RIP Julian Bream

Moe mai ra e te Rangatira…(Sleep, oh chief)

Takoto mai, takoto mai, takoto mai…(Lie, lie, lie)

Haere ki runga i to waka rererangi…(Travel aboard your heavenly vessel)

Haere ki nga whetu kei runga i to po roa, to po nui, te po tapu…(Go to the many stars of the long night, the great night, the sacred night)

Haere, haere, haere…(Depart, depart, depart…)

Julian Bream was what I would like to call a ‘Musician’s musician’. He was everything that many of us aspire to be - a virtuoso; a gentleman and a scholar; an indefatigable tour de force in the guitar and lute world; a transcriptionist par excellence; and an all-round good chap.

I had the incredible privilege of seeing Julian perform in Napier in 1988 when I was in my first year at high school. Unfortunately, I was so new to the guitar that I had scarcely a clue as to who he was and what he was playing. I do remember that he played All in Twilight by the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu (I believe it had been commissioned the year prior).

When I was undertaking my performance major in classical guitar at Victoria university in Wellington I would often pull out a vinyl recording of Julian Bream and listen to him playing the Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo. I had never heard anything so exquisite apart from Segovia playing J. S. Bach’s Chaconne. Even today rarely more than a few days go past without me listening to Julian playing a piece in his own way - the Julian Bream way.

To me the way Julian played was unique amongst all players. His thunderous pizzicato in the beginning stanza of Granados’ La Maya de Goya, or the sultry sul tasto in Turina’s Fandanguillo are truly unforgettable displays of his extraordinary depth of musical understanding. The tonal variations and his idiosyncratic approach to phrasing and interpretation, salient in a world so full of amazing players.

When I was a bit younger I was in camp Williams because I just couldn’t believe his technical command so I tended to model my playing to mimic John (falling way way short). However, as I have aged I have gone back to Julian and analysed many of his transcriptions and increased my admiration of his approach and sound. The ending of my performance of Serenata Espanola by Malats is totally JB. I listened to his performance several times and then transcribed it by ear. To my knowledge nobody ends that piece like Julian does.

I am happy and unimaginably thankful that JB left a massive lexicon of music for lute and guitar for us to enjoy through the coming years.

Please feel free to comment and share your experience with Julian and his music below.

"The Classical Guitar Collection" Giveaway Competition & Review

An excellent book for aspiring guitar players looking to expand their repertoires.

About two months ago I was contacted by the lovely Rachel Topham at Faber Music asking if I would be interested in reviewing two of their guitar publications. I eagerly jumped at the opportunity to do so especially when she told me that one of the books featured several transcriptions by Julian Bream - my favourite classical guitarist. Rachel kindly agreed to give me an additional copy of each book to giveaway to a lucky reader/viewer. So, big shout out to Faber for being so generous and supportive of the classical guitar community and the guitar community at large.

In this article I will be reviewing 'The Classical Guitar Collection' but FIRST! You can win your very own copy. Here's how:

Competition!!!

Answer the following three questions either in a comment here, or a comment on the YouTube video or on the Facebook post. All of the answers can be found in this article and/or in the YouTube video found at the bottom.

Question 1: What is the name of the famous guitarist that transcribed the majority of pieces in this book?

Question 2: Which Australian composer has a piece in this book and called the famous guitarist John Williams the "King of guitar"?

Question 3: What is the name of the company that published this book?

Make sure that you leave an email address so that I can contact you if you win. The competition is running for 7 days only. 

All the best and let your fingers fly!

The Review:

The following is a list of every composer represented in the book:

• Dionisio Aguado
• Isaac Albéniz
• Malcolm Arnold
• Johann Sebastian Bach
• Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello
• Ferdinado Carulli
• Dieterich Buxtehude
• Domenico Cimarosa
• Claude Debussy
• Anton Diabelli
• José Ferrer
• Edvard Grieg
• Mauro Giuliani
• Johann Jacob Froberger
• Augustín Barrios Mangoré
• Johann Kaspar Mertz
• Nicholas Maw
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Guillaume Morlaye
• Henry Purcell
• Julio Salvador Sagreras
• Robert Schumann
• Peter Sculthorpe 
• Johann Strauss
• Francisco Tárrega
• Fernando Sor

As you can see there is a broad and eclectic variety of composers from different time periods, cultures, and styles represented. The obvious masters are well represented with Aguado, Carulli, Giuliani, Mertz, Sagreras, Tárrega and Sor each having one or more pieces. Unusual yet pleasing inclusions are those of Debussy, Maw, & Sculthorpe. For those of you that have seen the John Williams documentary 'The Seville Concert' you will know that the Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe appeared in that documentary and is most notable for changing Segovia's famous statement about John Williams to him being "the King" of guitar rather than the prince.

How many pieces are in the book?

There are a total of 48 pieces inside with Bach & Buxtehude having four pieces each. 

My thoughts

Let me start with my overall opinion of the book. Firstly, the book is aimed at intermediate to advanced players and I think that this has been well-addressed. The Brescianello pieces for example probably rest quite firmly at about the Grade 4 RSM level. At the opposite end of the spectrum we have extremely challenging pieces such as Asturias, Recuerdos de la Alhambra & La Catedral that are all at the ARSM or LRSM level. 

Who would I have included?

In all honesty there could be reasons why these composers aren't here but I would have probably tried to include some newer composers such as:

• Andrew York
• Sergio Assad
• Carlos Domeniconi
• Leo Brouwer
• Toru Takemitsu
• Lennox Berkley

There's a few more that I would add to the list but I'll stop there. Perhaps these composers are already have legal obligations with other publishers and therefore couldn't be included. Nevertheless, the book is still fantastic and seeing works by Maw, Sagreras, & Sculthorpe is wonderful. I'm certain it isn't an easy or enviable task having to deliberate over which piece from which composer is going to be included.

What else could add value?

• Foreword & Introduction
• A more detailed notation legend
• Tablature
• Online learning resources & support

Foreword & Introduction. I have a vast collection of classical guitar publications in my personal collection and although many of them do not have a Foreword or Introduction those that do seem to show more care and thought and often they offer an insight or a tidbit of information that is difficult to find elsewhere. For example I have a publication of the complete solo works of Heitor Villa Lobos that has an absolutely astonishing introduction in English & Spanish and it also has some historical examples and insights into the composer's treatment of notation within several of the pieces. Admittedly this is much easier to do if the book is devoted solely to a single composer. 

Notation legend. The notation legend is extremely brief although in fairness this is aimed at intermediate to advanced players so perhaps there is an assumption that many of the fundamentals of music reading are already known. 

Tablature. Hmmm...to include or not to include? Maybe I'm a softy but in this day and age with music writing software capable of making tabs with a single keystroke I can only imagine that tabs weren't added because of the price of printing or perhaps the idea was to only make this book accessible to people that can read music. In any case I do think that this restricts the market and appeal enormously. There are so many wonderful and keen players out there that cannot read music. Yes, we could take the hardline approach and suggest that they learn to 'read the dots' but to me that just isn't necessary anymore. I would almost go so far as to say that every guitar publication (that isn't for exams) should include tabs!

Online Support. In this day and age there is a growing expectation  that an online community where people can gather to share ideas & opinions is a given. A multitude of players out there need to hear the pieces that they're trying to learn for various reasons. The most glaring reason is that they can't read music or they lack the confidence to believe that their attempts to read the music and play it are correct. Guitar notational software such as Guitar Pro 6 & 7 is easily capable of creating MIDI, WAV,  and MP3 files which sound quite close to an actual classical guitar. If I was publishing this book I would also upload the sound files to every piece as a valuable learning and teaching resource to enhance the book's appeal and reach. 

La Catedral...

Unfortunately the Preludio Saudade of this wonderful piece has been written incorrectly. The parts have been split into 3 voices which makes for an overly complicated visual experience. There is no necessity for this. The best option is to simply use two voices with the accompanying voice split into semiquavers and the leading voice included rhythmically as part of the accompaniment. Below are two excerpts - the first is taken from the book and the second is from a 3rd party:

3 voices creates a difficult reading experience.

Here is how it should have been written.

2 voices provides a clean, easy-to-read score.

Two other minor details that could have been edited for consistency would be:

• Tuning indications
• Right-hand fingering indications

Tune guitar:

Tuning:

I won't point out the right-hand fingering indications suffice it to say that some pieces are positively overflowing with right-hand suggestions whereas others are completely devoid. I am of the opinion that consistency is key - either make suggestions for all or don't make suggestions for any. 

Overall Conclusion:

The book is fabulous. I'm a pedantic type of guy and honestly none of the things I have mentioned with the exception of the issue with La Catedral are deal breakers. There are pieces here that I haven't seen or heard anywhere else and that in itself is worth the money. Add to this the fact that Julian Bream has transcribed at least 50% of the pieces and you're winning. Any guitarist that learns to play the pieces contained therein will have a stunning repertoire worthy of any concert stage. 

Check out the video below for details about how you can win yourself a copy of this book for yourself or read the instructions:

Faber Publishing

Faber Publishing on Facebook

Classical Guitar Virtuoso Profile: Julian Bream

Julian Bream - The Legend!

Introduction

Julian Bream is without a doubt my favourite classical guitarist. I was privileged enough to see the living legend perform in my first year of guitar lessons in 1988. From memory I think most of his repertoire at the time was very modern and featured 'All in Twilight' by Toru Takemitsu. The downside of the recital was that I had only just started learning classical guitar and I couldn't appreciate the virtuosity and the grandeur of the musicianship that was on display. Honestly I didn't even really know who Julian Bream was. I do clearly recall my guitar teacher telling me later that Julian Bream also organised and marketed his own concerts around the world. That is something that I find truly staggering.

Why Do I Like Julian Bream?

I like Julian Bream for three main reasons:

1.  His uncanny ability to find the important melodic lines or rhythms within a piece
2. His astonishing use of tonal colours
3. His unique and utterly idiomatic & unique interpretations

Many critics have lauded Julian's ability to capture the very essence of the pieces that he plays. It would seem that most of us share their opinions. If you read any of the comments in the numerous YouTube videos of Julian performing you will see that it is his sensitivity and deep understanding of music that people have grown to love and admire. It doesn't matter if it's a 400 year old Renaissance lute piece or a modern work by William Walton or Benjamin Britten - Bream will always find a way to make it musical and accessible to an audience. His ability to capture the soul and beauty of a piece is unparalleled. 

When I was at University I would often pull out a vinyl recording of Bream playing the famous 'Concierto de Aranjuez'. It was so inspirational for me and it helped to keep me plugging away when I was studying. I always marvelled (and still do) at his timbral variations.

Julian Bream plays both of Joaquin Rodrigo's Conciertos for guitar.

Conclusion

Unfortunately Bream stopped giving recitals in 2002 after more than 50 years of performing around the world. Thankfully his numerous recordings are still available for us to enjoy and love. If you have time I would strongly suggest heading across to YouTube to watch these two wonderful documentaries:

• My Life In Music. An enchanting 2 hour journey through Julian's life from his earliest days as a youth right through to the latter stages of a career spanning several decades.
• Guitarra - The Guitar In Spain. This is a 3 hour documentary about the history of the guitar and the influence that Spanish luthiers & composers have had on the instrument since the days of Torres.

Let your fingers fly!