Classical and Spanish guitar virtuoso Julian Bream was probably the only instrumentalist of his generation to match the extraordinary talent of his contemporary John Williams among the artists who popularised the music, as well as exploring the potential of the lute in interpreting historical works for that much-ignored instrument.

Inspired by jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, he proved something of a child prodigy, studying at the Royal College of Music, and made his concert debut in 1947 at the age of 13. Bream’s playing can be characterised as virtuosic and highly expressive, with an eye for details, and with strong use of contrasting timbres. He did not consistently hold his right-hand fingers at right angles to the strings, but used a less rigid hand position for tonal variety.

This 58-track collection comprises the complete contents of five of his early albums, Spanish Guitar Music Vol.1, Spanish Guitar Music Vol.2, A Bach Recital For The Guitar, and Julian Bream Plays Dowland, on which he plays the lute, for the Westminster label and The Art Of Julian Bream for RCA. These include pieces played on the guitar composed by Fernando Sor, Joaquin Turina, Manuel de Falla, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Federico Moreno Torroba, J. S. Bach, Girolamo Frescobald, Mateo Albéniz, Domenico Scarlatti, Domenico Cimarosa, Domenico Cimarosa, Lennox Berkeley, Joaquín Rodrigo, Maurice Ravel, Albert Roussel, and lute compositions by John Dowland.

All recorded between 1956 and 1959, the tracks which appear here demonstrate his highly-developed talent and expertise from the earliest days of his recording career.

TRACKS