Tony Spano, Jr. interviews Bruce Babcock
preceding the world premier of his new work Trio, for Clarinet, Viola and Piano, first staged by Pacific Serenades, who commissioned the work, with performances on March 6, 7 and 16, 2004.
Bruce Babcock Profile
By Tony Spano, Jr.
Pacific Serenades is pleased to welcome Bruce Babcock to our family of composers. His new work, Trio, for clarinet, viola, and piano, premieres on our upcoming concerts March 6, 7, and 16. The program includes works by Brahms, Bartok, and Bruch. In our conversation for this profile, Bruce told me, “I am very pleased to be the fourth B on the program.” Bruce added that, “My goal has never been to invent a new language, but to write well in whatever musical language is most appropriate for the circumstances. The one I've chosen for this piece is very tonal, though not neo-romantic.”
Bruce was born in Pasadena, and grew up in Santa Barbara. With a mother who was a choral singer at the famed St. Olaf College, and a father who was a clarinetist, Bruce's early musical development included studies of clarinet with George Rowe, retired clarinetist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and alto saxophone with William Calkins at CSUN. He was a member of the All-California High School Orchestra, and
received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts
degrees in music composition from CSU, Northridge.
”My first compositions were for jazz band,” Bruce told me. “I began playing alto sax in junior high school and
eventually I planned to attend Northridge and play in their top jazz band, the "A" Band.” The summer before starting college, Bruce began studying composition with Paul Glass in Los Angeles. Glass, a graduate of USC, where his mentor was Ingolf Dahl, had studied extensively in Europe with, among others, Lutoslawski. He was an active film composer who also taught privately.
"I learned more from him than I ever learned from any other teacher,” Bruce shared with me. “I also studied with Hugo
Friedhofer, who won an Academy Award for the score to The Best Years of Our Lives in 1946. They often had musical evenings at their homes, where their students would record their compositions with some of the best studio players in L.A. On other evenings, a group of 10-12 of us would gather to study scores. So I did end up at CSUN in the "A" Band, but I had now a new found love of the orchestra, and of film music."
While still a CSUN student, Babcock won a Young Musicians
Foundation competition for his composition, Music for String Orchestra, which was premièred by Calvin Simmons and
the YMF orchestra. After teaching at the college level in Southern California for two years, Bruce decided to focus on composing for film.
”Being a film composer is like being a chameleon,”
Bruce explained. “Being able to write in a variety of styles, and then knowing that what you write is going to be played and recorded by great musicians in a few days is very exciting.” During his years in film, Bruce didn't have much time for composing concert music. As computers and pop music influences made orchestral scoring in television less common, his interest in returning to concert music grew. Bruce told me that, “After working in the business all this time, I've known so many great musicians that I could write music for. In 2001 I was asked by Rick Todd, director of the horn program at USC, to write a piece for horn ensemble. I composed a piece for 12 horns, called Tribute, dedicated to Hugo Friedhofer, which has already been performed twice in Los Angeles and once at Eastman.”
His works have also been performed by the Kansas City Symphony (Orchestral Sketches), the San Francisco Chamber Players (Initiation for tenor and chamber orchestra, with Jonathan Mack as soloist), and in such local venues as UCLA's Royce Hall and the Bing Theater at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Between 1990 and 1995, he received six consecutive
Emmy nominations, winning in 1992 for Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Dramatic Series,
for an episode of Matlock. He received his seventh and eighth Emmy nominations, for the animated series Casper, in 1998 and 1999. A member of BMI, Babcock has received eight BMI TV/Film Awards for his television music, and has contributed orchestrations to such films as Unfaithful, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, and The Core.
Bruce's familiarity with Pacific Serenades has grown over the last few years. Friends of his, Shirley Walker and Alex Shapiro, have both been commissioned, and two of our long-time musicians, Gary Gray and David Speltz, have worked with Bruce for many years. “All these people brought Mark Carlson and I together, and I was very pleased to receive the
commission this season,” Bruce said. I like how the programs have masterpieces alongside a new work. I think it's a great balance.”
The work Bruce has composed, Trio, is so titled because, as he explained, “All the titles I came up with were too programmatic. Its an abstract piece, but very melodic. I think it will be accessible to the audience while still being a challenge for the performers. Musicians spend years mastering the art of making beautiful sounds with their instruments. I think composers should compose music which allows these wonderful performers to do just that.” Though the premiere has yet to take place, the work has already been programmed for the Santa Barbara Music Festival in June of 2005.
”Its really exciting for me to write for both Gary
Gray and Roland Kato, whom I've known for over 20 years. I've also heard Ayke Agus play many times and am honored to have someone with so much chamber music experience as our pianist,” Bruce told me. “Because I am a clarinet
player, I think, subconsciously, Gary's clarinet part may be more
favored. For Roland, I wanted to write a true viola part, exploiting the rich lower register. For Ayke, the piano part is
very linear. My goal was to treat all three players as equal partners, while also exploiting the unique aspects of each instrument. I was striving for clarity, sonority, and a feeling of forward motion." Bruce added, “I've already talked to all three musicians, and sent them their parts. I'm really excited about hearing it. I can't wait!”
While still working in Hollywood as an orchestrator and conductor, Bruce told me, “There's nothing like writing concert music, and intimate chamber music in particular. You can spend the time, both in composition and rehearsal, to reach a level of near perfection that you often can't achieve in other settings. Probably the biggest difference between film and concert music is that there is no director looking over your shoulder and meddling. Concert music has a purity to it that is extremely rewarding."
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