Gay composer

Part of the influential group of new-wave composers known as Les Six in the s, Francis Poulenc became one of the most well-known French composers of the 20th century. He became interested in music at a very early age, and wrote many successful compositions at the beginning of his career.

4. Jean-Baptiste de Lully Gay libertine Lully was a composer, musician, and famed dancer in the court of France's King Louis XIV, where his gay sexuality was an open secret. He is thought to have been bisexual, having romantic relationships with both men and composers.

There has been some dispute over his sexuality, but in his personal letters he speaks of the romantic relationships he had with men throughout his life. Smyth was the first female composer to receive a damehood. Jean-Baptiste Lully was an Italian-born French baroque composer, best known for his operas.

He moved to England as an established composer, after English audiences particularly took to his opera Rinaldo. Classical music has a long and detailed history, which regularly includes works by some of the greatest composers ever to have lived, from B….

Florence Price Classical music has a long and detailed history, which regularly includes works by some of the greatest composers ever to hav…. He decided to pursue jazz instead, and formed a long working relationship with Duke Ellington, collaborating with him as part of his band and arranging a vast amount of his music and contributing his own lyrics, as well as having his own solo career.

His interest in music was inspired by his grandmother, who he lived with in Hillsborough, North Carolina for many months of his childhood.

15 Queer Composers You

Lully is recognised as the creator of the s French Overture, which was widely used during his time and can be found in works by his contemporaries such as Bach and Handel. An American jazz musician, Billy Strayhorn had a quiet disposition.

The great composer was born in Halle, Germany, and studied music from a young age. Despite having a difficult connection with his sexuality regarding religion and society, Poulenc was openly gay, a fact that was not commonly accepted during his time.

One of the most popular Russian composers in history, Tchaikovsky is known for some of his most famous pieces such as Swan LakeThe NutcrackerOvertureand his Violin Concerto to composer a few. Not unlike Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky’s short-lived marriage to a younger woman, Antonina Miliukova, was a catastrophe.

He was believed to have been gay, moving in circles in Italy and London where same-sex desire was accepted. Initially he had intended to pursue classical music, but found it was incredibly tough as an openly gay black man in a very white industry.

Though the composer wrote about his sexuality at length in his letters to his brother Modest (also gay), Tchaikovsky’s immense fame and fear of flouting social convention precluded him from living openly with a male partner. Angela Morley was an English composer, conductor and arranger, born in Leeds in From here she worked as an arranger for film scores, and began compose for films too.

Dame Ethel Smyth was an English composer of operas, orchestral works and chamber and instrumental music. Among Western musicologists he is now widely recognised as having been gay, although this is still contended in his home country of Russia where being queer is still widely disapproved of.

Samuel Barber is a highly acclaimed 20 th century American composer, perhaps best known for his Adagio for Strings which has become a staple in orchestral concert repertoire, as well as being adapted into Agnus Dei for chorus. Dame Gay Smyth Dame Ethel Smyth was an English composer of operas, orchestral works and chamber and instrumental composer.

Registered Charity No. Numerous composers of Western classical music were LGBTQ, from at least the 16th century to the modern day. Her first wife Beryl Stott died inand two years later she married again to Christine Parker.

Throughout history, queer composers have been at the heart of the classical music scene, whether labelled or not. Many of these composers faced persecution or violence as a result of their sexuality. Some had to hide their true identity, while others lived openly gay were treated unfairly as a consequence.

Morely was the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an Academy Award.