​JulianBreamGuitar.com

"I devoted my life to music for a reason and the reason wasn't because I wanted to get on or make money, but to try to fulfil myself and also to give people pleasure.
That's been my credo….
I've had a lovely life. I've had a great life."

                                                                       Julian Bream  (Interview with Stuart Jeffries)

an electronic post in the early English morning, soon after he had been notified. My heart sank. I had lost many special people in the past year and a half and now I have lost one more.

            Eight years ago, I wrote a few lines about a memory of a feeling I had conjured up about Julian Bream over 30 years prior when I read a book about his journey. When I read the book, "... I pulled out a man that was dark but full of life and passion. A man that liked a good joke but then sat down and interpreted music that was often based on the more complicated aspects of humanity such as love, hate, depression and the glory of God." His music was that to me, dark and light, colours and shades of grey, ethereal and earthly. We are all born with a natural attraction for the balance of symmetry but he showed me how to understand and appreciate asymmetry. To me, he was the king of my favourite instrument and a wizard of musical sound all rolled up into one. Creating incantations with notes while knowing exactly how to lead those who were willing to follow his sound.  Even early on, he was this mythical child who could interpret music with a knowledge that he could have only acquired lifetimes ago. 

           The guitar world has lost a giant. One of the true pillars of not just the classical guitar, but classical music in general. Listening to his record albums from now on will be different for me, although he will make sure that I still hear the musical spells that he cast so many years ago.                                                                                     

                                                                                                                                                                                   William Chávez 2020

Memorial Service

A private funeral service was held on the 1st of September at the Wardour Chapel. Laura Snowden played at the service.

Into the rose-garden

Andrea De Vitis, a highly accomplished Italian classical guitarist, has commissioned a piece from composer Angelo Gilardino in memory of Julian Bream.

ulian Bream has passed. To most who followed the classical guitar world closely, it was not unexpected. We knew he had slowly been declining for a few years and the past year had been difficult. Yet most of us secretly wished that Julian Bream would live forever, or at the very least, a 100 years. What else could you wish for someone who has provided so much pleasure to most who enjoy music deeply? Graham Wade was my messenger. He sent me