I would like to point out that Julian Bream is still alive (born 1933).
He has always been my favorite guitarist. I often thought it was a real
pity that he never played baroque lute. That woulda been amazing.
Susan
-------- Original message --------
From: Luke Emmet <luke.em...@orlando-lutes.com>
Date: 6/19/19 1:34 PM (GMT-07:00)
To: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu
Subject: [LUTE] Re: Julian Bream on Lute
Julian Bream was an inspiration to so many people to take up the lute
or
to fall in love with it. I count myself among them.
How much visibility would our instrument have had without his
performances and recordings back in the day?
Yes his technique is obviously strongly guitar influenced, and his lute
a compromise to meet his technique. But to me, his musical insights,
particularly into Dowland, were second to none for many years. I'm
still
to this day prepared to go a long way to listen beyond the sound of his
fingernails to be taken into his musical vision of what was latent in
the music itself and could be brought forward for us to marvel at.
Best wishes
- Luke
On 19-Jun-2019 16:46, Braig, Eugene wrote:
> Hear, hear.
>
> Eugene
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu<lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu> On Behalf
Of Ron Andrico
> Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2019 11:09 AM
> To: Gary Boye<boy...@appstate.edu>; Edward C.
Yong<edward.y...@gmail.com>
> Cc: Jurgen Frenz<eye-and-ear-cont...@protonmail.com>; Lute
List<lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
> Subject: [LUTE] Re: Julian Bream on Lute
>
> I feel I must add a word of support for Julian Bream and his many
> contributions to the current lute revival.
>
> As a 20th-century pioneering concert artist, Julian Bream first
and
> foremost raised the lute from a quaint closet instrument, best
suited
> to historians and eccentrics, to an instrument capable of musical
> expression that reached and communicated to modern audiences.
>
> Yes, Julian Bream developed and employed his own characteristic
> technique. And yes, he used instruments that were modified from
> historical models to suit his needs as a touring concert artist.
But
> it was through his musical chops that he exposed a broad audience
to
> the depth and the possibilities of old music for the lute.
>
> Bream-bashing has been a popular sport among modern players who
like to
> dwell on what is now considered proper lute technique, but many
of
> these players for all intents and purposes dwell in glass
houses. For
> instance, I still see an absurd number of modern players (who
really
> should know better) using thumb-under technique on baroque lute
and
> theorbo. This is patently unhistorical. In fact, it is well
known
> that music from circa 1600 onward should be played with the thumb
out.
>
> While the lute world is populated by an abundance of opinionated
> hobbyists, Julian Bream is a real musician, and probably still
has
> chops most lute players will never attain. Let's give the man
the
> respect he deserves.
>
> RA
>
__________________________________________________________________
>
> From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu<lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu> on
behalf
> of Gary Boye<boy...@appstate.edu>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2019 11:23 AM
> To: Edward C. Yong
> Cc: Jurgen Frenz; Lute List
> Subject: [LUTE] Re: Julian Bream on Lute
>
> Edward,
> Back in the '70s, there was a quip that "Julian Bream makes
the lute
> sound like a guitar and the guitar sound like a lute." I think
that
> came from guitarists who had no idea what the lute could sound
like.
> He was pretty amazing in concert (on guitar, I didn't see him
play
> lute), and quite a character off stage. In addition to "lute,"
he
> also
> played "vihuela" and "Baroque guitar" (quotes used
intentionally!) .
> .
> . Can't say I'd recommend his early music recordings to
students
> today
> though..
> Gary
> On Wed, Jun 19, 2019 at 5:39 AM Edward C. Yong
> <[1]edward.y...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I have to agree. JB used his stardom to get the lute out
there,
> even
> if it was a Frankenlute with nothing lute about it apart
from the
> shape.
> Would anyone have paid attention to his lute playing if it
hadn't
> ridden on the back of his guitarist reputation? Probably
not.
> I recognise that many here were introduced to the lute via
JB's
> efforts, but my own experience was rather different. My
first
> exposure to lute music was an LP of Julian Bream playing
Dowland
> in
> my school library, and that put me off the lute - it sounded
like
> a
> classical guitar to me, so at 12, I didn't see the point. It
> wasn't
> until a year later that I heard Paul O'Dette and Jakob
Lindberg's
> cd
> of Elizabethan lute duets and that changed my mind entirely
- I
> wanted to play an instrument that sounded like theirs.
> While I have much respect for JB being a musician on the
guitar
> and
> an 'early adopter', I fear I find his tone on the lute to be
thin
> and hard, or âmetallic sharp' as Mr Frenz calls it. It's
difficult
> for me to look past the tone and appreciate JB's
musicianship on
> the
> lutewhen I find the tone unattractive - and this is my
failing,
> not
> JB's.
> Edward
> > On 19 Jun 2019, at 12:40 PM, Jurgen Frenz
> <[2]eye-and-ear-cont...@protonmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Julian Bream was a vital part (I believe) of the lute
revival 50
> years ago by making the music public. On the downside of it
he
> played guitar technique on it to the point of using singe
strings
> on
> both the high G and D courses - it allowed him to play
apoyando on
> the lute which is a big no-no. Hence his lute playing
doesn't
> really
> sound like a lute. Also, at that time, it was common guitar
> technique to use sound differences to emphasize or mark
formal
> sections by moving the right hand extremely close to the
bridge,
> which creates a very metallic sharp sound. This has fallen
out of
> favor on the guitar as well, I personally would qualify it
as
> obnoxious, even more so on the lute.
> > If you like it, you may listen to Konrad Ragossnigs lute
> recordings, he sounds very much like Bream did.
> >
> > Best
> > Jurgen
> >
> >
> > ----------------------------------
> > "Close your eyes. Fall in love. Stay there."
> >
> > JalÃ"l ad-DÃ"ën Muhammad Rumi
> >
> > âââââââ Original Message
âââââââ
> > On Wednesday, June 19, 2019 6:13 AM, Franz Mechsner
> <[3]franz.mechs...@gmx.de> wrote:
> >
> >> Dear Dan,
> >>
> >> Julian Bream actually pioneered lute playing very early.
Watch
> >> this beautiful movie on him that makes me smile (lute
things
> come
> >> somewhere in the
> >> middle):
[1][4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI
> >>
> >> Warm regards and best
> >> Franz
> >>
> >> Dr. Franz Mechsner
> >> Zum Kirschberg 40
> >> D-14806 Belzig OT Borne
> >> +49(0)33841 441362
> >> [5]franz.mechs...@gmx.de
> >>
> >> Gesendet: Mittwoch, 19. Juni 2019 um 01:07 Uhr
> >> Von: "Dan Winheld" [6]dwinh...@lmi.net
> >> An: "Franz Mechsner" [7]franz.mechs...@gmx.de,
> [8]lute@cs.dartmouth.edu
> >> Betreff: Re: [LUTE] Julian Bream on Lute
> >> Nope. Never heard of him.
> >> On 6/18/2019 3:49 PM, Franz Mechsner wrote:
> >>
> >>> Dear collective wisdom,
> >>
> >>>
> >>
> >>> I just heard some pieces played by admired guitarist
Julian
> Bram
> on
> >>
> >> the
> >>
> >>> lute. It seems to me he played kind of classical guitar
style
> on
> the
> >>
> >>> lute. Strange, but It sounds wonderful to me, not only
bold
> for
> the
> >>
> >>> time. Does anyone understand how he played the (maybe
special)
> lute
> >>
> >> and
> >>
> >>> produced the wonderful sound on a lute admittedly built
for
> him?
> >>
> >>>
> >>
> >>> Best and curious
> >>
> >>> Franz
> >>
> >>>
> >>
> >>> Dr. Franz Mechsner
> >>
> >>> Zum Kirschberg 40
> >>
> >>> D-14806 Belzig OT Borne
> >>
> >>> +49(0)33841 441362
> >>
> >>> [9]franz.mechs...@gmx.de
> >>
> >>>
> >>
> >>>
> >>
> >>> To get on or off this list see list information at
> >>
> >>>
[2][10]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
> >>
> >>>
> >>
> >> References
> >>
> >> 1. [11]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI
> >> 2.
[12]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
> >
> >
> >
> >
> --
> Dr. Gary R. Boye
> Erneston Music Library
> Appalachian State University
> --
> References
> 1. [1]mailto:edward.y...@gmail.com
> 2. [2]mailto:eye-and-ear-cont...@protonmail.com
> 3. [3]mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de
> 4. [4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI
> 5. [5]mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de
> 6. [6]mailto:dwinh...@lmi.net
> 7. [7]mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de
> 8. [8]mailto:lute@cs.dartmouth.edu
> 9. [9]mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de
> 10. [10]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
> 11. [11]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI
> 12. [12]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
>
> Virus-free. [13]www.avast.com
>
> --
>
> References
>
> Visible links:
> 1. mailto:edward.y...@gmail.com
> 2. mailto:eye-and-ear-cont...@protonmail.com
> 3. mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de
> 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI
> 5. mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de
> 6. mailto:dwinh...@lmi.net
> 7. mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de
> 8. mailto:lute@cs.dartmouth.edu
> 9. mailto:franz.mechs...@gmx.de
> 10. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
> 11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdunh_wMCI
> 12. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
> 13.
https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_ca
mpaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=link
>
> Hidden links:
> 15.
https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_ca
mpaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=icon
> 16.
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7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2
>
>
>
--
______________________________________
Orlando Lutes
http://www.orlando-lutes.com
