Julian Bream: My Life In Music

This is a beautifully done life story on maybe the greatest Classical Guitarist and Luteist of all time. There are exquisite performancesAnd very personable interviews with one of the most soulful guitarists ever. There are great clips of him playing with Ali Akbar Khan, John Williams's, his consort and various duos and Django style Jazz jams. His interviews are priceless. After seeing this and buying a lot of his albums I became reinspired in my own playing and composition.

Bream is a living, breathing master. His enthusiasm for the guitar and music in general is infectious. When he talks, he just lights up, and I was motivated to grab my guitar and hit the books. His tone and technique are second to none. He has the utmost respect for the composers and musicians he has played with. Bream is the gentleman's guitarist and a veritable encyclopedia of instruments and styles. Five stars.

When this feature film was shot Bream was 70. He decided to retire after 55 years "on the planks" regarding this as quite long enough -- the time having come for someone else to take over.He was influenced by his father, a natural musician who couldn't read music, but who could play all the popular songs of the period. From his father's jazz record collection, Bream became especially interested in Django Reinhardt's guitar playing which simulated him so much so that he was drawn to the guitar. He says that Reinhardt's playing was "so evocative, so powerful at times, so dramatic and then, other times, so lyrical that he seemed to hold within his musical grasp the whole gamut of human expression".On his father's guitar he played along with the dance bands heard on the radio, he got some rudimentary chords from a guitar tablature book and his father taught him the roots of harmony for the guitar. When his father's dance band had a gig, he played along with them -- sitting behind a curtain -- thus getting to know the standards. His father gave him a Spanish guitar, but he had difficulty playing it. This was a `"gut strung" guitar which required being played finger picking style whereas he was used to playing with a plectrum. So his father ended up teaching him finger picking style. Father and son got themselves a tutor and together they went for classical guitar lessons.Then his father brought home a recording of "Recuerdo de la Alhambra" performed by Andres Segovia. Upon hearing this Bream had no doubt that he wanted to play that style. At the age of about 11 he and his father went to a gathering of the Philharmonic Society of Guitarists where Bream was at random asked to give a performance. He had to borrow a guitar, but his performance was met with much applause. Bream went to a Segovia concert and took with a pair of binoculars which he kept focussed throughout on Segovia's right hand. He was interested to see how the maestro's right hand worked.He was admitted to the Royal College of Music, although they didn't offer guitar lessons. He was allowed to study without having to pay for classes whatsoever. When Bream told a class who his favourite composer was, the tutor responded: "Fernando Sor! ... never heard of him". He was also barred from bringing his guitar to the College, apparently because the authorities feared that the students, having heard him play, might themselves want guitar lessons --which the College didn't offer.He discovered a keyboard arrangement of John Dowland's lute music in a library and realised how suitable this music was for the guitar. But he aspired to play this music on the instrument for which it was originally intended. This he ended up doing and thus began his lifelong association with the lute and his becoming the supremo thereof.We see Bream in these scenarios: Improvising in a combo a-la Django Reinhardt; performing with "The Julian Bream Consort"; playing with India's Ali Akbar Khan; playing with guitarist John Williams; engaging Stravinsky in conversation and playing for him on the lute.Benjamin Britten composed his "Nocturnal" especially for Bream. Many other composers, including Richard Rodney Bennett, responded to Bream's request to write for the guitar. As Bream became more interested in the piano repertoire, he felt that the repertoire of the guitar was lacking in variety as well as quality. He thereupon embarked upon a quest to find new music for the guitar which had no Spanish base or influence.

Articulate man describing a fascinating life.

as good as it gets.

Purchased this video a decade ago, just watched it again ten years later. Great musician, great story, greatly told. Mostly in Julian's own words, with archival footage and contemporary performances. Begins and ends with Britten, with everything else in the guitar world in between. Experience this DVD and fall in love with the guitar. One of the best videos I've ever seen.

What a wonderful heart felt experience this DVD is !

What a fantastic story! I found it moving and inspiring. I'd assumed that Julian Bream came from a wealthy family with a background in classical music. And of course was completely wrong. I've told lots of anecdotes from the the film to friends, lent it to some and bought it as a birthday present recently. If you like a good story and you enjoy guitar music, you're in for a treat. Julian Bream - My Life In Music [DVD] [2006 ] Julian Bream - My Life In Music [DVD] [2006

The lovely Julian Bream talking about his extraordinary life, and playing all my favourite pieces. He comes across as a delightful warm character --- I would love to have heard more from him.

A very good DVD about the guitar master life, talk by himself

Just loved it and very well documented

Excellent ,charmingly modest account of Julian Bream's professional life.There were very good and varied recordings of his playing.He has single handedly brought worldwide recognition of the lute and guitar as classical instruments and therefore sparked a huge resurgance in the number of players.