List of LGBT classical composers

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Numerous composers of Western classical music were LGBT, from at least the 16th century to the modern day. Many of these composers faced persecution or violence as a result of their sexuality.

Contents

16th century

NameBornDiedNationalityDetailsRef(s)
Dominique Phinot c. 1510c. 1556 Franco-Flemish Phinot was a composer of motets with polyphonic experimentation that predated the music of Palestrina. He was tried and executed by the French government for "homosexual practices", likely in the city of Lyon. [1]

17th century

NameBornDiedNationalityDetailsRef(s)
Charles Coypeau d'Assoucy 16051677Frenchd'Assoucy is believed to have been the lover of the French novelist Cyrano de Bergerac. He was arrested multiple times by the Holy Office for unspecified reasons. [2]
Jean-Baptiste Lully 16321687Italian-FrenchLully was a composer of Baroque music employed in the court of then-king Louis XIV. He was discovered to have had sexual affairs with both men and women, and was subsequently expelled from the courtship at the orders of the king. [3]
Johann Rosenmüller 16191684GermanRosenmüller was a German composer who fled to Italy in 1658, after a scandal involving his homosexual activities came to light. [4]

18th century

NameBornDiedNationalityDetailsRef(s)
Frederick the Great 17121786 Prussian Frederick the Great is best known as the first King of Prussia, and had several musical works published during his lifetime. His homosexuality and numerous documented partners have been confirmed by modern historians. [5]

19th century

NameBornDiedNationalityDetailsRef(s)
Clement Harris 18711897English [6]
Adela Maddison 18621929English [7]
Ella Overbeck 18701919Russo-English
Camille Saint-Saëns 18351921French [8]
Ethel Smyth 18581944English [9]
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 18401893Russian [10]
Siegfried Wagner 18691930German

20th century

NameBornDiedNationalityDetailsRef(s)
Walter Arlen 19202023Austro-American
Ruth Anderson 19282019American
Samuel Barber 19101981American [11] [12] [9] [10]
Jean Barraqué 19281973French
Stanley Bate 19111959English
Arthur Benjamin 18931960Australian
R. R. Bennett 19362012Anglo-American
Lord Berners 18831950English
Leonard Bernstein 19181990American [13] [9] [10]
Marc Blitzstein 19051964American [12] [13] [10]
Konrad Boehmer 19412014German-Dutch
Henriëtte Bosmans 18951952Dutch
Pierre Boulez 19252016French
Paul Bowles 19101999Moroccan [13] [10]
Benjamin Britten 19131976English [9]
Merton Brown 19132001American
Sylvano Bussotti 19312021Italian
John Cage 19121992American [12] [10]
Wendy Carlos 1931American [14]
Roger Sacheverell Coke 19121971English
Aaron Copland 19001990American [13] [9] [10] [15] [16]
John Corigliano 1938AmericanMarried to Mark Adamo [14]
Henry Cowell 18971965American [12] [17] [10]
Ingolf Dahl 19121970German-American
Peter Maxwell Davies 19342016English
David Del Tredici 1937American [12] [14] [9]
David Diamond 19152005American [13] [10]
Hubert du Plessis 19222011South African
Julius Eastman 19401990American [9]
Joseph Fennimore 1940American
William Flanagan 19231969American [10]
Wolfgang Fortner 19071987German
Karel Goeyvaerts 19231993Belgian
Charles Tomlinson Griffes 18841920American [18]
Clare Grundman 19131996American
Reynaldo Hahn 18741947Venezuelan-French [19]
Lou Harrison 19172003American [12] [17] [10]
Hans Werner Henze 19262012German
David Hogan 19491996American
Lee Hoiby 19262011American [12]
Vladimir Horowitz 19031989Russian
Jerry Hunt 19431993American [12]
Douglas Lilburn 19152001New Zealander
Annea Lockwood 1939New Zealander [12]
Frederick May 19111985Irish
Colin McPhee 19001964Canadian-American [20]
Gian Carlo Menotti 19112007Italian-American [9] [10]
Noel Mewton-Wood 19221953Australian-English
Zygmunt Mycielski 19071997Polish
Dimitri Mitropoulos 18961960Greek
Pauline Oliveros 19322016American [12] [9]
Harry Partch 19011974American [12] [10]
Thomas Pasatieri 1941American
Daniel Pinkham 19232006American [10]
Francis Poulenc 18991963French
Roger Quilter 18771953English
Peer Raben 19402007German
Aribert Reimann 19362024German [21]
Ned Rorem 19232022American [12] [13] [10]
Henri Sauguet 19011989French
Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji 18921988English
Conrad Susa 19352013American [22]
Karol Szymanowski 18821937Polish [23]
Virgil Thomson 18961989American [13] [10]
Michael Tippett 19051998English [9]
Tui St. George Tucker 19242004American
Claude Vivier 19481983Canadian [9]
Ben Weber 19161979American [10]
Juliusz Wertheim 18801928Polish [10]
Arnold van Wyk 19161983South African
Charles Wuorinen 19382020American [24]

21st century

NameBornDiedNationalityDetailsRef(s)
Mark Adamo 1962AmericanMarried to John Corigliano
Thomas Adès 1971English [9]
William Basinski 1958American
Eve Beglarian 1958American [12] [25]
Iain Bell 1980English
Chester Biscardi 1948American [12]
Roger Bourland 1952American
Mark Carlson 1952American [26]
David Conte 1955American
Conrad Cummings 1948American [12] [25]
Corey Dargel 1977American
Don Davis 1957American
Jeremy Dutcher 1990Canadian
Mohammed Fairouz 1985American [25]
Gareth Farr 1968New Zealander
Michael Finnissy 1946English [9]
Alan Fletcher 1956American
Jake Heggie 1961American
Jennifer Higdon 1962American [14] [25]
Stephen Hough 1961Anglo-Australian [14] [25]
Laura Karpman 1959American [14]
Lowell Liebermann 1961American
Jonathan Mills 1963Australian
Meredith Monk 1942American [14]
Nico Muhly 1981American [14]
Andrew Norman 1979American [25]
Patrick Nunn 1969British
Thomas Pasatieri 1941American
Albert Patron 1969Italian
Tobias Picker 1954American
Matthew Ricketts 1986Canadian
Gil Shohat 1973Israeli
Michael Tilson Thomas 1944American
Philip Venables 1979English [9]
Šimon Voseček 1978Austro-Czech
Rufus Wainwright 1973American-Canadian

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References

Citations

  1. ↑ Jacob, Roger. Macy, Laura (ed.). Dominique Phinot. Grove Music Online.
  2. ↑ Dejean, Joan (1981). Libertine strategies: freedom and the novel in seventeenth-century France. Ohio State University Press. pp. 198–211. ISBN   0-8142-0325-6
  3. ↑ Haggerty (2000), p. 855-856.
  4. ↑ Randel, Don Michael (1996). The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. Harvard University Press. p. 762. ISBN   978-0-674-37299-3.
  5. ↑ Blanning 2016, p.  193.
  6. ↑ Carr, Jonathan (2007). The Wagner Clan. London: Faber and Faber. p. 121.
  7. ↑ Fuller, Sophie (1994). Pandora Guide to Women Composers. London: Pandora. pp.  203–206. ISBN   0-04-440897-8.
  8. ↑ Haggerty (2000), p. 1178.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Hind, Rolf (2015). "Queer Pitch: is there such a thing?" The Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Hubbs (2004), p. 67.
  11. ↑ Hubbs (2004), p. 2.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Haggerty (2000), p. 562.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hubbs (2004), p. 4.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Knoll, Brooke (2021). "10 contemporary queer composers to listen to in honor of Pride Month". Your Classical. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  15. ↑ Aldrich & Wotherspoon (2020), pp. 123–124.
  16. ↑ Pollack 2000, p. 39.
  17. 1 2 Hubbs (2004), p. 13.
  18. ↑ Hubbs (2004), p. 101.
  19. ↑ Gavoty 1976, p. 37.
  20. ↑ Haggerty (2000), pp. 893–894.
  21. ↑ Queer.de: Nachruf, Aribert Reimann
  22. ↑ Haggerty (2000), pp. 1309–1310.
  23. ↑ Haggerty (2000), p. 1323.
  24. ↑ Hubbs (2004), p. 84.
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Peterson, Catherine (2018). "10 Contemporary LGBTQ Composers You Should Know". Arts Boston. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  26. ↑ "Meetings This Month | City of West Hollywood". 2 June 2012.

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