B.A. in Music (composition major), San Francisco State University
M.A., University of California at San Diego (1975?)
Teachers included Robert Erikson, Kenneth Gaburo and Pauline Oliveros

Teaching positions:
San Francisco State College (1966-67)
University of California at San Diego (1968-1971)

Charles Buel was a wide-ranging composer in the adventuresome spirit of West Coast music. Born in San Francisco, he lived from 1946 to 1952 in Germany, where his father was an Army officer and later a school superintendent during the American occupation. In Karlsruhe at age seven, he received piano instruction and began writing music. With the bassoon as his principal instrument, he attended San Francisco State University for undergraduate studies in music. He completed graduate work at the University of California at San Diego, where his composition teachers included Robert Erickson, Kenneth Gaburo and Pauline Oliveros. For his M.A. thesis, he composed Four Theater Pieces.

In all, Buel wrote more than 100 works in a variety of styles and genres, utilizing a wide range of instrumentation and media.

Some early vocal works, from the period prior to his graduate studies, have approximate pitch and are free of bar lines. Among these is Truthful Words Are Not Beautiful, written in 1968 for twelve-part chorus and scored on a long scroll of paper several feet long. There are also dissonant and complex works from the era such as the delicately scored Summer Music for clarinet, cello and piano (1965).

Buel's writing eventually settled into a more tonal style, though he continued to seek new ideas and inspirations. A series of works allude to esoteric spirituality, including The Syphinx [sic] for 15 saxophones (1977), The Hierophant for brass, percussion, piano and bass (1979), The Two of Cups for woodwind quintet (1976) and Avatars for saxophone quartet (1983). There is also an emphasis on winds, with four pieces for band, three works that feature bassoon, and nine works for various combinations of saxophones, including the solo Reflections on Raga Todi (1972), which was inspired by Ravi Shankar's autobiography and has been recorded.

Vocal and choral compositions appear throughout every period of Buel's writing, and from the 1970s through the early 1990s, he completed five settings of poetry by the contemporary gay author Edward Field. These include The Lost, Dancing, a piece that addresses AIDS and was premiered by the Golden Gate Men's Chorus in a program of the Society of Gay and Lesbian Composers in 1991. Buel's involvement in gay causes also led him to write Freedom Day March, a programmatic work in two movements entitled "Struggle to be Free" and "Joy of Being Free."

Buel took delight in creative arrangements of familiar music (Git Along, Little Dogies; Christmas Quodlibet; Are You Going to Donnybrook Fair?). His sense of playfulness becomes especially apparent in the many electronic character pieces of the 1990s, more than a dozen of which were collected in the CD release Charlie Buel: Last Works. Buel's beautiful calligraphy and stylized musical notations make many of his scores extremely elegant in appearance.

Many of Buel's works are highly conceptual and call on such large and unusual forces that their realization was difficult, often unrepeatable. Yet he was also a practical and practicing musician who organized all manner of performances and events throughout his life. For example, while at San Francisco State he helped to start the Collegium Musicum for Renaissance Music, and in 1981 he founded the short-lived group Lambda World Music Ensembles. Many of his works were written for special occasions and in tribute to others, such as the uncompleted Requiem for Harry Partch.

Charles Buel died of AIDS in San Mateo, California at the age of 51 on October 21, 1994.

—Joseph Dalton

WORKS:

SOLO PIANO ORGAN     SAXOPHONES (SOLO & ENSEMBLE) BASSOONS (SOLO & ENSEMBLE)

ORCHESTRA BAND MIXED CHAMBER CHORAL/VOCAL

WORKS WITH ELECTRONICS ELECTRONIC TAPE PIECES COLLECTIONS / WORKS OF MIXED GENRE

PIANO

Air
for: piano
date: 1976, revised 1982
duration: 3:00
note: also version for wind trio (see Mixed Chamber)

Allegro agitato
for: piano
date: 1962
duration: ca. 3:00

Allegro con spirito
for: piano
date: 1963
note: also version for woodwind quintet (see Mixed Chamber)

Connections
for: 2 pianos
date: 1967, revised 1979
note: 4 pages, no bar lines

Four Folkish Pieces for Piano
for: piano
date: unknown

Piano Sonata: I. Allegro ben ritmico
for: piano
date: 1973

Prelude
for: piano
date: 1970

Smarty Pants
for: keyboard
date: 1988
note: see also Works with Electronics

Thirteen Fragments
for: piano
date: 1967
note: 3 pages, no bar lines

Three Little Pieces
for: piano
date: 1964-1965 Vestigial Scintillations: 7 Piano Pieces
I. The Two of Cups (also version for woodwind quintet; see Mixed Chamber)
II. Saraband (also version for 7 saxophones; see Saxophones)
III. Trumpet Voluntary
IV. Sunset Rainbow (see also Sunset Rainbow Variations in Mixed Chamber)
V. Restless Land (see also versions under Orchestra and Mixed Chamber)
VI. Ground Bass and Divisions from Celestial Visions (see also Organ)
VII. I Know You, Rider (traditional song, arr. by Buel)
for: piano
date: 1976

ORGAN

Buel's Tears
for: organ
date: 1989

Celestial Visions
for: organ
date: 1973
note: see Vestigial Scintillations: 7 Piano Pieces, above, which includes Ground Bass and Divisions from Celestial Visions.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
for: organ
date: 1991

Transformations
for: organ
date: 1969-1970
duration: 15:00
note: The manuscript consists of a numbered series of chords along with changes in the registration, but there is no barring. Commentary by the composer is provided. Written for the Noehren pipe organ, First Unitarian Church, San Francisco.

SAXOPHONES (SOLO & ENSEMBLE)

Avatars
for: saxophone quartet (SATB)
date: 1983
note: existing parts and score in concert pitch

Buy Hooker, Buy Crook
for: saxophone quartet (AATB)
date: 1985

Nine for Kraig (from Five Pieces for Ten Players)
for: saxophone quartet (SATBar)
date: 1985

Reflections on Raga Todi
for: alto saxophone
date: 1972
published: Dorn Productions (1972) (out of print)
duration: 5:30
recorded: Dale Wolford, saxophone, More than Sax: Baroque, Blues & Beyond
note: inspired by Ravi Shankar's My Music, My Life.

Saraband
for: 7 saxophones (SAATTBarBass)
date: 1976
note: see Vestigial Scintillations: 7 Piano Pieces, above, which includes Saraband; see also version for band

The Sphinx — Part I
for: 15 saxophones (3S, 4A, 4T, 3Bar, 1Bass)
date: 1977
note: Completed score of Part I is in concert pitch. There is only a diagram of the entire setting of The Sphinx, in three parts and a conclusion.
note: also voice/piano version (seeChoral/Vocal)

Two Duets
I. Bridge to the World of the Unseen
II. Bicinium ad aequales
for: two saxophones
date: 1976, 1983
duration: 6:00

See Uncompleted Works for:
All Right, Sonny, Get the Plaster off Your Cranium (1977) (for 24 saxophones)
Orchid Tendrils (alternate sketch for saxophone quartet)

BASSOONS (SOLO & ENSEMBLE)

Four Three-Part Canons
for: 3 bassoons
date: 1978 (copyright)
note: Four other versions exist for different instruments, transpositions, etc.

Nancy
for: bassoon and piano
date: 1977
note: see Choral/Vocal for original song

Solitudes
for: solo bassoon
date: ca. 1966
note: A chart explains the unusual fingerings used in this piece. Pages not numbered, so not clear if piece is complete, though probably it is.

Song
for: 2 bassoons
date: 1975
note: the only completed movement of Sonata for Two Bassoons

ORCHESTRA

Restless Land
for: piccolo, English horn, clarinet, bassoon, 2 horns, trumpet, trombone, xylophone, keyboard, guitar, harp, strings
date: 1974
note: see also Mixed Chamber; see also Vestigial Scintillations: 7 Piano Pieces which includesRestless Land; lost or incomplete versions for various combinations of saxophone ensembles also exist.

Transformations for Orchestra (with soprano voice)
date: 1971
for: soprano and orchestra: pic, fl, ob, Eng hrn, Eb cl, Bb cl, 2 bsn, 2 hrns, 2 trp, trm, perc, strings
note: see also Organ listing for Transformations

BAND

Ballad of the Sphinx
for: piccolo, flute, oboe, bell lyre, 6 clarinets, bassoon, 5 saxes, 3 trumpets, 4 horns, 3 trombones, baritone, tuba, tympani, percussion
date: 1980

Freedom Day March
     Struggle to Be Free
     Joy of Being Free
for: piccolo, flute, oboe, E-flat clarinet, 3 B-flat clarinets, E-flat alto clarinet, B-flat bass clarinet, bassoon, 5 saxes (SATTB), 3 trumpets, cornet, 4 horns, 3 trombones, baritone, tuba, string bass, bell lyre, 4 percussion
date: 1981

     Gronculataurus Rex
for: 5 saxes (AATTB), bassoon, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, guitar, piano, bass, drums
date: 1979

The Hierophant
for: 4 saxes (AATB), 5 trumpets, 5 trombones, celesta, vibraphone, marimba, electric guitar, electric bass, piano
date: 1979

     Love's Dreamogram
for: piccolo, 6 flutes, oboe, E-flat clarinet, 11 B-flat clarinets, 2 bass clarinets, 4 saxes (AATB), 6 cornets, 2 trumpets, 2 horns, 6 trombones, 2 baritones, tuba, string bass, electric piano, celesta, piano, 5 percussion
date: 1975
note: full score exists but no parts

Saraband
for: piccolo, flute, oboe, bell lyre, 6 clarinets, bassoon, 5 saxes, 3 trumpets, 4 horns, 3 trombones, baritone, tuba, tympani, percussion
date: 1976
note: also version for 7 saxophones (see Saxophones); see also Vestigial Scintillations: 7 Piano Pieces which includes Saraband

MIXED CHAMBER

37 Dream Flowers: Number One: Preludes
for: alto saxophone, bassoon, grand piano, electric piano, percussion
date: 1971
duration: 2:15
note: An arrangement for piano 4-hands from 1973 is cited on some work lists but has not yet been found.

37 Dream Flowers: Number Two: Nightshade
for: alto saxophone in E-flat, bassoon, grand piano, electric piano, percussion (vibraphone, tambourine, orchestra bells, chimes)
date: 1972

Air
for: oboe, B-flat clarinet and bassoon
date: 1976, revised 1982
duration: 3:00
note: see also version for piano, above

Allegro con spirito
for: woodwind quintet
date: 1963
note: see also version for piano, above

Are You Going to Donnybrook Fair?
for: flute, violin, and cello (also a two-part version)
date: 1990

Benevolent Betty's Batty Beguine
for: flute, percussion, melodica, electronic keyboard, tape, and a part for Casiotone PT-50 and cello
date: 1985

Dances & Fantasies
for: 2 percussion
date: 1987

Estampie
for: bass clarinet, bassoon and piano
date: 1990

Ethan's Birthday Music (Canon a 2)
date: 1975
for: two unspecified treble instruments
note: written for Ethan Fleig

Five Pieces for Ten Players
Howie's Name Piece
     A Place in the Sun
     Nine for Kraig (String Quartet)
     Canon a 3 (3 staves)
     37 Dream Flowers
for: 2 flutes, 2 B-flat clarinets, 2 pianos and string quartet
date: unknown

From the Deep Blue Eastern Realm of Pre-Eminent Happiness
for: electric guitar and electric string quartet (2 violins, viola, cello)
date: 1974
duration: 8:00
note: Score preceded by excerpt from The Tibetan Book of the Dead.

Fugue for Three Horns
for: 3 horns
date: 1981
duration: 3:45

Matrix
for: 3 or more alto recorders
date: 1967

Painted Masks
for: flute, guitar or electric guitar, and celesta or electric piano (lst movement); alto saxophone, snare drum and flute (2nd movement)
date: 1963

Quintet in 3 Movements
for: flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon
date: 1968, 1972

Rainbow Masque for Jazz Septet
for: flute, B-flat soprano saxophone, piano, violin, cello, bass, percussion
date: 1973
note: uncompleted arrangement for 15 saxophones (3S, 4A, 4T, 3Bar, 1Bass)

Restless Land
for: brass quintet (2 trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba)
date: 1974
note: see also Saxophone listings for same title; and Vestigial Scintillations: 7 Piano Pieces which includes Restless Land

Summer Music
for: B-flat clarinet, cello and piano
date: 1965

Sunset at the Lake
for: oboe, violin and piano
date: 1975
note: see also 1980 version for violin, viola and harp, below
duration: 3:15

Sunset at the Lake
for: violin, viola and harp
date: arranged 1980
note: arrangement of work originally for oboe, violin and piano
duration: 3:15

Sunset Rainbow Variations
for: flute, clarinet, 2 horns, bassoon
date: 1982
duration: 11:00
note: see also Vestigial Scintillations: 7 Piano Pieces which includes Sunset Rainbow

Three Melancholy Airs for Oboe Alone
     Lento
     Con ira e furia
     Allegro risoluto
for: oboe
date: 1978
duration: 8:30

Time Is Running Out
for: two keyboards
date: 1993

Time-/Space-Warp Rose
for: alto recorder (or flute, or oboe, or soprano saxophone) and piano
date: 1972
duration: 9:00

Tree-Lined Highways
for: violin and piano
date: 1975

Trio in Two Movements
for: trumpet, horn and trombone
date: 1965
note: Second movement uses unconventional notation.

Two Monologues for Flute
     Doloroso
     Scherzando
for: flute
date: 1964

The Two of Cups
for: woodwind quintet
date: 1976, 1981
duration: 2:00-3:00
note: see Vestigial Scintillations: 7 Piano Pieces which includes The Two of Cups

Untitled (string trio)
for: violin, viola and cello
date: unknown
note: no bar lines; extensive performance directions.

Untitled (woodwind trio)
for: flute, clarinet, bassoon
date: 1964
note: 17 bars in length

Wedding Piece
for: viola and piano
date: 1964

CHORAL/VOCAL

The Book of Sorrow
for: high voice, clarinet, bassoon and piano
date: 1990
text: Edward Field

Christmas Quodlibet
for: 3 voices (notated in treble clef) and instrumental bass line
date: 1987
text: Deck the Halls, The First Noel, We Three Kings (one verse of each)
note: all tunes modified rhythmically

Degas: The Absinthe Drinkers
for: voice and alto and bass recorders
date: 1965
text: unidentified

Existence Is Beyond the Power of Words
for: solo voice and piano
date: 1968
note: unbarred score in 5 sections

Indian Summer
for: soprano, flute, clarinet, cello, piano
date: 1992
text: Charles Buel
premiere: Society of Gay and Lesbian Composers concert, Old First Church, San Francisco 11/8/92
note: see Works with Electronics for Indian Summer (original version)

The Lost, Dancing
for: men's chorus and 2 keyboards
date: 1991
lyrics: Edward Field
premiere: Golden Gate Men's Chorus, Society of Gay and Lesbian Composers concert, Old First Church, San Francisco 6/16/91
note: work addressing AIDS

The Loving Dexterity
for: double mixed chorus
date: 1966
lyrics: William Carlos Williams
note: graphic score with relative pitches and performance directions

Nancy (song)
for: male voice and piano
date: 1977
text: Edward Field
note: see also Bassoons for transcription

Poem
for: SATB chorus
lyrics: James Stacey, Stolen Paper Review (begins: "My desk is littered with chagrin...")
date: 1963

Reeds
for: SATB chorus
lyrics: Anne Blackford
date: 1962

The Sky Will Resound
for: unaccompanied voice
date: 1973
note: The source of the melody and text is Chippewa Indian, transcribed and altered by the composer.
note: dedicated to Bonnie Barnett

Song from the Mourning Rite
for: voice and piano
date: 1964
text: Osage Indian: "Behold, I go forth to move around the earth"

The Sphinx
for: voice and piano (versions in high and low keys)
date: 1974
note: Vocal version of a piece that was later arranged for 15 saxophones (see Saxophones)

Symbiosis
for: SATB chorus and keyboard/piano (?)
date: 1964
note: Though there is no text to this work, the score seems to indicate it is for chorus.

Truthful Words Are Not Beautiful
for: 12-part vocal ensemble (SSSAAATTTBBB)
date: 1968
text: author not identified
note: no bar lines in score

The Woman Who Turned to Stone
for: soprano, flute, clarinet, cello and piano
date: 1982
text: poem by Edward Field
premiere: Society of Gay and Lesbian Composers concert, Old First Church, San Francisco 11/8/92

See Incomplete Works for:
Git Along, Little Dogies

WORKS WITH ELECTRONICS

Arnold in Africa
for: 2-part keyboard score and 6-bar "accompaniment canon" [for keyboard]
date: unknown

Arnold Twirls
for: accordion, Casio Sk-1, Casio Sk-5 (piano) and Urmelodie
date: 1990

Buel's Farewell to Laurel Canyon
for: 2 electronic keyboards
date: 1988

Cocktails on Mars
date: 1986
for: four tape tracks, percussion; markings for lines A-F in one copy include piano, celesta, xylophone, pipe organ and banjo
recorded: Charlie Buel: Last Works

Desperation
for: 2 keyboards (Casio SK) with tape
date: 1988

Ganymede
for: keyboard staff in 3 voices
note: whereabout of score unknown

I'm On Your Trail: A Song in 70 Verses
for: Casiotone MT-70 solo with stereo cassette accompaniment
date: 1984
note: "Dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach on his 300th Birthday"

Indian Summer (original version)
for: electronic keyboards
date: unknown
note: see Choral/Vocal section for version for soprano with instruments
recorded: Charlie Buel: Last Works

Looking for Someone Special
"Cruising bars and discos in search of romance"
for: keyboard and tape
date: 1991
Tape of live performance, recorded on Last Works CD-PB

Lunar Influences
for: HT-700 and MT-70 synthesizers
date: 1991?

Meditation 31
for: 2 keyboards
date: 1990

Mr. Twister's Whack Attack
for: melody with keyboard accompaniment (written-out part, with chord symbols)
date: unknown

One on One
for: electronic keyboards
date: 1993

Picking Up the Pieces (Guess I'll Have to Get Along Without You)
for: keyboards/tape
date: 1992
recorded: Charlie Buel: Last Works

Planxty Joe Campbell
for: electronic keyboard
date: 1991

Shredder
Part I: Getting Rid of Trash
Part II: Construction as Destruction
Part III: Shredding To Survive
Part IV: Destruction for Its Own Sake
for: tapes and Casio SK-1 sampling keyboard, with performance artist
duration: 20:00

note: Created with performance artist Nicole Dillenberg.
performed: The Singe Festival, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Lhasa Club, Hollywood, CA, 11/ 20/87. Sponsored by Independent Composers' Association.

Smarty Pants
for: keyboard
date: 1988

Three Ostinati
for: SK-5 live, accordion live, piano, tape, balalaika, drums
date: 1989

Zephyrus
for: 2 keyboards and percussion
date: 1990

ELECTRONIC TAPE PIECES

Dates given as available. Most works from early 1990s. *included on "Last Works" CD

Alas, My Dear One*
Calling All Planets*
Carolan's Delirious Dream*
Ceremonial Music*
City of Dreams*
"a salute to San Francisco from a native son"
Desert Music (1987)
Discotack: melody from Mery Series (343 pitches)
Funkadelic Technogrunge*
"a cranked up version of various techno dance music"
May Peace Prevail on Earth (1988)
On Your Own Day You Are Believed*
Party Time*
Perpetual Motion*
Puce and Chartreuse*
Queers on Parade*
Rainy Monday*
Rhapsodic Lament*
Ringold Rendezvous*
Ricochet Gamelan*
Trick or Treat Bonbon*

COLLECTIONS / WORKS OF MIXED GENRE:

Four Theater Pieces
date: 1971
MA thesis, University of California, San Diego, 1975. (Although the performance took place in '71, the thesis itself was not completed until '75.)
Titles are followed by descriptions taken from the abstract of the thesis:
Chimera, Avatars of 79 and Beyond (Hexapus Eating a Ham Sandwich) (Roughly 45 minutes long, in three parts like scenes of a play, with four woodwind/sax players and two hand drummers)
Coyote Crossing (a 2-/4-channel audio synthesizer improvisation lasting 15 to 30 minutes or more plus visual effects improvisation)
It's a Nice Place to Visit, But I Wouldn't Want to Live There (a 20-minute work for E-flat clarinet, B-flat clarinet, B-flat trumpet, a Devil, 2 or more audio technicians and a slide projectionist)
Green Is the Color of Thy Yellow Hair (three or more amplified Chinese gongs, 2 or more gong players, an audio technician, a lighting technician, a mixed chorus of 12 or more and audience participation) duration: about 15 minutes

The System M Show
for: electronics
date: 1988
Wind chimes canon with gliss [program listing: Wind chimes sequence] (2:24)
Balinesery [program listing: A la Balinese] (2:12)
Blues motifs (2:42)
Balalaika sequence (2:16)
Prelude to Desperation (1:27)
Tin can sequence (1:52)
Hammered and pried (1:20)
Metal Flames (1:58)
Plucked strings in 3 octaves [program listing: Plucked strings] (1:27)
Jar trio with coda [program listing: Glass jars & mixed reprise] (1:30)
Tin can rattles (0:48)
Are You Going to Donnybrook Fair? [program listing: Dance with 4 samples] (3:10)
Flashback (1:40)
Buel's Farewell to Laurel Canyon
performed: System M Alternative Gallery, Long Beach, CA 10/22/88

UNCOMPLETED WORKS:
12-tone Waltzes (instrumentation and date unknown)
37 Dream Flowers: Number 3: Mountains (alternately In the Mountains or I spent some Time in the Mountains) (1972, 1974) (horn, piano, voice, saxophone, bass, steel guitar)
All Right, Sonny, Get the Plaster off Your Cranium (1977) (24 saxophones)
Balinesery (electronic keyboards)
Christmas Medley (1992) (electronics)
Come Play with Me (instrumentation and date unknown)
Diary Pieces: I - The Breadth of Fortune's Wheel (1974) (instrumentation unknown)
Git Along, Little Dogies (1992) (men's chorus, 2 soloists and piano)
High in the Sky (1990) (instrumentation unknown)
Howie's Piece (1975) (harmonium solo)
Invocation (instrumentation and date unknown)
Improvisation from Farmer Fudd (1990) (instrumentation unknown)
Intrada (saxophone quartet)
Orchid Tendrils (8-part pencil sketch with the lines labeled pink, red, orange, yellow, green, aqua, violet and gray)
Orchid Tendrils (alternate sketch for saxophone quartet)
Pipe Organ Book
Pirate's Plunderm movement 1, The pure form of water will shine as a white light (5 saxophones (AATT Bar), 4 trumpets, trombones, guitar, piano, bass, drums)
Rainbow Masque for Jazz Septet (arrangement for 15 saxophones; see Mixed Chamber for completed work)
Requiem for Harry Partch (instrumentation and date unknown)
Sonata for Two Bassoons (1972) (see Song for two bassoons)
Song of the Sea (1957) (piano)
To Erik Satie (1958) (piano)
untitled from 12-tone Waltzes (two keyboards)
Voices of Day and Night (1977) (pipe organ)
Voices of Day and Night (1977) (alternate sketch for band)

WRITINGS:
Unknown

DISCOGRAPHY:
Charlie Buel: Last Works, collection of solo compositions for multi-tracked electronic keyboard (recorded 1992-94), released postumously by Deep Listening Publications.
"Reflections on Raga Todi," Dale Wolford, saxophone, More than Sax: Baroque, Blues & Beyond (independently produced recording).

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• "The Age of AIDS" (poem partially about Buel), A Frieze for A Temple of Love by Edward Field, Black Sparrow Press (Santa Rosa: 1998). ISBN: 1-57423-067-0

PERFORMING RIGHTS AFFILIATION:
None

RESOURCES:
Charlie Buel: Last Works recording available from:
Deep Listening Publications
www.deeplistening.org

More than Sax: Baroque, Blues & Beyond recording available from:
Dale Wolford
Professor of Saxophone
California State University, Stanislaus
Music Department
801 West Monte Vista Avenue
Turlock, CA 95380

MUSICAL EXECUTOR:
Paula Buel (sister)
CSB Music
1334 1/2 Parker Street
Berkeley, CA 94702
(510) 843-3427
pbuel@employees.org

OTHER CONTACTS:
Unknown