As Chopin observed: Nothing is better than a guitar, save perhaps two

Here are Julian Bream and John Williams playing the exquisite Suite for 2 Guitars by William Lawes.

Lawes was a 17th century composer, son of Thomas Lawes, a vicar choral at Salisbury Cathedral. He wrote quite a lot of secular and sacred music; this particular piece is probably among his best known compositions.

I saw Julian Bream in person in Cardiff in the late ‘60s; I confess, for me, the highlight of his performance was a mistake he made in something I was attempting to play at the time.

Interestingly, even though Bream and Williams are among the foremost classical guitarists of their generation, neither is a musical snob. Bream loved nothing better than to thump out some Django Reinhardt gypsy jazz with his mates and Williams has recorded many jazz and pop tunes.