When friends from Michael Mitchell’s film life and I organized to finish his short film, Steam Pump, we needed a composer who could take on that challenge with little or no direction: Michael had died, and this would be a legacy project. Some years before, Michael had talked about inviting Charles—whose musical talents he very much admired—to compose for the film. Michael was passionate about music, and had broad eclectic taste. But he had a particular regard for minimalist music, especially Steve Reich’s. That would be all the direction Charles would get.

The film is beautiful images of a Victorian steam pump in motion, all horizontal and vertical movement, cogs and wheels and gleaming metals. Michael would have loved the final composition with all of its delicate percussive components, and the lovely ethereal drone that leads through to the end. What Charles made, working mostly alone, recognizes the power of the machine’s essential purpose, along with its poetic cadence. He is a terrific composer and a real pleasure to work with.