Bro did you hear? Julian Bream just died!
from Sao Paolo my brother phoned me
knowing I'd want to know
Bream, the genial English prodigy
who opened up the world of Dowland's dances
pavans, galliards, almains, corrantos jigges,
music for seven and eight-course lute
embodying the wit, the grace the rich vitality
of that now distant age we call Elizabethan
the age Shakespeare bestrode
like some colossus

Bream's mastery was stunning
yet his manner made you feel included
not just receptive audience but deeply sharing
in the joy of making music
his own wit often matched
that of composer
"I'll now play Tarleton's Riserrectione
followed by The Lady Clifton's Spirit"

If there's a heaven Julian is there
I hear him playing Dowland's Melancholy
Galliard and Come Again Sweet Love
Without his music how could it be heaven!