Julian Bream

Julian Bream (1933–2020) was an English classical guitarist and lutenist whose performances and recordings revived interest in Renaissance lute music and expanded the modern guitar repertoire.

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Renaissance lute music: Instrumental music composed for the lute during the European Renaissance. Bream’s lute performances and recordings helped renew this repertory’s place in concert life.
Lute: A plucked string instrument with a rounded body, fretted neck, and strings arranged in courses. Bream performed the lute as both a solo instrument and a chamber instrument.
London: The capital city of England and the United Kingdom. Bream was born in London in 1933 and began his musical life there.
Twentieth-century classical guitar repertoire: Concert works for classical guitar composed during the twentieth century. Bream’s commissions and performances helped enlarge this repertoire beyond traditional arrangements.
Classical guitar: A modern guitar played with the fingers for classical and other notated instrumental music. Bream made the instrument a prominent solo voice in twentieth-century concert music.
Classical guitar technique: The methods of producing sound on the classical guitar, including right-hand plucking and left-hand fingering. Bream’s tone and phrasing depended on refined control of these techniques.
Royal College of Music: A conservatoire in London offering professional training in music performance and composition. Bream studied piano and cello at the college before establishing himself as a guitarist.
Harrison Birtwistle: An English composer known for modernist operas and instrumental works. Birtwistle was among the composers whose guitar music Bream commissioned and performed.
Benjamin Britten: An English composer whose works include opera, orchestral music, songs, and chamber music. Britten wrote the guitar song cycle Nocturnal for Bream.
Historically informed performance: An approach to performance that uses historical evidence to shape instruments, techniques, and interpretation. Bream’s lute playing drew on period instruments and research into early performance practice.