Notes on the Repertoire

5 Bagatelles
William Walton (1902-1983)

Premiere: May 27 1972
Performer: Julian Bream
Performance Hall: Assembly Rooms, Bath
Occasion: Bath Festival Concert

Julian Bream who, with Peter Pears, had commissioned Walton in 1960 to compose the song-cycle Anon in Love, approached him with another assignment, this time for pieces solely for guitar. Malcolm Arnold related how, in January 1971, Sir William, after five weeks of work on the Bagatelles he was writing for Bream, had only the first six notes, all to be played on open strings. 'Not all that good,' mused Walton. 'I've been worrying. I'm wondering if when he begins they'll think he's tuning the bloody thing up.'

Dissertations

Villa, Marco Alejandro. "Five Bagatelles by William Walton: A Performance Guide Based on the Composer's Orchestration, Varii Capricci." Doctor of Music, Florida State University, 2017. LINK.

Nocturnal after John Dowland
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
[IRCAM Brahms Database Entry]

Premiere: June 12 1964
Performer: Julian Bream
Performance Hall:
Occasion: Aldeburgh Festival

The piece is a vivid contrast to the 'public' works Britten had been producing since A Midsummer Night's Dream" three years earlier.Subtitled 'reflections,' its theme is Dowland's 'Come, heavy sleep,' which is not heard in full till the end, suggesting that sleep does not come for a long while. The preceding movements are undoubtedly meant to portray the various stages of insomnia. They have such markings as 'Very agitated,' 'Restless,' and 'Uneasy.' Uncharacteristically, Britten admitted (in a 1969 interview) that the Nocturnal 'has some very, to me, disturbing images in it.' He did not say what they were.

Some years later, Julian Bream recalled of the Nocturnal:
When the piece arrived, I found I didn't have to change anything, not one note. It's the only piece written for me of which that is true. Oh yes, except for one tiny blemish, where Britten had contrived to place two notes on the same string. When I pointed this out to him he was simply horrified! It was as though you'd pointed out some terrible gaff in his social behaviour."

Donald Mitchell, who published the Nocturnal, remembers it differently:
Ben would sometimes consult Julian, and ask, 'Is this possible on the guitar?' And Julian would say, 'No it isn't.' But then he would take it away and try it and find that it was possible, that it worked. Julian himself made the point that this was an example of a composer writing ahead of an instrument's established technique, exploring potentialities that the player (however gifted) had not foreseen. It was rather like Mozart and the clarinet — what he composed for it advanced the instrument's technical (and thus expressive) possibilities.

Dissertations

Frackenpohl, David J. "Analysis of Nocturnal op. 70 by Benjamin Britten." Master of Music, North Texas State University, 1986. LINK.

Alcaraz, Roberto. "Benjamin Britten's Nocturnal, Op. 70 for guitar: A novel approach to program music and variation structure." DMA, The University of Arizona, 2001. LINK.

The Blue Guitar
Michael Tippett (1905-1998)
[IRCAM Brahms Database Entry]

Premiere: November 09 1983
Performer: Julian Bream
Performance Hall: Ambassador Auditorium
Occasion:

Dissertations

Roman, Orlando. “Performer's Guide To Michael Tippett's The Blue Guitar.” Doctor of Music, Florida State University, 2003. LINK.

Royal Winter Music: First sonata on Shakespearean Characters
Hans Werner Henze (1926-2012)
[IRCAM Brahms Database Entry]

Premiere: September 20 1976
Performer: Julian Bream
Performance Hall:
Occasion: Berliner Festwochen

Dissertations

Avalos, Jeremy. “A Semiosis of Hans Werner Henze's Royal Winter Music Sonata I.” Doctor of Music, Florida State University, 2021. LINK.

In the Woods
Tōru Takemitsu (1930-1996)
[IRCAM Brahms Database Entry]

Premiere: October 15 1996
Performer: Kiyoshi Shomura
Performance Hall:
Occasion:

Dissertations

Dunlap, Matthew. "A Performer's Guide to Toru Takemitsu's in the Woods." Doctor of Music, Florida State University, 2008. LINK.

Pickup, Shawn Michael. "Takemitsu’s Solo Guitar Music Inspired by Visual Art: Informed and Imaginative Interpretation and Performance." Doctor of Music, University of Toronto, 2023. LINK.