Track Listing

1. Pavanas
2. Canarios
3. Prelude In D Minor
4. Fugue In A Minor
5. Fantasy & Minuet
6. Passacaille
7. Fantasie
8. Suite In D Minor: Prelude
9. Suite In D Minor: Allemande
10. Suite In D Minor: Courante
11. Suite In D Minor: Sarabande
12. Suite In D Minor: Gavotte
13. Suite In D Minor: Menuet I & II
14. Suite In D Minor: Bourree
15. Suite In D Minor: Gigue
16. Tombeau sur la mort de M. Comte de Logy
17. Suite in E Minor, S. 996: Prelude
18. Suite in E Minor, S. 996: Allemande
19. Suite in E Minor, S. 996: Courante
20. Suite in E Minor, S. 996: Sarabande
21. Suite in E Minor, S. 996: Bourree
22. Suite in E Minor, S. 996: Gigue

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7418 in Music
• Released on: 1991-06-21
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Superb baroque music festival for the guitar
I have most of these pieces on a book of Essential Classical Guitar, as I'm picking up the instrument again. This is not only an enlightnening CD, it's just great music, very well played. I can compare some of the pieces to other recordings in compilations, also very well played. But Julian Bream breathes, does not put the accent on virtuosity but more on musical phrasing, takes a slightly slower tempo sometimes (the lovely Bach prelude in d). I love playing it on my iPod in the background, it soothes me while I'm doing mechanical work. All the CD is worth it, esp. at this price. I would've paid full price for it. Unlike other reviewers, I'm not at all bothered by the recording quality, it's perfectly adequate; although there is no attempt to dissimulate the hiss due to shifting between positions, there isn't as much of it to disrupt listening, and the sound is otherwise rich and full with harmonies. In fact, the (very occasional) hissing enhances the "real" aspect of the recording so I don't mind. I hear them too when I play (although I'm not an advanced player by any means). The most dynamic pieces (Sanz' Canarios, Bach's Prelude and fugue, Weiss' Fantasy, Bach's suite allemande, bourree and gigue) alternate with more pensive, almost lethargic pieces by de Visee. Overall, this is a great CD that I put among the top five or six in my classical guitar collection. Also "Essential Guitar" compilation has some of these pieces and more romantic and 19th century pieces, if you want to compare. I also highly recommend that CD.

Bream does a superlative job
Bream was one of the best guitarists in the history of the instrument (was, since he retired a few years back). This may sound extreme, but nearly all his recordings bear witness to this. In addition to impeccable technique and musicianship, he shows a control of color and shading second to none. He is somewhat less romantic than Segovia, but his range of expression is just as varied. In some later recordings, Bream sounds as if he chooses beauty of sound at the expense of using slightly deliberate pacing, but in all earlier outings (like this one), he combines tonal beauty with perfectly chosen tempos (or tempi if you prefer), a great sense of enjoyment, even of fun when appropriate. Bream always reveals something remarkable in the music that goes beyond nearly all other players.

Awesome
This is a CD that is not only unusual - Guitar but well worth having in your collection.