I am sad to hear of Julian Bream's passing. I was a young classical
guitarist to whom exposure to Julian Bream's recordings opened up the
world of renaissance lute music. For that I owe him many thanks.
In the early-mid 1970s one of the local universities (California State
University at Long Beach) had an extensive series of classical guitar
concerts featuring leading performers. One of the concerts featured
Julian Bream. The first half of the concert was lute, the second half,
guitar. His playing was virtuosic and warm and projected well in the
large concert hall. By the time of that concert I had already met and
become a student of Donna Curry, and remember being surprised by his
guitar-like technique on the lute. No matter; his recordings inspired
me early on.
Moshe Davis
Jerusalem
On Sat, 15 Aug 2020 at 01:58, G. C. <[1]kalei...@gmail.com> wrote:
Being a seriously aspiring guitarist in those days, Julian
Bream's two
famous lute records "The Woods so Wild" and "Music from the
Courts",
totally changed the paradigms for me. Virtually all the pieces in
those
two records have become the canon for so many lutenists. I was
lucky to
catch a performance he did at the Stockholm Concert Hall, (I
can't
recall the exact year now, but mid 70s). Half the set was guitar
and
half the set his Rubio "lute", (which projected very well). I was
so
proud, when I managed to copy Mudarra's Fantasia X from the
record and
play it convincingly, especially the dissonant passage, and also
the
Washa Mesa. Whatever one thinks about his antics, looking at his
performances on video, his playing may look awkward. (I believe
he was
mainly self taught), but there is no question about his
dedication. Of
course, compared to John Williams, he didn't reach his level, but
he
was a true musician and did enormously to propagate the guitar
mainly,
but somehow also the lute, even though he was criticized for not
being
HIP enough, (metal frets and all). I still believe the lute
today,
would not have been the same without him, and the guitar
certainly not.
Happy to live in an age, where with a click, I can recall the
many
performances, interviews and documentaries he made, mainly on the
guitar but also a few rare ones on the lute. In later years, I
think he
played on more HIP instruments and also on the baroque guitar.
Que
descanses en paz Maestro!
On Fri, Aug 14, 2020 at 9:18 PM Rainer
<[1][2]rads.bera_g...@t-online.de>
wrote:
[2][3]https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-53777949
To get on or off this list see list information at
[3][4]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
--
References
1. mailto:[5]rads.bera_g...@t-online.de
2. [6]https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-53777949
3. [7]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
--
References
1. mailto:kalei...@gmail.com
2. mailto:rads.bera_g...@t-online.de
3. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-53777949
4. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
5. mailto:rads.bera_g...@t-online.de
6. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-53777949
7. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
