Page "Charlie Chaplin" Paragraph 84

Because Chaplin was not a trained musician, he could not read notes and needed the help of professional composers, such as David Raksin, Raymond Rasch and Eric James, when creating his scores.

Although some of Chaplin's critics have claimed that credit for his film music should be given to the composers who worked with him, for example Raksin, who worked with Chaplin on Modern Times, has stressed Chaplin's creative position and active participation in the composing process.

This process, which could take months, would start with Chaplin describing to the composer ( s ) exactly what he wanted and singing or playing a tune he had come up with on the piano.

These tunes were then developed further in a close collaboration between the composer ( s ) and Chaplin.

According to film historian Jeffrey Vance, " although he relied upon associates to arrange varied and complex instrumentation, the musical imperative is his, and not a note in a Chaplin musical score was placed there without his assent.