Charles Booker... Musical Musings

March 2006

Dear Mark [Rogers]

I just wanted you to know I had a wonderful private lesson with Karel Husa on Wednesday this week. He was visiting as composer in residence at the U. of Central Arkansas, and the band director there is a friend of mine who set me up with a private lesson in the afternoon (Wed.).

As I sat on the couch next to him, Dr. Husa, a kind and generous gentleman, poured over my symphony. He listened to entire piece with rapt attention. He had some very positive comments about the symphony and was greatly impressed with the Academy band's playing and Grimo's interpretation. He especially liked the 2nd movement - he (with a Czech accent) called it "very beautiful" and described my orchestration as "excellent". He commended me on my structure, breadth of content, and said, "you obviously have been successful in expressing your beliefs in your music."

He also listened to The Rough Rider, and threw up his hands at the end, and smiling said, "yes, yes, it is all there!!!" He elaborated on the orchestration again.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience. Husa is a warm, generous and a gracious man.

Sincerely
Charles Booker

"This is a letter I sent to a young composer friend, Roy Magnuson who was finishing up his Masters in Composition at Ithaca College. He wanted to know about my process of composing. I think people like ancecdotes about composers. Gives them insight to the crazy meanderings of composers."
Chuck

Roy,

My process - hmmmm at what age?

At age 14 to 42, I wrote everything on my kitchen table. Pencil and manuscript. As a staff arranger at the Army Field Band, I wrote with piano and large full scores and tons of number 2 pencils. Like you, I am a ham-fisted pianist to say the least. When Finale came out, I was thoroughly old-fashioned and ignored their program, figuring I was too old to start learning something new. But... after getting out of the Army in 1993, age 41, I bought the first power Mac and begin learning about Midi.

Today, I still play around on the piano until something strikes me as interesting and notate it either in my mind or on a piece of manuscript. I am not ashamed to use the computer as a composing tool like some major composers, as if it is some kind of short cut. That's just "crap". If Beethoven or Mahler were alive, trust me, they were efficient composers with their time and would have utilized all the tools at their disposal to make their composition process faster.

I use a lot of sketches on finale, i.e. Sketch 1 - intro, Sketch 2 - transition to exposition, etc.. I find that once I come up with something on the keyboard, I can quickly notate it on Finale and just work on many different variations of the material until I feel I have exhausted all the different approaches to the composition problem, and once I am satisfied that I have the best result, move that to the final sketch on this section. I do this for about a week on a piece until I begin to see the form and ideas begin to mesh. I sometimes write a condensed score to see how the piece lays out.

I try to come up with an ending as soon as I can or at least have an idea of how I would like to end the piece. McBeth says that if you don't know where you are going, your piece will just ramble on; like traveling in a car with no destination.

Each time I write, I find that I do different things, I am getting to be much faster in my thought process and faster at putting things together using Finale. I take more time now to listen to a .wav file of what I have written so far, or just turn my back to the score as it is played back. This helps to "feel" if the piece is "right" or does it need more material, less material, more transitions, or more impact, etc. to make the idea come to fruition.

My music has become more contrapuntal and more linear as I continue to write. I have lately become more frugal about textures and doublings. I want to use more colors and experiment more with textures. But in the end, I love a good melody, and don't apologize for that. I want to write music that has depth and meaning, a novel if you will, not a comic book or a car chase. There is simply too many composers out there feeding the educational establishment with candy. I like "meat and potatoes" or as James Barnes once said to an educator who said his music was too hard, "I write music for musicians."

I can't exactly tell you how I do things; I believe as many composers do, that there is a divine spirit, God I think, who moves through us to communicate great truths through music. It is a gift that I cherish, and only wish I had first followed my earlier ambitions to be a composer when I was your age. Instead, I chose a different route. I suppose I have no regrets except that one. I just turned 54, but as a composer about 30. I really cherish our friendship and your willingness to share your thoughts about composing and music in general.

Take care of yourself and God Bless You and your fiance'. Please stay in touch and PLEASE don't let anything get in the way of composing like I did.

Your friend,
Chuck