Arriving six weeks earlier than expected, Merrill Kay Bradshaw was born in Lyman, Wyoming on June 18, 1929 to Lorene Hamblin and Melvin K. Bradshaw. Though not formally educated in music, both parents sang and his father played trombone in a dance band. Music was valued and part of the family’s farm-centered life. His early years were filled with happy memories, though the depression made food and means scarce enough that the family often survived on wild foods and the rabbits his father could shoot. He attended grade school in Lyman and in second grade remembers hearing a most intriguing sound as he entered the building to get a drink during recess. He was transfixed by it, and then found out it was the school orchestra. That awe and affinity for music never left him. His third grade teacher noted how he drummed his fingers constantly on the desk and told his mother he should take piano lessons. That was beyond the family’s means, but the teacher ended up selling her piano to the Bradshaws and so began Merrill’s distinguished career. He excelled in school, especially in science, building ingenious contraptions and being nicknamed “The Professor.”
The family moved around quite a bit and he went to various schools in the Salt Lake valley. He attended Irving Junior High School in Salt Lake until his father volunteered to go to the Aleutians to help build an air base during the war. The family moved to Portland for a year where Merrill would practice on the ward piano for four hours between school and mutual on Tuesday nights. He had no teacher, but learned popular classical solos of the day “Fantasie Impromptu,” ” Malaguena,” “Rhapsody in Blue,” etc., on his own. When the family returned to Lyman for his father’s health, Merrill had outstripped the abilities of any local piano teachers, and so once a week he would rise at 4:00 a.m. to ride the bus 120 miles into Salt Lake City for piano lessons. His graduating class at Lyman High had eleven members, so he was experienced in football, basketball, track (1/2-mile—third in the State Championships), designing dance decorations, drama, and just about everything else the high school offered. He also played piano in a dance band– “Blackie’s Red Jackets”– and in the school band—bassoon and trombone—was editor of the yearbook and student body president. He did win a prize in the National Scholastic Composition Contest for a piece he wrote while a senior.
Deciding to turn down a full-ride scholarship to the University of Wyoming in engineering, Merrill entered BYU in the fall of 1947 to study music and English, and Dr. John R. Halliday became an important mentor for him. Dr. Halliday let Merrill practice on his studio piano, which he did from 4:30 to 7:30 every morning. He worked as a dishwasher at Amanda Knight Hall to help support himself. He had never had harmony or theory instruction, but picked it up quickly and excelled. Interrupting his studies to go on a mission to Switzerland, his gift for languages became apparent as his excellent German brought him the privilege of translating for President McKay when the Swiss Temple was announced to the Saints there. Returning after two and a-half years, he auditioned and was accepted into the A Cappella Choir. Under the direction of Newell Weight, he learned rehearsal technique and the deep feeling and spiritual significance of music. He also met and married Janet Spilsbury, who sat next to him in the choir. He always maintained that marrying her was the best thing he ever did in his life. He was highly influenced by studies with Leon Dallin and Crawford Gates (BYU), Carl Fuerstner, Hubert Kessler, and Claire Richards (University of Illinois). Twice he attended the University of Illinois, once from 55-56 to obtain the Master of Music in composition, and again from 61-62 for his Doctor of Musical Arts with his thesis on Anton Webern’s early works. He felt affinity for and learned to work in a number of styles, but was only finally content when he found his own voice. As he took on composition students one of his greatest strengths was his ability to help young composers to do the same.
John Halliday was instrumental in getting Merrill hired at BYU, and there he taught for 37 years. He had an especially good relationship with Ralph Laycock, conductor of the orchestra for many years, who premiered many of Merrill’s orchestral works, and Ralph Woodward, conductor of the A Cappella Choir who did the same for many choral works. He could have gone to many other prestigious universities for larger salary, but he loved the atmosphere, the opportunity to influence young LDS composers, and the fine working relationship he had with so many colleagues at BYU. He stayed abreast of his field, and was especially forward-looking with computer technology, becoming extremely proficient with the Finale program for musical composition.
His wide range of abilities made him a valuable asset to many university committees and he served in many church callings, but he was most dedicated to his wife and family, which grew to include seven children, two of whom are composers. He took children on some of his lecture trips, and his family went on Semester Abroad in Austria three separate times, benefitting from his proficiency in German. He gardened and put in the entire landscape of the family home himself, built swingsets and bookcases, took the family camping and fishing, cooked dutch oven delicacies as well as pies, pizza, lasagna, chimichangas, and crepes. He wrote books and essays on music and composition and the arts and was widely read and well-versed in the scriptures. His literary abilities meant that he picked or composed most of the texts for his compositions. He wrote a series of essays “Letters to a Young Mormon Composer” in an enveloping, engaging style, which encouraged and influenced many composition students.
He was always involved in composition projects in addition to his responsibilities as a professor and educator in demand nationally, and found it difficult to safeguard time for composition. The position of Composer-in-Residence helped a great deal, but there was typically some cartoon or saying taped to his office door that urged respect for the necessary work hours. As his ability to articulate some of the profound spiritual realities of his art became known, his sphere of influence expanded and he sat on the National Composers Forum board, and as the first head of the Barlow Endowment for Musical Composition met with many revered conductors and composers. His days typically started very early, often with a swim or a walk, and he was energized by talking with associates and family about his ideas and projects.
As retirement drew near, his students—some now on BYU’s faculty, e.g. Murray Boren, David Sargent, Stephen Jones–got together and put on a recital in his honor. He followed many of his students’ careers very closely and was the source of much valuable advice and good recommendations. He taught piano as well as composition and theory classes and many regarded him as a father-figure in their musical lives. He was always a handsome man and aged gracefully, but his lungs began to give him trouble in the late 1990’s. The poor air quality in Utah Valley contributed to his cough. Later, he was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, and he and Janet and his mother, whom they cared for, made the move to St. George after his retirement. He and Janet embraced the St. George community and found their talents in demand. Merrill composed and continued his work on the Barlow Endowment and with the National Composers Forum, and also worked on a book crystallizing his understanding of the creative process called The Creative Mind. He found himself increasingly debilitated when the family outings were at high altitudes, but remained an active walker and fisherman until his unexpected and sudden death on July 12, 2000. He came early, and he left early, but his influence will be felt to the latest generation by those artists, friends, and family who have been blessed by his great gifts.