Heroes: An interview with Bruce Broughton

Hi everyone and welcome to the latest edition of The Brass Band Hog. You don't need me to say that there is a lot of uncertainty going on in the world at the moment. This week Kapitol promotions released a statement to say that, as of the time being, no decision has been made on the British National Finals scheduled for later in the year. We will have to watch this space. Should things settle down and the Championship Section take place, the test piece will be Heroes by legendary composer Bruce Broughton. I have been privileged to catch up with him from his home in Los Angeles to talk about Heroes, himself, and music in general. 

BBH: Bruce, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer a few questions for The Brass Band Hog. 

About you: 

BBH: Like so many brass band players here in the UK and perhaps worldwide, your early musical journey was perhaps influenced by The Salvation Army. How do you think this organisation and its association with music helped to shape your career as a composer/arranger? 

BB: I'm sure that anyone who knows my background and knows SA music can probably hear the influences. I've learned a lot since those days, but I think that banding especially gave me a sense of how to write for instruments, as well as a good sense of strong melody, proper harmony and sonority.

BBH: Were there any Salvation Army musicians/composers in particular who you would say were your early influences? If there are, what conversation might you have with them today? 

BB: I studied privately for several years with Emil Soderstrom. He was often very tough, but knew what he was looking for in my work. However, I (and he) persevered, and I can point to the beginning of my compositional technique under his influence. I would very much like to have a conversation with him now. He was quite perceptive about people and had a very funny and very unique sense of humor, which I miss. 

Additionally, I think that anyone who ever played in a British style brass band had to be influenced by Eric Ball. He had a very special ear for what he wanted to hear. I once spent an hour talking with a non-SA English guy, a Hollywood arranger, about Eric's style. He, like me, had grown up playing in brass bands. We had a lot of similar feelings and appreciation for Eric's special sound and musicality.

BBH: For many, writing for music to support worship and/or to create an atmosphere for praise or prayer might feel a million miles away from a blockbuster film score. Would you agree? What do you think the key similarities and differences might be? 

BB: In both cases, the music is setting a tone. Music is in a film to help "tell the story." Music in a religious setting is used very much the same way. It gets in and works where the words don't always.

BBH: Hollywood music scores are almost entirely constructed around and within a very 'Westernised' musical context. Could we add something more to our appreciation of film and/or TV scores by broadening this context? 

BB: I'm not sure what you mean by "westernized," unless you're referring to the history of western music. Lately, partly due to non-schooled composers, film music has begun to assimilate a lot of different styles and techniques, many of which are quite effective, and some of which are quite naïve. It has to be kept in mind that Hollywood is a commercial business and tries always to make money (remember the term "show business"). Any way that a story can be helped by any sort of music that seems commercially unique and still relevant will likely be tried. Many of us write in many different styles. It's like going to a department store and buying different kinds of clothing. If you only produce one style, you'll quickly be out of work.

BBH: Is there any composition of yours that you particularly enjoy listening to? Can you share with us why and what it is that draws you to this music? 

BB: There are a few pieces of mine, not necessarily movie things, that I like. But if I were to tell anyone which piece is a "favorite" (and I don't have a favorite), it wouldn't necessarily be meaningful to anyone else. Usually, the things I like in one of my pieces has more to do with the time and circumstances of its composition. I have often had people tell me they like such and such a piece of mine, and I can only be appreciative. But I don't always know why? I don't think any composer could really tell anyone else what his/her "best piece" was. But they know the ones that are most popular. 

BBH: When you start out with a new composition do you have a familiar structure and style? Do you mind sharing something of this process? 

BB: Most often, when I begin a piece, I don't have much idea of what it's going to become. The style is most reliant upon what I think I want to say with the combination I'm working with. For instance, I have a piece for tuba and cello that is stylistically nothing like my sonata for tuba and piano. I might have an idea of what I'd like to write, but often there's something else at work that has a different idea. But I generally start with some sort of an idea and then just begin plowing ahead. 

Sometimes I have no strong musical idea in mind and have to find it. At other times, the idea is too basic to use in the version it arrives in and I have to work with it until I have something really useful. Other times, the idea shows up suddenly like a gift. When I'm done (unless it's a commercial piece that has a deadline attached), I'll go through it again and repair things that weren't properly done the first time through. I may have second thoughts or ideas, or I may see something I missed earlier. In other words, I edit my pieces a lot and do it as ruthlessly as I can. Sometimes I cut several measures or an entire section; other times I add a few bars for the sake of timing; sometimes I will improve a voicing or simply fix something that seems boring or dumb or doesn't belong to this particular piece. I generally know when I'm done with the editing. After that, the piece is on its own. 

It's very similar to how authors, poets and other artists work. It's not a matter of angels singing into one's ear. It's real work. 

BBH: What are the differences and similarities in scoring for orchestra, wind band and brass band? Recognising that orchestral compositions have brought you enormous success and recognition, do you have a preference for any? 

BB: I like them all, but I probably like working with orchestras the most, since there are far more instrumental colors to explore. Having a string section makes it possible to be truly expressive. But I enjoy wind bands and brass bands, as well, and look for as much sonic variety in both of them as I can. I also like chamber pieces, works for specific combinations. It's much more personal than that great mass of sound one gets with a band or large orchestra.

Heroes 

BBH: Noting that the forthcoming test piece Heroes was dedicated to Nicholas Childs and the Black Dyke Band, what were the parameters that you were asked to work within? 

BB: In this case, since I was really writing it for Black Dyke, Nick was very specific in what he was looking for. In fact, he sent me an outline of what he'd like the actual piece to be. These were suggestions, not demands. My first version was very long and he recommended places in which I could whittle it down some. I don't think you can get away from working with Nick without getting his input and suggestions; but I didn't mind these at all, because they made sense. And, after all, it was a piece for his band. I'm happy with the way it turned out. 

BBH: If you had been commissioned to write this music specifically as a brass band contest test piece, what might you have done differently? 

BB: I might have composed in a different style, or simply have done something different harmonically or thematically. It's hard to say. But I wouldn't mind finding out at some point, however. I'd like to think of Heroes and much of my earlier brass music as being a good start. 

BBH: What challenges will this piece of music create for bands in comparison to test pieces from recent years? 

BB: I don't know enough about test pieces to answer this. I've heard a few other pieces and know they're all challenging. Many of them simply take your breath away, technically. 

BBH: Assuming that the current global Coronavirus pandemic allows, are you planning on being at the Royal Albert Hall for the brass band finals in October? What one thing would you like to leave with having heard from each band? 

BB: I haven't booked the flight yet, but I'm hopeful the finals will take place when they're supposed to. As for hearing all the performances, I can't imagine what that will be like. I'm generally not fond of hearing a piece of mine played more than once or twice, especially if it's a good performance. On the other hand, I would be interested to hear what each band brings to it. That's the great thing about listening to a piece of yours conducted and performed by someone else: you begin to hear things that you never heard or really even thought about before. A good example was Bram Tovey's first performance of my Masters of Space and Time in Manchester a few years back. He led a terrifically exciting performance, which made the piece really shine and made me think it was better than I had previously thought. 

BBH: If there was one piece of advice to share with each MD and each band regarding Heroes, what might it be? 

BB: Don't be too stiff with the notes or worry about correctness. Try to connect with the audience while trying to win the prize. It's a piece of music to be enjoyed by an audience as well as the players. I know the technical standards of the bands are incredibly high. I've heard several brass bands play with intensity and feeling, aiming the performance right at the audience, meanwhile zeroing in on all of the notes. Pretty exciting. 

BBH: Having listened to Heroes (a piece that I loved from the first time that I heard it) it has the sense and the sound of a film score. If you agree that this is the case, was this a conscious intent? Would you mind sharing something of the creative process for this music? 

BB: This wasn't something I tried to do. I did try to write in a style that was appropriate for what I was doing, however. While I was working on it, my oldest boy thought that the music sounded like music from a video game. I think he needs to listen to more music, although he thought he was being complementary. Nonetheless, I did try to write a piece that would reach an audience directly and emotionally. So, perhaps in that way it sounds a bit like a film score. 

BBH British brass bands have a reputation for being somewhat conservative in their approach to music making – especially on the contest stage (some might suggest 'old fashioned'). How can bands optimise their performances of this highly descriptive and energy filled scoring? 

BB: This is probably what I meant above by saying "don't be too stiff . . . or worry about correctness." I think every composer would like to hear the notes that were written. But I have composer friends who think that if they hear a clean reading, they've heard a performance. I've learned from my wife, a violinist, that a "performance" is very different from a "reading." As an example, I have two recordings of the Dvorak cello concerto, each one played by the same soloist, but with a different conductor and orchestra. One of the performances bores me to tears, while the other one makes me think this is the greatest cello concerto every written. So I'd like my pieces to be played like the latter.

The Future 

BBH: Unlike in the US, music and more extensively The Arts in general have been somewhat neglected in the last couple of decades. Music in schools (and especially extra-curricular music activities) has almost disappeared and yet, in these trying times of global 'lock down' many people (of all ages) have turned to music and other creative arts to help them get through. Why do you think this is? 

BB: I'm honestly surprised you begin with "unlike in the US." I think this country has always been backwards and generally unsupportive of the Arts. I have found that young composers who were trained in the UK have in general a very musical substantial education. I have a few film composer friends, John Powell, for example, who are very well skilled; and there are others. 

The reason to turn to music during times like the present is probably no different than the reason anyone turns to music at any time. Music is ineffable. My life would be considerably poorer without it. But all of the Arts contribute in some way to man's well-being. After all, Art originates in the very metabolism of the creator, and here I mean the actual man or woman who has given birth to it. When you listen to Bach, for instance, you are truly listening to Bach, although he's been gone for almost 300 years. Art gives comfort, emotional support, a human connection or a simple "feel good" experience unlike anything else. 

BBH: If you believe that music can have a positive impact on peoples' health and well being what advice would you give to policy makers and educational strategists for future curriculum design? 

BB: Include the Arts as much as sports and more than politics. Without contact with and an appreciation for the Arts, life and/or an education is incomplete. 

BBH: Is there a piece of music that you regret not writing – or that you haven't yet had the opportunity to write? What might this music look and sound like? 

BB: I'm not done yet. 

BBH: If you could choose one ensemble to play one of your compositions at any venue throughout the world, what they each be – and why? 

BB: As long as the performers can understand and perform the music so that the audience can be moved, I don't mind which ensemble plays what. 

BBH: And finally having read your biography and your early days as a musician what advice would you give today to your 12 year old self? 

BB: When I was 12, I thought I was going to be an animator. It was my biggest passion, but I was mistaken. There are some people who know what they want to do when they are 12, but I think for the most of us it's enough to simply keep learning and trying out things. Some people take a very long time to find out what they're about. It took me a long time. I went into music because it was familiar and I couldn't think of anything else to do. It turned out to be a good decision. Now, many years past the age of 12, I can look back and see that being open to the idea of being a composer took me into many really interesting adventures, musically and personally. And, by the way, my early passion with animation and my enthusiasm for Walt Disney led me to work on a lot of Disney animation as well as a lot of wide-ranging Disney projects. So, in a sense, my early passion continued to be connected to my future. No one is disconnected from their youth; they only think they're disconnected to their future. As it turns out, no one is disconnected from either. 

So, if I were to meet my 12-year old self now, I would encourage him to be adventurous. Try out everything. Be brave, curious to explore, master the old and search out the new.

BBH: Thank you once again Bruce, it's been great catching up with you.