Scott Bradley

Infobox musical artist
Name = Scott Bradley

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Background = non_performing_personnel
Birth_name = Scott Bradley
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Born = birth date|1891|11|26|mf=y
Died = death date and age|1977|4|27|1891|11|26
Origin = Russellville, Arkansas, USA
Instrument = Piano
Genre = Film score, Soundtrack
Occupation = Composer, Arranger
Years_active = 1930-1957
Label = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
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Scott Bradley (November 26, 1891 - April 27, 1977) in was an American composer, pianist and conductor.

Bradley is most famous for scoring the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) theatrical cartoons, including those starring Tom and Jerry, Droopy Dog, Barney Bear, and the many one-shot works of Tex Avery.

Bradley was a conservatory-trained composer and English horn player who studied under Arnold Schoenberg. He first composed cartoon scores in the early 1930s for Ub Iwerks, a former Disney animator who had opened his own animation studio the year before. In 1934, Bradley began composing for Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising, who were producing cartoon shorts for MGM. After MGM established its own cartoon studio in 1937, Bradley was hired permanently, and he remained with MGM until his retirement. His early style incorporated fragments of popular and traditional melodies, as was common practice in scores for animation. However, by the late 1940s, Bradley's compositions and orchestrations had become original and complex, often utilizing the twelve-tone technique devised by his teacher, Schoenberg. "Scott writes the most "blank-blank-blank" difficult fiddle music in Hollywood," concertmaster Lou Raderman was quoted (complaining good-naturedly) in "Sight & Sound" magazine. "He is going to break my fingers."

Bradley expressed considerable pride in his "funny music" and believed scoring for animation offered far more possibilities to the serious composer than live-action films.

Bradley retired in 1957 when MGM closed its cartoon department. He passed away on April 27, 1977 in Chatsworth, California.

References

* 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 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.