Homer Keller Interview with Bruce Duffie . . . . . . . . .

Composer Homer Keller

A Conversation with Bruce Duffie

Homer Todd Keller (February 17, 1915 – May 12, 1996) was an American composer of contemporary classical music.

He graduated from Oxnard Union High School in Oxnard, California in 1933, after which he attended the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Howard Hanson, obtaining B.M. (1937) and M.M. (1938) degrees. He was awarded $500 in the 1939 Henry Hadley Foundation competition for his First Symphony, which was premiered the following year by the New York Philharmonic under John Barbirolli. As a Fulbright scholar in Paris, he studied with Arthur Honegger at the Ecole Normal de Musique. His Second Symphony was performed by the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC, in 1950. Howard Hanson and the Eastman-Rochester Symphony recorded Keller's Serenade for Clarinet and Strings for Mercury Records.

For three years, he resided in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he first taught at the Palama Settlement and the Punahou Music School, later becoming a lecturer in msuic at the University of Hawaii. He was President of the Honolulu Chapter of the National Society of Arts and Letters. His work in Hawaii exposed him to Pacific Island folk musics, which he credited with widening his own musical thought with regard to melody and harmony.

In December, 1956, the Honolulu Symphony, with George Barati conducting, gave the premiere performance of Keller's Third Symphony. Austin Faricy, the music critic for the Honolulu Star Bulletin, reported, "Written richly and idiomatically for orchestra, Keller's symphony alternated between nervous energy and large repose, with a wealth of allusion to contemporary rhythm and themes, and some reference to folk material...Mr. Keller received an ovation at the end."

He taught at the University of Michigan (where his notable students included Leslie Bassett, George Balch Wilson, Norma Wendelburg, and Donald Harris), then at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon from 1958 to 1976. His notable students at the University of Oregon include Ralph Towner, Dean C. Taylor, Stephen Scott, and Robert Scott Thompson. Also at the University of Oregon, Keller worked with Jon Appleton to set up that university's electronic music studio. [Throughout this webpage, names which are links refer to my interviews elsewhere on my website. BD]

While at the University of Michigan he also served on the Interlochen Music Camp staff where he helped and influenced many aspiring young musicians including Dwight Beckham in 1950.

Many of his music scores and some biographical and publishing history documents are with the American Composers Alliance. His official papers and manuscripts are held by the Eastman School of Music Library; The ACA collection is held at Special Collections in Performing Arts at University of Maryland. The Homer Keller Papers are held by the Eastman School of Music.

Keller's last residence was Montclair, California.

Back in the days before e-mail and other internet ways of communicating, I would send a letter to prospective guests asking if they were going to be coming to Chicago, and if not, would they allow me to call them on the telephone for an interview. Most of the time, their reply would be quick and positive, and one of those encounters is shown on this webpage.

In November of 1988, Homer Keller was kind enough to permit this phone chat. Portions were used a couple of times on WNIB, Classical 97, and now, in 2026, I am pleased to present the entire conversation.

He seemed quite interested in some of the questions I posed, and gave concise answers based on his knowledge and experience. He mentioned that he had my letter in front of him, and he referred to it on occasion.
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It was a delightful half-hour, and here is what was said at that time . . . . .

Bruce Duffie: First of all, thank you for the recordings which you sent. I appreciate them very much. I will use them on the air.

Homer Keller: You’re very welcome! That certainly pleases me.

BD:   You did quite a bit of work as both composer and teacher. How did you divide your time between those two very demanding activities?

Keller:   I spent more time teaching, but I think a lot about ideas for composing. I walk a lot, so that was time spent in creative thought. It’s hard to put it into hours, but what does take time, and takes away time from teaching, is the taking pen in hand, and sitting down, and putting pen to paper.

BD:   When you got ideas in various places, were you able to collect them in your head, or did you jot them down as you went along? [Vis-à-vis the recording shown at left, see my interview with Alan Hovhaness.]

Keller:   Both.

BD:   You have lots of sketch pads?

Keller:   Yes, but I find a sketch pad gets in my way. As I say, I like to walk and think of ideas. Then I’ll sit down and sketch out the main ideas. It might be a melody, or a few chords, or something to spark my attention.

BD:   As you’re sketching out the ideas, are you ever surprised where they lead and how they develop?

Keller:   Yes. You’re digging around, and things begin to happen. There’s an element of surprise, and I wonder what’s happening here?

BD:   When you’re writing some of these ideas down, and you’re developing them, are you always in control of the pencil, or are there times when the pencil was controlling your hand?

Keller:   I have thought about that, but I feel pretty much in control. My Third Symphony, for instance, is in five movements, and in my analysis for my students I go through the Bartók Quartets. His fourth and fifth quartets have influenced me a lot in their form, with the arch form of five movements, and the outer movements being related. The arch is the middle movement, so I have that idea in the back of my mind. I was very influenced by the arch form in my symphony. When I was writing it, I was working with a variety of ideas, and all of sudden I realized that it was taking an arch form. So, in a way I could say that the idea was guiding me. The form, which is not everything but one element, really influenced the shape of the Third Symphony.

BD:   Did you find this also in the first two symphonies?

Keller:   No. The First Symphony was a student work, and I was thinking of the colors and a variety of ideas, but I wasn’t thinking of the arch form, for instance. That seems so long ago... I haven’t thought about what I did, but I don’t remember too much about them. But my Third Symphony is my pride and joy. I really was excited by the way it turned out.

BD:   Have you been pleased with the performances you have heard of it?

Keller:   Yes. I’m glad to get any performance. I’ve had very good performances. Ideally, you always hope for something more exciting, but I have been fortunate.

BD:   What about the recording? Does that please you?

Keller:   Yes. It’s on CD now, and I’m glad more contemporary music is being recorded all the time. [One of the CD re-issues (on Bay Cities) included music of Quincy Porter, and another (on Citadel) included symphonies of Roger Goeb and Elie Siegmeister.]

BD:   Thinking about the various recordings, we have such a mountain of them. At what point do you feel that the amount of material available is just too much for anyone to absorb?

Keller:   There is a large amount, but when I grew up, there were just the old 78 rpm recordings. Nowadays, a composer has so many tape recorders, and computers, and ways of getting ideas down. In a way it’s much easier than before. Back then, it was harder to hear your material. When I was in grade school, I remember hearing The Firebird. There was an opportunity to hear music, but not like today.

BD:   I’m just wondering at what point it becomes too much?

Keller:   One has a variety of interests. It’s like going into a library, seeing a stack of books, and discovering something exciting. Other things you will just pass.

* * * * *

BD:   We were talking about working as composer and teacher. Did you get enough time for the composition of you own works?

Keller:   I would say no, but that’s a choice. One has to make a living, and I could teach. I enjoy teaching, so one does get carried away. I was interested in a variety of classes and students, and it did take away from one’s composition time. But I’m not complaining. It’s just the way it worked out.

BD:   Did you ever get a particular bit of inspiration from something the students wrote, or something a student said?

Keller:   Yes, in the interaction between the students. You know, you can’t teach composition. [Laughs] You don’t come up to somebody and tell them to go compose! What you can teach is craft of counterpoint and doing analysis of works. I like to analyze not only the Bartók quartets, but Mikrokosmos. Those are wonderful little whirls of Bartók to share with the students, and get interaction going. Sometimes the students get excited, and they will point out something.
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BD:   You seem to focus a lot on Bartók. Did you also focus on some of the earlier composers, including Beethoven and Mozart?

Keller:   Right. In fact I mention the Beethoven quartets in the same breath I mention the Bartók quartets. They are a wealth of inspiration.

BD:   How many years did you teach?

Keller:   I’ve been retired for ten years now. I’m in my 70s, and I won’t take the time to add it up now, but I taught a great number of years. I spent quite a few summers at the National Music Camp at Interlochen, and found that very inspirational.

BD:   How did the teaching of music change over those many years, if at all? [Vis-à-vis the recording shown at right, see my interview with Elliott Schwartz.]

Keller:   One thing, as you were pointing out, there is now the huge amount of music available on recordings. That way, the student has much more opportunity to re-hear and study a greater variety of music.

BD:   Is this a good thing?

Keller:   Yes!

BD:   Were you pleased with the music that your students were turning out both early and later in your career?

Keller:   I don’t know how to answer that question. The students weren’t all writing great music, but it’s important that they have an idea, and do the work of getting it on paper. Nowadays, things are on the computer. [Pauses a moment to glance at my letter.] One question in your letter asked about the balance between art and entertainment. I looked it up in my Webster’s, and it said that art is the ability to make things, to join them together, and craft and skill are both involved. But one thing that interested me was that I was reading in the Los Angeles Times recently about John Cage giving the six lectures this year as the Charles Eliot Norton Chair of Harvard University. Every year there is a creative person, but every eight years it is a composer. It’s been Stravinsky, Copland, Leonard Bernstein, etc., and this is Cage’s year. It’s interesting to read. When asked to define art, Cage replied that it must have to do with our placement of attention. I thought a lot about that, and a lot of it is the problem of holding the attention of the listener.

BD:   Which brings up another of my questions, being what you expect of the public.

Keller:   Yes, precisely. I expect, or hope that they will be interested. I hope that I will be able to hold their attention. As a composer, the problem is setting up a set of expectations of what is going to come, and then adding a surprise. Think of the Waltz of the ‘Surprise’ Symphony of Haydn, and the variety of ways that one adds surprise and freshness to one’s music.

BD:   And hopefully enjoyment?

Keller:   Right! In holding the attention of the listener, you set up expectations of delight, and hopefully you will be diverting and amusing them, and giving pleasure. Curiosity comes into play of what’s next, and their anticipation of what’s coming.

BD:   I trust you don’t always want to fool the public.

Keller:   No, not at all.

BD:   Then let me ask the big philosophical question. What is the purpose of music?

Keller:   To inspire, and to divert attention and hold attention of the listener. I didn’t look this up in Webster’s, but I can’t think of a better word than inspire, or to lead a person into a world of sound, and the excitement of sound.

BD:   Are you optimistic about where music is heading these days?

Keller:   Yes, I am. Music goes in phases, and I’m optimistic. There are fallow periods, and periods where there is much growth. Some are more innovative cycles, and then the other periods are making use of that innovation. It’s hard to explain.

* * * * *

BD:   Let us talk a little bit about the various recordings you sent me. Tell me about Interplay for Flute, Horn, and Percussion [shown above-right].

Keller:   I was experimenting a little more than usual. I’m interested in dance rhythms and folk music, and I’d say I’m a rather conservative composer. But as a teacher, I feel that the students should explore a great variety of ways of doing things. In this Interplay for Flute, Horn, and Percussion, I was exploring more interesting things. In fact, I was influenced by the indeterminacy of John Cage, and of having a variety of ideas which have directed choice, and leave the interaction up to the performer. [Pauses again] It was easier to compose than to talk about.

BD:   But you’re pleased with the way that this piece turned out?

Keller:   Yes. The flutist, horn player, and percussionist were all virtuosos, and one is excited by being able to write difficult or more challenging music. So I was inspired by the performers, and knowing what they could do.
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BD:   Did you tailor it specifically to their talents?

Keller:   No, but the sky was the limit. I was much freer to try out new ideas. I was influenced by knowing what the performers were capable of doing.

BD:   Were most of your compositions on commission, or were they just things that you had to write down?

Keller:   I’ve had a few commissions, but mainly I’ve just worked on my own. I’m interested in orchestral music, and in chamber music. I haven’t written too much choral music, though I have several pieces that I’m pleased with.

BD:   The next recording is the Serenade for Clarinet and Strings. [Vis-à-vis that recording shown at left, see my interviews with Wayne Barlow, and Kent Kennan.]

Keller:   That’s an early work. It goes back to 1937 when I was a senior at the Eastman School of Music. It was one of the first works that had some success, and was performed and recorded. It’s elegiac in mood. I was in a rather poetic frame of mind when I wrote it, and it’s an expressive work. It’s not particularly brilliant at all, but still, I enjoy hearing it.

BD:   So even half a century later, you do still enjoy it?

Keller:   Yes! [Laughs]

BD:   The big work of yours that is recorded is the Symphony No. 3, and we’ve talked a little bit about that. Are there any other recordings that had been made over the years that might be lurking about?

Keller:   No, commercially just these three works. Of course, when I have a work performed at the University, I have the tape recorder there, so all my works that have been performed in public or have been performed, I have on tape but not commercially.

BD:   Do you still keep up with the current developments that are going on, or are you basically just retired and enjoying life now?

Keller:   Part of my being retired is enjoying life, and I find I don’t compose. My composing days are over. I sketch little piano pieces, and I take most of the journals. I don’t get out to so many contemporary programs but I do read all the journals that I can get my hands on, and I keep up with what’s happening. I find what is happening now very encouraging. When I was growing up, it was hard to get a performance, or have somebody become interested in your music. But now there are all these composers-in-residence. John Adams is at the San Francisco Symphony, and John Harbison was at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and now it’s Steven Stucky. [The first one in Los Angeles was William Kraft.]

BD:   Here in Chicago we have John Corigliano. [Later we would have Shulamit Ran, and Augusta Read Thomas.]

Keller:   Right! So, I do keep up with them. I still belong to the Society of Composers.

BD:   I assume that you listen to recordings on the radio when they are available?

Keller:   Right, though I spent many years teaching at the University of Oregon in Eugene. For the last several years, I’ve been in the Los Angeles area and, of course, there’s just so much to hear locally. They also have two very good FM stations of contemporary music, so I hear a lot of programs of contemporary music.

BD:   You’re pleased with what you hear?

Keller:   Yes, definitely. I don’t like everything I hear, but I find much of it holds my attention. The whole direction of composers being more a part of the mainstream and being performed more, pleases me.

BD:   We seem to be involved in this so-called ‘minimalist’ movement. Is that a good idea, or is this just a passing fad?

Keller:   Any idea is good to toss around and to work on. That’s part of the present speech, and I feel it’s rather exciting. There are some composers which bore me with their minimalization, but John Adams is a very exciting composer. Philip Glass I’m not as excited about, but he does some really intriguing things.

BD:   Let me ask another big philosophical question. What are some of the ideas that contribute to a piece of music being great?

Keller:   If it excites me, I notice that it excites quite a lot of other people.

BD:   You use that as a yardstick?

Keller:   Right, and I notice what people write about in the journals, or discuss, or rave about, or the applause of the audience. One knows and sees what it does to command attention.

BD:   Is the public always right in its assessment of music?

Keller:   Obviously not! I don’t feel like going into a whole music history lesson, but there is this setting up expectation and holding attention of the listener. The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky in Paris certainly did get very strong reaction. [Both laugh]

BD:   You look for a strong reaction, either positive or negative?

Keller:   Right! It’s an indication.

* * * * *

BD:   Are there some of your students who are getting to be well-known?

Keller:   Yes, several. My interest, as I said was in folk music. I’m a conservative, but in the early days of electronic music, I saw that our school got an adequate electronic music studio. I got a grant to go around to the electronic studios in 1950s and ’60s, and one person, Jon Appleton, is in charge of the studio at Dartmouth College. He did his work at the University of Oregon, and he was a very exciting student. So I would name him as one of the people I’ve had the privilege of working with. There’s also David Maves. He’s in South Carolina. After studying with me in Oregon, he went on and studied at the University of Michigan [with Ross Lee Finney and Leslie Bassett. His four piano sonatas have been recorded by Max Lifchitz]. Then there’s a popular composer, Ralph Towner who has the group called Oregon. He also has recordings as a jazz guitarist that I consider very exciting.

BD:   Good. That means you’ve left a considerable legacy.

Keller:   Well, I’ve enjoyed working. In fact, I got much inspiration from working with students.

BD:   Is composing fun?

Keller:   I would say yes... or maybe it is a compulsion. One either composes or doesn’t compose. It’s that simple. It certainly is absorbing.

BD:   I’m glad that it absorbed your talents and resources, because I enjoy what I’ve heard of your music.

Keller:   Well, thank you.

BD:   It’s been a great pleasure to chat with you. It’s been very interesting, and I look forward to playing your music again on the air, and using some of the interview in various programs.

Keller:   I look forward to hearing the reaction of your audience, whether favorable or unfavorable. It’s certainly been a pleasure talking with you.

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This conversation was recorded on the telephone on November 26, 1988. Portions were broadcast on WNIB in 1990, and again in 1995. While not including any interview material, I placed some of his music on the in-flight entertainment package aboard Delta Airlines in March-April, 1989. This transcription was made in 2026, and posted on this website at that time. My thanks to British soprano Una Barry for her help in preparing this website presentation.

To see a full list (with links) of interviews which have been transcribed and posted on this website, click here. To read my thoughts on editing these interviews for print, as well as a few other interesting observations, click here.

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Award - winning broadcaster Bruce Duffie was with WNIB, Classical 97 in Chicago from 1975 until its final moment as a classical station in February of 2001. His interviews have also appeared in various magazines and journals since 1980, and he continued his broadcast series on WNUR-FM, as well as on Contemporary Classical Internet Radio.

You are invited to visit his website for more information about his work, including selected transcripts of other interviews, plus a full list of his guests. He would also like to call your attention to the photos and information about his grandfather, who was a pioneer in the automotive field more than a century ago. You may also send him E-Mail with comments, questions and suggestions.