Julian Bream’s genius shone through from a young age as a child prodigy who went on to become one of the foremost guitarists and lutenists of the 20^th century. In a performing career of more than five decades, he produced no fewer than 40 CDs of recordings and toured in virtually every part of the world – sometimes with incredibly packed schedules, such as, apparently, once giving 30 performances over the course of five weeks in North America!

Julian was driven by an extraordinary passion for the instrument and its spectrum of musical possibilities. His interest in some of the magnificent music written for the Renaissance lute led him to form the Julian Bream Consort, contributing to a revival in performances of Elizabethan music with period instruments.

I knew Julian for fifty years, during which we shared many conversations about music, his beloved cricket, and his views on recital programming. He believed strongly in building programmes around a few major works, avoiding lighter pieces that others might include. Alongside performing the standard repertoire for classical guitar, such as J.S. Bach, Mauro Giuliani, Fernando Sor, Moreno Torroba and others, Julian premiered much contemporary music in his lifetime, hoping it might serve to educate his audiences about the musical possibilities of the guitar, and challenge pre-conceived notions that it was not a concert instrument.

One of the most notable of these commissions was the monumental and ground-breaking ‘Nocturnal after John Dowland’ of Benjamin Britten composed in 1963 and published by Faber Music. This was a catalyst for many more premieres and commissions from great 20^th century composers including Sir Malcom Arnold, Sir Lennox Berkeley, Sir Michael Tippett, Sir William Walton, Richard Rodney Bennett, Tōru Takemitsu, Leo Brouwer and many others.  

In each recital that Julian gave, he would usually also include a group of transcriptions, and often these would be by some of the most celebrated composers of the Iberian Peninsula – Manuel de Falla, Enrique Granados and Isaac Albéniz.

Julian had a real gift for transcription. Always meticulous in his preparation for performances, Julian's interpretations were intensely moving, crystal clear in contrapuntal sections, highly charged in rhythmical passages, but at the same time possessing heart-stopping, ravishing moments, amidst a wealth of colourful expression.  Thus, in a similar way, his transcriptions were presented with fastidious attention to detail in order to, first and foremost, bring through the intentions of the composer, the music by the Spanish composers being excellent examples.

This talent for transcription led Bream to become editor of the Faber Music Guitar Series, arranging and editing works by the likes of Cimarosa, Boccherini, William Lawes, Purcell, Debussy and Schumann – many of these works were published in the two volumes of the Julian Bream Guitar Library, published in 1981.

Julian had already gifted some manuscripts of his transcriptions to the Jerwood Library of the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Drama in London, but there were still plenty from his countless recitals and performances that had never appeared in print or manuscript, leading us to wonder – where might they be?

When Julian passed away in 2020, I, along with another of Julian's lifelong friends, Mrs. Janet Burnett, whose late husband James Burnett was the producer of the vast majority of Julian's recordings, began to help clear Julian’s two houses in the village of Donhead St. Andrew. It quickly became clear that this was no easy or indeed quick job, for as well as his two cars and many items of beautiful antique furniture, there were hundreds of books, dozens of large cardboard boxes of personal possessions, various awards and platinum discs, plus two guitars, and a lute! But the question remained: were there any more transcriptions?   

With time passing all too quickly and pressure building as the two properties went up for sale, we turned our attention to the former double garage. One of the final items of furniture checked was a cabinet, which in an opening at the back revealed folders and folders of handwritten and photocopied manuscripts of his transcriptions!

For us this felt like a Tutankhamun discovery; for here, amongst others in this treasure trove were three major works of J.S. Bach, beautifully filled out and embellished, important suites by Robert de Visée, the celebrated Grand Sonata of Paganini, a highly decorated version of the guitar part from the quartet for guitar and strings by Haydn, works by Ravel, Roussel, Bartok, Lutosławski, and four pieces by Isaac Albéniz.   

When the shock and surprise had worn off slightly, it became both evident and obvious that this material was of immense importance to the guitar world.  Over the years, there have been important collections of transcriptions by celebrated guitar figures – Francisco Tarrega, Emilio Pujol, Agustin Barrios, Miguel Llobet, and Andrés Segovia to name just a few – but with these Julian Bream transcriptions we have what is perhaps one of the last great collections of a legendary guitarist.   

And so began the task of sorting and preparing these scores for publication, often with the use of high-powered spectacles to understand the minute details found in many passages! Having seen and heard Julian performing these wonderful pieces as well as attending masterclasses with him at his home in Wiltshire, and the Royal Academy of Music, London, it was a revelation to be able to examine the manuscripts at last – the final piece of the puzzle.  

This magnificent group of ten pieces by Isaac Albeniz reflect the colours and atmosphere of Spanish culture, and in turn bring out the strong characteristic of the guitar. The new edition from Faber Music finally allows performers, teachers and students to understand and appreciate Julian Bream’s supreme skill in creating scholarly editions of the highest quality, suitable for the concert hall.  

 

John Mills is Visiting Lecturer in Guitar at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, and editor of Julian Bream: Albéniz Guitar Collection.