With the passing of Julian Bream a great void is now left in the future of the guitar that others who cherish the instrument as much as he did must now attempt to fill. It will not be at all easy.
His playing and commitment to the music of the guitar and how it has evolved always showed in an incredible ability to express great music with passion and effortless sense of beauty that made it seem improvised at times. His technique was unique but not at all high brow or unapproachable if understood.
His passion for the lute was in no small way influenced by the schools of early music that continued to evolve when he was young and helped free his musical sense from the excesses of the pomp and circumstance of the late Victorian and certainly Edwardian orchestral music of the generations before him. This flowering of the passion for early music, especially that of John Dowland beyond a shadow of a doubt helped Bream go on to leave a legacy for future musicians to build upon and learn from.
I was blessed to have heard him play the lute in Vancouver, even thought the venue was a cow barn, the QE theatre. Hearing him express Bach on the lute with passion and clear joy was an inspiration for me as a young guitarist.
He always helped greatly to bring intimacy and great value back to solo performance on stage and as a performer was fearless perhaps even to a fault in some music critics eyes, but certainly never to a guitar or lute lovers ears!
He pushed other great musicians to reach further and further the results of his efforts are historically very important for the future of music on the instrument we all love dearly.
Thank you Julian, may the instruments wherer' yea goeth be as great as youre passionate play uponeth them.
His playing and commitment to the music of the guitar and how it has evolved always showed in an incredible ability to express great music with passion and effortless sense of beauty that made it seem improvised at times. His technique was unique but not at all high brow or unapproachable if understood.
His passion for the lute was in no small way influenced by the schools of early music that continued to evolve when he was young and helped free his musical sense from the excesses of the pomp and circumstance of the late Victorian and certainly Edwardian orchestral music of the generations before him. This flowering of the passion for early music, especially that of John Dowland beyond a shadow of a doubt helped Bream go on to leave a legacy for future musicians to build upon and learn from.
He always helped greatly to bring intimacy and great value back to solo performance on stage and as a performer was fearless perhaps even to a fault in some music critics eyes, but certainly never to a guitar or lute lovers ears!
