Editing Scott Bradley (composer)

{{short description|American composer (1891–1977)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Scott Bradley
| image              = Scott Bradley circa 1930.jpg
| image_size         = 175
| caption            = Bradley, {{circa| 1930}}
| birth_name         = Walter Scott Bradley
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1891|11|26|mf=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Russellville, Arkansas]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1977|4|27|1891|11|26}}
| death_place        = [[Chatsworth, California]], U.S.
| spouse             = {{marriage|Myrtle Aber|1934}}
| occupation         = {{hlist |[[Composer]] | [[Arrangement|Arranger]]}}
| years_active       = 1931–1956
| employer           = [[Iwerks Studio|The Iwerks Studio]] (1931-1934)<br>[[Harman-Ising Productions]] (1934-1937)<br>[[MGM Cartoons]] (1937-1957)
| module             = {{Infobox musical artist |embed=yes
| genre               = {{hlist |[[Film score]] | [[Cartoon]]}}
}}
}}

'''Walter Scott Bradley''' (November 26, 1891&nbsp;– April 27, 1977) was an American composer, pianist, [[arrangement|arranger]], and conductor.

Bradley is best remembered for scoring [[MGM cartoon studio|MGM's theatrical cartoons]],<ref>[https://www.cartoonbrew.com/classic/scott-bradley-at-walter-lantz-14807.html Scott Bradley at Walter Lantz|Cartoon Brew]</ref> including those starring [[Tom and Jerry]], [[Barney Bear]], [[Screwy Squirrel]], [[Droopy]], [[George and Junior]] and many one-off cartoons.

== Biography ==

=== Early Life and Career ===
In an autobiographical sketch,<ref>Goldmark, Daniel (2005), "Tunes for 'Toons: Music and Hollywood Cartoons", University of California Press, p.&nbsp;46.</ref> Bradley noted that he began his career performing with and later conducting theatre orchestras in [[Houston, Texas]]. He studied organ and [[harmony]] with Horton Corbett, the choir director of [[Christ Church Cathedral (Houston)|Houston's Christ Church Cathedral]], but was "otherwise entirely self-taught in composition and orchestration." (Years later, when he was already established in Hollywood, he sought to improve his technique by studying privately with MGM colleague [[Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco]]).<ref>Goldmark, Daniel (2005), "Tunes for 'Toons: Music and Hollywood Cartoons", University of California Press, p.&nbsp;49.</ref> In 1926, Bradley moved to [[Los Angeles]] to conduct programs over KHJ Radio, an activity that led to his growing involvement in [[animation]] at the start of the [[Sound film|talkie]] era. He was a staff musician for [[Walt Disney]] (1929) and the [[Ub Iwerks]] studio (1930–1934), then became music director for [[Harman and Ising|Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising]], who were hired to produce cartoon shorts for MGM. After MGM established its own cartoon studio in 1937, Bradley was hired permanently and remained with the company for twenty years.

During the 1930s, Bradley also composed music for the concert hall, including the [[tone poem]]s ''The Valley of the White Poppies'' (1931), ''The Headless Horseman'' (1932), and the [[oratorio]] ''Thanatopsis'' (1934), based on the poem by [[William Cullen Bryant]]. His most notable success was ''Cartoonia'' (1938), a four-movement orchestral [[Suite (music)|suite]] of his MGM work, premiered by [[Pierre Monteux]] with the [[San Francisco Symphony]]. It was an early expression of Bradley's belief that cartoon music was an art form of great potential.<ref>Goldmark, Daniel (2005), "Tunes for 'Toons: Music and Hollywood Cartoons", University of California Press, p.&nbsp;50</ref>

As was common practice in scores for animation, Bradley's early style incorporated fragments of popular and traditional melodies. By the mid-1940s, however, his compositions and [[orchestration]]s had become more original and complex, occasionally utilizing the [[twelve-tone technique]] devised by [[Arnold Schoenberg]]; the first being the 1944 [[Tom and Jerry]] cartoon ''[[Puttin' on the Dog]]''. Other influences were [[Béla Bartók]], [[Igor Stravinsky]] and [[Paul Hindemith]]. ''[[Sight & Sound]]'' magazine quoted concertmaster Lou Raderman's mock complaint: "Scott writes the most ''blank-blank-blank'' difficult fiddle music in Hollywood … He is going to break my fingers!" <ref>Maltin, Leonard (1987), "Of Mice and Magic", Penguin Books.</ref> Bradley would also compose music for two MGM films, [[Courage of Lassie|''Courage of Lassie'']] (with [[Bronislau Kaper]], 1946) and [[The Yellow Cab Man|''The Yellow Cab Man'']] (1950).

Bradley expressed considerable pride in his "funny music" and believed scoring for animation offered far more possibilities to the composer than live-action films. About his score for MGM's ''Puttin' on the Dog'', he later wrote "I hope Dr. Schoenberg will forgive me for using his system to produce funny music, but even the boys in the orchestra laughed when we were recording it."<ref>{{cite book |last=Bradley |first=Scott |editor-last1=Goldmark |editor-first1=Daniel |editor-last2=Taylor |editor-first2=Yuval |title=The Cartoon Music Book |publisher=Chicago Review Press |date=November 1, 2002 |pages=115–120 |chapter=Music In Cartoons |isbn=978-1556524738}}</ref> The conductor [[Simon Rattle]] has specifically highlighted the influence of the Klaus-Narr passages in Schoenberg's ''[[Gurrelieder]]'' on Bradley's compositions.<ref>Interview with Holger Erdmann for liner notes of ''Gurrelieder'' (2002), EMI 7 24355 73032 9</ref>

While working on the with [[William Hanna]] and [[Joseph Barbera]], Bradley would often incorporate classical, pop, and jazz music in there [[Tom and Jerry]] shorts, on top of composing original melodies. He was, however, less fond working with [[Tex Avery]], who often encouraged Bradley to use old folk-tune music for cues akin to [[Warner Bros. Cartoons|Warner Bros]]. musician [[Carl Stalling]]. During an interview with Milton Grey, he said that "Tex Avery didn’t like my music. We disagreed a lot on what kind of music was appropriate for his cartoons. His ideas on music were so bad that I had to put a stop to it.... I gave in to him for a while, but finally I went down to see Quimby in his office and complained.... And Quimby backed me up."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yowp |date=2023-03-04 |title=Tralfaz: Praise For Scott Bradley |url=https://tralfaz.blogspot.com/2023/03/praise-for-scott-bradley.html |access-date=2025-05-10 |website=Tralfaz}}</ref> In 1954, MGM terminated his weekly contract but retained his services as a freelancer, paying him $1,000 per film. This arrangement lasted until MGM closed its cartoon department in 1957, after which Bradley retired. He died on April 27, 1977, in [[Chatsworth, Los Angeles|Chatsworth, California]], and is buried at Chatsworth's [[Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery]].

=== Legacy ===
By the late 1980s, Bradley's reputation had been overshadowed by that of Stalling, but experienced a resurgence at the start of the 21st century. The first Bradley soundtrack album, ''[[Tom and Jerry & Tex Avery Too!]]'', received a limited-edition release in 2006 and  the "Cartoonia" suite was revived in a performance by the [[Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra|Cleveland Youth Orchestra]] in 2012. The following year, "Tom and Jerry at MGM", a six-minute orchestral suite of Bradley cues reconstructed by Peter Morris and [[John Wilson (conductor)|John Wilson]], received its world premiere at a BBC [[The Proms|Proms]] concert in London. [[Simon Rattle]] chose also this suite for 2015 [[Waldbühne]] concert of the [[Berlin Philharmonic]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/concert/20456|title=Simon Rattle conducts film scores at the Waldbühne}}</ref> Rattle presented it again in June 2018 at his last subscription concert of the Berlin Philharmonic as a chief conductor.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/concert/51225|title=Krystian Zimerman and Simon Rattle perform Bernstein's "The Age of Anxiety"}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Bradley married Myrtle Aber on December 2, 1934, in a small ceremony.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jackson |first=Jane |date=December 5, 1934 |title=Society in Filmland: The Week in Review |pages=7 |work=Hollywood Citizen-News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-angeles-evening-citizen-news/134452765/ |url-status=live |access-date=November 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231101180342/https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-angeles-evening-citizen-news/134452765/ |archive-date=November 1, 2023 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* Goldmark, Daniel (2006): "Cartoon Concerto". Liner notes for ''Tom and Jerry & Tex Avery Too! Volume 1: The 1950s''. Film Score Monthly CD Vol. 9 No. 17.
* Goldmark, Daniel (2005): "Tunes for 'Toons: Music and Hollywood Cartoons." University of California Press.
* Goldmark, Daniel and Yuval Taylor (eds.) (2002): ''The Cartoon Music Book''. A Capella Books.
* Maltin, Leonard (1987): ''Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons''. Penguin Books.
* McCarty, Clifford (2000): ''Film Composers in America: a Filmography, 1911–1970''. Oxford University Press.
* Morris, Peter (2007): ''Playing Cat and Mouse'' in BBC Music Magazine, March 2007. p44-48. British Broadcasting Corporation.
* Morris, Peter (2016): ''Humour Between the Keys'' in ''Sounding Funny'' (2016). Equinox Publishing.

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|name=Scott Bradley|id=0005973}}
* {{Find a Grave|92271317}}
* {{Discogs artist|artist=Scott Bradley (2)}}
* [http://www.tomandjerryonline.com/bradley.cfm Bio at tomandjerryonline.com]
* [https://archive.today/20130117122937/http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=search&category2=&sval=scott+bradley&article_no=3379&page=2 Scott Bradley at Animation World Magazine]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180121051314/http://www.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm?ID=6436 "Tom and Jerry & Tex Avery Too! Vol. 1: The 1950s" (compilation)]
* {{YouTube|kYrUWfLlYI0|Video of "Tom and Jerry at MGM" premiere at the 2013 BBC Proms}}

{{Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Cartoons}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Scott}}
[[Category:1891 births]]
[[Category:1977 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Russellville, Arkansas]]
[[Category:American film score composers]]
[[Category:American male film score composers]]
[[Category:Animation composers]]
[[Category:Musicians from Arkansas]]
[[Category:20th-century American classical composers]]
[[Category:American male classical composers]]
[[Category:American music arrangers]]
[[Category:Burials at Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery]]
[[Category:People from Pope County, Arkansas]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio people]]
[[Category:American comedy musicians]]
[[Category:Humor in classical music]]