Description

Julian Bream,  “My Life in Music”.
Running Time:  174 Minutes.
Studio:  Avie.
Directed and presented by Paul Balmer.
Produced by Judy Caine.
TRACKLIST:

Nocturnal (2:38)
Hardy’s England (1:05)
Heigh Ho Holiday (1:10)
I was born in Battersea (1:27)
My musical father (1:48)
Django and Eddie Lang (3:28)
My first Spanish guitar and meeting Segovia (5:02)
‘BMG’ and the Philharmonic Society of Guitarists (4:52)
The ‘PSG’ library (1:08)
A day boy at Royal College of Music (1:10)
Segovia 1947/Castelnuovo-Tedesco (2:43)
Saraband for Dead Lovers (1:07)
Royal College of Music – no fee! (2:43)

BBC radio and television (5:22)
Julian discovers Dowland (2:43)
Wigmore debut/Bach suites (6:48)
National Service (3:50)
Aldeburgh – meeting Britten and Pears (5:11)
George Malcolm (3:21)
Improvising as a resource (2:49)
The Julian Bream Consort (1962) (4:42)
Meeting Ali Akbar Khan (3:56)
Stravinsky – the quest for repertoire (5:00)
‘A life in the country’/cricket – a passion (5:15)
Recording at Wardour Castle (2:38)
The Renaissance and Baroque guitars (5:08)
What is essentially Spanish? (5:09)
New music for the guitar (6:05)
Aldeburgh and the writing of ‘Nocturnal’ (5:04)
De Falla ‘Homenaje’ (4:15)
Working with John Williams (3:36)
‘Come Heavy Sleep’ – ‘Passacaglia’ (8:32)

Director’s Commentary
Alternative Camera Angles
Julian recorded new interpretations of Britten’s ‘Nocturnal’ and de Falla’s ‘Homenaje’ especially for this DVD.

Bonus Features
Archive Music Clips

Dionisio Aguado – Rondo in A minor Op. 2 (6:10)
Heitor Villa-Lobos – Study No. 11 (7:10)
Thomas Morley – ‘Galliard to the Sacred End Pavan’ – Julian Bream Consort (1987) (2:13)
William Walton – Bagatelle No. 5 (2:27)

Guitarist’s Relish (‘bonus chapters’)
The ‘Nocturnal’ manuscripts (6:03)
‘1984’ and bouncing back (4:17)
My first recital and the Maccaferri guitar (1:55)
Sneaking my guitar into the Royal College of Music (4:45)
Julian’s nylons! (2:35)
RCM tutor: “Fernando Sor! … .never heard of him” (1:41)
Yuri Leschenko (1:47)
Dr. Perott’s techniques (2:35)
‘Ithaca’ (Constantine P. Cavafy, 1863 – 1933) – Julian’s favourite poem read by Jill Balcon (5:10)
‘The Makers Of…’ – directed by Brendan McCormack (10:40)
Bibliography (text only)
Discography (text only) – compiled by Judy Caine and Graham Wade
Research Notes (text only)
Guitar Timeline – a look at some guitars from the renaissance to the 20th Century

Rare Stills Photo Montage – Tárrega’s Mazurka in G (2:49)
Richard Rodney Bennett – Sonata for Solo Guitar (23:39)
Commercially released for the first time by arrangement with BBC Music – recorded in the chapel at Wardour Castle for BBC Radio 3 – 29 June 1986 – Producer Gareth Walters