________________
___
From:
[8][9]lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu<[9][10]lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu>
on behalf
of Gary Boye<[10][11]boy...@appstate.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2019 11:23 AM
To: Edward C. Yong
Cc: Jurgen Frenz; Lute List
Subject: [LUTE] Re: Julian Bream on Lute
Edward,
Back in the '70s, there was a quip that "Julian Bream
makes the lute
sound like a guitar and the guitar sound like a lute." I
think that
came from guitarists who had no idea what the lute could
sound like.
He was pretty amazing in concert (on guitar, I didn't see
him play
lute), and quite a character off stage. In addition to
"lute," he also
played "vihuela" and "Baroque guitar" (quotes used
intentionally!).
Can't say I'd recommend his early music
recordings to students today
though..
Gary
On Wed, Jun 19, 2019 at 5:39 AM Edward C. Yong
<[1][11][12]edward.y...@gmail.com> wrote:
I have to agree. JB used his stardom to get the lute
out there, even
if it was a Frankenlute with nothing lute about it
apart from the
shape.
Would anyone have paid attention to his lute playing if
it hadn't
ridden on the back of his guitarist reputation?
Probably not.
I recognise that many here were introduced to the lute
via JB's
efforts, but my own experience was rather different. My
first
exposure to lute music was an LP of Julian Bream
playing Dowland in
my school library, and that put me off the lute - it
sounded like a
classical guitar to me, so at 12, I didn't see the
point. It wasn't
until a year later that I heard Paul O'Dette and Jakob
Lindberg's cd
of Elizabethan lute duets and that changed my mind
entirely - I
wanted to play an instrument that sounded like theirs.
While I have much respect for JB being a musician on
the guitar and
an 'early adopter', I fear I find his tone on the lute
to be thin
and hard, or à ¢metallic sharp' as Mr Frenz calls it.
It's difficult
for me to look past the tone and appreciate JB's
musicianship on the
lute when I find the tone unattractive - and this is my
failing, not JB's.
Edward
>
> Julian Bream was a vital part (I believe) of the
lute revival 50 years ago by making the music public. On the
downside of it
> he played guitar technique on it to the point of
using single strings on both the high G and D courses - it allowed
him to play
> apoyando on the lute which is a big no-no. Hence
his lute playing doesn't really sound like a lute. Also, at that
time, it was
> common guitar technique to use sound differences
to emphasize or mark formal sections by moving the right hand
extremely
> close to the bridge, which creates a very metallic
sharp sound. This has fallen out of favor on the guitar as well, I
personally
> would qualify it as obnoxious, even more so on the
lute.
> If you like it, you may listen to Konrad Ragossnigs
lute recordings, he sounds very much like Bream did.
>
> Best
> Jurgen
>
>
>> Dear Dan,
>>
>> Julian Bream actually pioneered lute playing very
early. Watch this beautiful movie on him that makes me smile (lute
things come
>> somewhere in the middle):
>>
>>> Dear collective wisdom,
>>>
>>> I just heard some pieces played by admired
guitarist Julian Bream on the lute. It seems to me he played kind of
classical guitar
>>> style on the lute. Strange, but It sounds
wonderful to me, not only bold for the time. Does anyone understand
how he played the
>>> (maybe special) lute and produced the wonderful
sound on a lute admittedly built for him?
>>>
>>> Best and curious
>>> Franz
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