Harold Bradley (pianist)
Encyclopedia
James Harold Bradley (Mar 4, 1906 – Nov. 10, 1984), was a pianist
and the Founder and Principal of the Bradley Institute for Music Education Research.
As a boy, Harold worked in his father’s grocery store and played baseball, where he earned the life-long nickname “Scoop”. His father was a well-known baseball player, and determined that a professional baseball career was best for Bradley. At the age of 16, he was taken to Toronto by Harold "Touch" Wood, who assured him a professional contract at the end of his first year in college. He attended Simcoe Street Public School and Niagara Falls Collegiate and Vocational Institute.
His career in music began at the age of 12, when he got his first job playing the organ in the Anglican Church in the village of Chippawa, Ontario
, and later playing jazz with a dance orchestra in Niagara Falls, Ontario
, at the age of 14.
At 16, Harold moved to Toronto
to begin a bachelor’s degree in the arts course at Trinity College, University of Toronto
, and to pursue a career in baseball as third baseman for the Toronto Wellingtons
. Following his first year at university, Bradley returned to Niagara Falls in the summer of 1923, where he earned $45 a week playing the theatre organ – one of the newly designed Wurlitzer
s – at the renovated Queen Theatre in Niagara Falls.
It was at this time that Harold met the renowned John Pierce Langs, a pianist and composer living in Niagara Falls, NY, who became a life-long friend. Langs had studied under Edward MacDowell
in New York, Liebling in Germany, and several other famous teachers in Europe.
Back in Toronto, Bradley met the pianist Mark Hambourg
, and Mark’s younger brothers Jan and Boris. The Hambourgs convinced Bradley that he couldn’t play baseball in the winter and that he ought to develop his musical talent. With the Hambourgs, he began playing concerts at Massey Hall under the auspices of the Hambourg Concert Society and earned a reputation as a concert pianist of note.
At 17, he was an assistant conductor of the Canadian Opera Festival company under Reginald Stewart, and began lessons under Mark Hambourg. He graduated from the university at age 20 and was encouraged to go to Oxford University in Britain to pursue a view of literature and the arts through music.
at Oxford. His application was successful, and in the spring of 1930 Bradley made plans to travel to the UK on the ocean-liner Olympic. On board the Olympic, Harold was pressed into playing a teatime concert for fellow guests. After the concert, he was approached by the great bass baritone Edmund Burke and his wife, who would become a second family for Bradley during his stay in Europe and for years after.
It was en route to Oxford on board the Olympic
that Harold made the fateful decision to detour to Paris. His friend Reginald Stewart had offered to introduce Harold to the famous French pianist and music teacher Isidor Philipp
. Philipp’s studio was in his home, where he lived with his sister, near the Conservatoire in Paris. The day that Bradley visited, Philipp was meeting with his close friend Polish-American pianist Leopold Godowsky
, playing with him on the Erard piano in his studio. After Godowsky’s visit, Harold played and Philipp agreed to teach him.
Harold immediately gave up his plans to study at Oxford and committed to staying in Paris. He found lodgings with a Russian couple at the Place L’Alma, and commenced lessons with Philipp, who charged $14 an hour, the equivalent of about 350 francs. In Paris, Harold’s friendship with the Burkes blossomed. It was through the Burkes that he made the acquaintance of various European diplomats and entered the elite social world of the Paris artists.
In 1932, Bradley received news that his mother had suffered a heart attack, and he returned to Niagara Falls, Canada. He spent the next three years traveling between London, New York, and Paris, playing concerts and developing his ideas about music education.
ness in piano instruction, which ultimately connected music to psychology and the work of the American doctor Norman Gibson, became a foundational part of this pedagogy. As his theories of music education developed, Bradley became less and less interested in teaching budding concert pianists, and more interested in teaching music teachers how to teach.
In 1936, Harold married Shirley Upper, a friend he had known since childhood. In 1939, they had a son, James Michael.
In addition to his teaching during the war years, Bradley performed a series of weekly radio concerts, often joined by his friend John Pierce Langs, that were broadcast live from WHLD
radio station in Niagara Falls, NY. Over the course of three seasons, consisting of forty weeks each, the pair played through much of the classical repertoire of two-piano pieces.
. It was the only school that Philipp allowed his name to be associated with, and it reflected his approach to music. Grace Barnes, an early student of both Bradley’s and Philipp’s, became a teacher at the school, and together with Deryck Aird, the three worked to promote the principles established by Philipp and Bradley.
Bradley continued to play and teach, and served on the Niagara Falls Board of Education for 24 consecutive years.
Harold Bradley died in 1984. His school, The Bradley Institute for Music Education Research in Niagara Falls, Ontario, continued to operate and teach students until 2008. Grace Barnes, Deryck Aird, Carolyn Goerzen and Ruth Johnston continued teaching until the closing of the school.
Bradley's students included Grace Barnes (President of the Bradley Institute 1984-2008), Estelle Siefert, Patricia Minnes, Karen Bredin, Sandra Burrus, Steven Bianchi (Founder and Director of The Amherst School of Music), Lyn Celenza Dyster, Randall Reade, Charlene Aird, Laurie Mango, Wayne Breloff, Doug Monroe, Glen Tilyou, Ken Atkinson, Rivoli Iesulauro, Carolyn (Thomas) Goerzen (President of the Bradley Institute 2008-), Paul Dyster (Mayor of Niagara Falls, NY), Dennis Kucherawy, Jay Bianchi, Lois Vaughan, Carole J. Harris, Gretchen Heyroth Burrus and recording artist Marcangelo Perricelli.
Bradley chose Grace Barnes, a student of both Phillip and Bradley, to assembled a team of experts who put the children through testing and found that children can absorb music and begin formal studies before the age of 18 months, and would soon be able to play and sing in tune. She further found that nobody is absolutely unmusical, "for if you are taught to develop your sense of hearing early enough, you become musical. Unmusical persona are merely those who have not had the opportunity to develop their ability.
Bradley's researchers, headed up by Grace Barnes, concluded that "When children have reached the age of two, they have learned the hardest of all: to walk and talk. In so doing, they have expended a tremendous amount of energy but after that, there is no demand upon that energy until they reach school age. These are the years that should be used by means of music to perpetuate this struggling upward and prevent the wonderful forces the organism has developed from falling into decay through disuse. Musical children develop a better intelligence, for they have been taught to use their brains."
The interviewer asked Bradley what was the most important discovery from his research, and he quoted Plato's thoughts that music molds character and leads the soul toward a disposition to justice. Expanding up on that, Bradley added, "Music can best serve its purpose in education as a means to a greater end, the building of character. Used wisely it will produce unfailing self-discipline in the highest degree, reliability, genuine consideration for others and a built-in tolerance against that which is unjust. Above all, a compulsion to put into action that which one believes and feels to be right and just."
Contemporaneous to that interview, Bradley was also interviewed by E. H. Lampard for another newspaper. Bradley stated that he began his association with Philipp in 1930 that lasted until Philipp's death in 1958. Philipp chose Bradley to carry on his great tradition of musical learning because Bradley's Institute "had done the greatest service to piano music in our time." The Institute began its research through Dr. Norman Gibson, who indicated that a string program should be a part of the Institute. John Corigliano, Sr., and Deryck Aird directed this program, and Grace Barnes directed the preschool and piano education field.
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and the Founder and Principal of the Bradley Institute for Music Education Research.
Early life
Bradley was born James Harold Bradley, the only son of James Clark Bradley, a grocery store owner in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, and his wife, Madge Marsland Bradley.As a boy, Harold worked in his father’s grocery store and played baseball, where he earned the life-long nickname “Scoop”. His father was a well-known baseball player, and determined that a professional baseball career was best for Bradley. At the age of 16, he was taken to Toronto by Harold "Touch" Wood, who assured him a professional contract at the end of his first year in college. He attended Simcoe Street Public School and Niagara Falls Collegiate and Vocational Institute.
His career in music began at the age of 12, when he got his first job playing the organ in the Anglican Church in the village of Chippawa, Ontario
Chippawa, Ontario
Chippawa is a community located within the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario.The village was founded in 1850, and became part of the City of Niagara Falls, Ontario by amalgamation in 1970. It is located on the Canadian shore of the Niagara River about 2 km upstream from Niagara Falls. It is...
, and later playing jazz with a dance orchestra in Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls is a Canadian city on the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. The municipality was incorporated on June 12, 1903...
, at the age of 14.
At 16, Harold moved to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
to begin a bachelor’s degree in the arts course at Trinity College, University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, and to pursue a career in baseball as third baseman for the Toronto Wellingtons
Toronto Wellingtons
The Toronto Wellingtons were one of the first amateur men's ice hockey teams in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They were active around 1900, and are notable for challenging for the Stanley Cup as Ontario champions of 1902....
. Following his first year at university, Bradley returned to Niagara Falls in the summer of 1923, where he earned $45 a week playing the theatre organ – one of the newly designed Wurlitzer
Wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to simply as Wurlitzer, was an American company that produced stringed instruments, woodwinds, brass instruments, theatre organs, band organs, orchestrions, electronic organs, electric pianos and jukeboxes....
s – at the renovated Queen Theatre in Niagara Falls.
It was at this time that Harold met the renowned John Pierce Langs, a pianist and composer living in Niagara Falls, NY, who became a life-long friend. Langs had studied under Edward MacDowell
Edward MacDowell
Edward Alexander MacDowell was an American composer and pianist of the Romantic period. He was best known for his second piano concerto and his piano suites "Woodland Sketches", "Sea Pieces", and "New England Idylls". "Woodland Sketches" includes his most popular short piece, "To a Wild Rose"...
in New York, Liebling in Germany, and several other famous teachers in Europe.
Back in Toronto, Bradley met the pianist Mark Hambourg
Mark Hambourg
Mark Hambourg was a distinguished Russian-British concert pianist, among the most famous of his age.- Life :Mark Hambourg was the eldest son of the pianist Michael Hambourg , and was brother of the cellist Boris Hambourg and the violinist Jan Hambourg , and of the musical organiser Clement...
, and Mark’s younger brothers Jan and Boris. The Hambourgs convinced Bradley that he couldn’t play baseball in the winter and that he ought to develop his musical talent. With the Hambourgs, he began playing concerts at Massey Hall under the auspices of the Hambourg Concert Society and earned a reputation as a concert pianist of note.
At 17, he was an assistant conductor of the Canadian Opera Festival company under Reginald Stewart, and began lessons under Mark Hambourg. He graduated from the university at age 20 and was encouraged to go to Oxford University in Britain to pursue a view of literature and the arts through music.
Paris years
At the end of Bradley’s fourth year at the University of Toronto, he befriended a young Oxford professor visiting Toronto, who encouraged him to apply to study English LiteratureEnglish literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
at Oxford. His application was successful, and in the spring of 1930 Bradley made plans to travel to the UK on the ocean-liner Olympic. On board the Olympic, Harold was pressed into playing a teatime concert for fellow guests. After the concert, he was approached by the great bass baritone Edmund Burke and his wife, who would become a second family for Bradley during his stay in Europe and for years after.
It was en route to Oxford on board the Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
that Harold made the fateful decision to detour to Paris. His friend Reginald Stewart had offered to introduce Harold to the famous French pianist and music teacher Isidor Philipp
Isidor Philipp
Isidor Philipp was a French pianist, composer, and distinguished pedagogue of Hungarian descent. He was born in Budapest and died in Paris.-Biography:...
. Philipp’s studio was in his home, where he lived with his sister, near the Conservatoire in Paris. The day that Bradley visited, Philipp was meeting with his close friend Polish-American pianist Leopold Godowsky
Leopold Godowsky
Leopold Godowsky was a famed Polish American pianist, composer, and teacher. One of the most highly regarded performers of his time, he became known for his theories concerning the application of relaxed weight and economy of motion in piano playing, principles later propagated by Godowsky's...
, playing with him on the Erard piano in his studio. After Godowsky’s visit, Harold played and Philipp agreed to teach him.
Harold immediately gave up his plans to study at Oxford and committed to staying in Paris. He found lodgings with a Russian couple at the Place L’Alma, and commenced lessons with Philipp, who charged $14 an hour, the equivalent of about 350 francs. In Paris, Harold’s friendship with the Burkes blossomed. It was through the Burkes that he made the acquaintance of various European diplomats and entered the elite social world of the Paris artists.
In 1932, Bradley received news that his mother had suffered a heart attack, and he returned to Niagara Falls, Canada. He spent the next three years traveling between London, New York, and Paris, playing concerts and developing his ideas about music education.
Later years
One of Bradley’s greatest accomplishments was in taking the principles that Philipp used in his teaching, and tailoring them for the instruction of very young students. He believed strongly that music could be used as a way to teach pre-verbal infants how to think, and that music could be used to inculcate the principles of math, science and art, and to instill a life-long interest in intellectual development and culture. His work on the role of right- and left-handedLeft-handed
Left-handedness is the preference for the left hand over the right for everyday activities such as writing. In ancient times it was seen as a sign of the devil, and was abhorred in many cultures...
ness in piano instruction, which ultimately connected music to psychology and the work of the American doctor Norman Gibson, became a foundational part of this pedagogy. As his theories of music education developed, Bradley became less and less interested in teaching budding concert pianists, and more interested in teaching music teachers how to teach.
In 1936, Harold married Shirley Upper, a friend he had known since childhood. In 1939, they had a son, James Michael.
In addition to his teaching during the war years, Bradley performed a series of weekly radio concerts, often joined by his friend John Pierce Langs, that were broadcast live from WHLD
WHLD
WHLD is an AM radio station licensed to Niagara Falls, New York with an adult standards format. The station resides at 1270 kHz on the dial and is owned by Citadel Communications.-History and programming:...
radio station in Niagara Falls, NY. Over the course of three seasons, consisting of forty weeks each, the pair played through much of the classical repertoire of two-piano pieces.
The Bradley Institute for Music Education Research
In the 1970s, Bradley’s school of music was formalized and the Bradley Institute for Music Education Research emerged with the purpose of developing young minds through music educationMusic education
Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
. It was the only school that Philipp allowed his name to be associated with, and it reflected his approach to music. Grace Barnes, an early student of both Bradley’s and Philipp’s, became a teacher at the school, and together with Deryck Aird, the three worked to promote the principles established by Philipp and Bradley.
Bradley continued to play and teach, and served on the Niagara Falls Board of Education for 24 consecutive years.
Harold Bradley died in 1984. His school, The Bradley Institute for Music Education Research in Niagara Falls, Ontario, continued to operate and teach students until 2008. Grace Barnes, Deryck Aird, Carolyn Goerzen and Ruth Johnston continued teaching until the closing of the school.
Bradley's students included Grace Barnes (President of the Bradley Institute 1984-2008), Estelle Siefert, Patricia Minnes, Karen Bredin, Sandra Burrus, Steven Bianchi (Founder and Director of The Amherst School of Music), Lyn Celenza Dyster, Randall Reade, Charlene Aird, Laurie Mango, Wayne Breloff, Doug Monroe, Glen Tilyou, Ken Atkinson, Rivoli Iesulauro, Carolyn (Thomas) Goerzen (President of the Bradley Institute 2008-), Paul Dyster (Mayor of Niagara Falls, NY), Dennis Kucherawy, Jay Bianchi, Lois Vaughan, Carole J. Harris, Gretchen Heyroth Burrus and recording artist Marcangelo Perricelli.
Teaching and research
In a 1969 interview with the "St. Catharine's Standard," a local Ontario newspaper, Bradley said that Philipp in 1930 pointed out that practically everyone plays best with their right hand and has great difficulty developing the left hand technique, even if a left-handed person. Bradley decided that it might be interesting to give equal emphasis upon both hands from the very start of piano lessons. For the rest of his life, he explored this possibility and its results. "It was demonstrated that when children had an early start at the piano and the demands on both hands were equal, both sides of the brain developed equally and a well balanced personality resulted. During these observations it was also discovered that children can learn music at a very early age, even before learning anything else of value."Bradley chose Grace Barnes, a student of both Phillip and Bradley, to assembled a team of experts who put the children through testing and found that children can absorb music and begin formal studies before the age of 18 months, and would soon be able to play and sing in tune. She further found that nobody is absolutely unmusical, "for if you are taught to develop your sense of hearing early enough, you become musical. Unmusical persona are merely those who have not had the opportunity to develop their ability.
Bradley's researchers, headed up by Grace Barnes, concluded that "When children have reached the age of two, they have learned the hardest of all: to walk and talk. In so doing, they have expended a tremendous amount of energy but after that, there is no demand upon that energy until they reach school age. These are the years that should be used by means of music to perpetuate this struggling upward and prevent the wonderful forces the organism has developed from falling into decay through disuse. Musical children develop a better intelligence, for they have been taught to use their brains."
The interviewer asked Bradley what was the most important discovery from his research, and he quoted Plato's thoughts that music molds character and leads the soul toward a disposition to justice. Expanding up on that, Bradley added, "Music can best serve its purpose in education as a means to a greater end, the building of character. Used wisely it will produce unfailing self-discipline in the highest degree, reliability, genuine consideration for others and a built-in tolerance against that which is unjust. Above all, a compulsion to put into action that which one believes and feels to be right and just."
Contemporaneous to that interview, Bradley was also interviewed by E. H. Lampard for another newspaper. Bradley stated that he began his association with Philipp in 1930 that lasted until Philipp's death in 1958. Philipp chose Bradley to carry on his great tradition of musical learning because Bradley's Institute "had done the greatest service to piano music in our time." The Institute began its research through Dr. Norman Gibson, who indicated that a string program should be a part of the Institute. John Corigliano, Sr., and Deryck Aird directed this program, and Grace Barnes directed the preschool and piano education field.