Profiles in Classical Guitar: Julian Bream

Julian Bream is one of the most famous classicalAmbassador to the media of the Twentieth
guitarists of the twentieth century and he hasCentury
achieved worldwide fame not only for the guitarBream has embraced television and radio and
but also for his work with the Renaissance Lute.used these media to bring classical guitar and lute
 He is considered to be one of the mostto a mass audience. His 2003 DVD video profile
important ambassadors of the classical guitar andJulian Bream: My Life in Music, which is a three
has formed a solid bridge between the music ofhour long piece, includes interviews and
the past with the technology of today.  Heperformances and is considered to be one of the
helped usher the classical guitar into the modernfinest contributions ever made to the world of
age.Classical Guitar. He has also created a British
He was born in 1933 and took up the classicaltelevision series entitled Guitarra! It charts a
guitar on his eleventh birthday when he receivedmusical journey across Spain.
one as a present.  He was already anLearn More about Him
accomplished musician having studied piano andIf you are looking to read more about him there
cello but with the classical guitar and lute heis a newly published book called The Art of Julian
excelled.  Bream.  If you are looking to experience some
Significant Contributionsof his music you might want to start with his
In 1960 he formed a group called the Julian Breamcollaborative work with John Williams. They are a
Consort. It was an Elizabethan period ensembletwo volume set entitled Together and Together
for which Bream played the lute. This ConsortAgain.  If you want a more encompassing view
brought about a revival in interest of theof his music as it spans the decades he has a
Elizabethan era which is considered to be a periodtwo volume CD set called The Ultimate Guitar
of time that was the absolute pinnacle of theCollection. The first CD is a compilation of many
English Renaissance.  His work with this groupof his transcriptions and the second CD focuses
earned him a Grammy award for best chamberon his works for Spanish guitar.  
music performance.  This award would be theJulian Bream is one of the greatest classical of the
first of many awards which include three moremodern day.  His tireless performance and work
Grammy awards.with the guitar has spanned many decades of
One of the most important contributions he madepersonal performance and many centuries of
to the world of the classical guitar was hismusic. He has bridged the gap between the past
development of a complete repertoire forand the future by giving us an enormous
performance. His transcriptions of works forrepertoire of music in just about every modern
guitar and lute span five centuries and he hasmode of media from CD to television and film.
particularly focused on lute works from the And it is his particular gift for transcription and
Elizabethan era and Spanish guitar works from theinterpretation that has enabled him to bring five
nineteenth and twentieth centuries.  He has alsocenturies of plucked instrument music into the
had many composers create works specificallymodern world.
for him.