A biography for Julian Breamhasn’t been written yet.
“I do think there is a valid reason that Segovia commissioned the composers he did. He was very much a pioneer, and what he wanted was a very listenable repertory. But I'm interested in different aspects of the guitar, and of music.”
“The cult of the instrument is O.K. for people who are mad about the guitar. But I love music. The guitar is just the instrument I happen to play.”
“When I was 18, I went into the army as a payroll clerk because otherwise I was headed for Korea.”
“Some specialist guitar music is not of the highest intellectual calibre, so I must make it sound as though it is. If it bores me, it certainly won't please an audience.”
“I love playing jazz because I love the freedom you have to improvise. It has given me a feeling in my classical repertoire of creating the atmosphere of the here and now.”
“I much rather coach a string quartet in an interpretation of Haydn or Beethoven than to teach the guitar.”
“Some composers end up writing for the guitar as they would write piano music or, more often, harp music. It isn't the same.”
“I've always played a lot of Spanish music, but not as much as most guitarists do.”
“I don't mean this to sound pretentious but I think that artists of all kinds are a rung up the ladder of the spiritual heirarchy, and for me there is something very religious about music.”
“I was born understanding the language of music.”
“Segovia was a Spaniard and it seemed natural that he should play the guitar.”
“When my father saw that I was interested in following such a career he had many reservations. His feeling was that there was no chance to earn a livelihood unless I played jazz or something similar.”
“You have to be serious, and you must have a constantly inquiring mind. But I find it's new music that really stretches me, both technically and as an interpreter.”
“Guitar was just a hobby, but it seemed to me that the instrument had possibilities, not least of which was that there was no one else playing it. I could be, as it were, the best boy in an all-girls school.”
“You're never static as a performer. You either get better or you get worse. As I see it, you have an equal chance at either.”
“Midwesterners make good audiences.”
“It takes a lifetime and a half to master the classical guitar.”
“Michael Berkeley's 'Sonata' is very - what can you say - melodious.”
“I think that Bach has a very nice sound on the lute. But I find that what I want to do with Bach is best revealed on the guitar.”
“I have cut away what I call the excess stuff in my life.”