Classical gender identities?? - Page 3 - Classical Music Forums

david johnson · #31 (**permalink**) Dec-31-2009, 19:49

i detested the 'out classics series' concept of sony cd's some years ago. bisexual composers were claimed to be homosexual. dishonest marketing.

handlebar · #32 (**permalink**) Dec-31-2009, 19:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by david johnson

i detested the 'out classics series' concept of sony cd's some years ago. bisexual composers were claimed to be homosexual. dishonest marketing.

Ditto. As if there is a truly gay music that only the GLBT crowd will listen to.

Jim

Argus · #33 (**permalink**) Dec-31-2009, 22:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by handlebar

Ditto. As if there is a truly gay music that only the GLBT crowd will listen to.

Jim

Scissor Sisters?

rojo · #34 (**permalink**) Jan-01-2010, 02:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by handlebar

I don't remember reading of such a question so why not:

How many composers were gay/lesbian/bi,etc?And how many had identity issues with their gender?

And what about the percentage of composers who were such?

It is not a subject that crosses the music lists I subscribe to and other than one book I have seen that details the sexual lives of composers, not much is said.

It is said that Tchaikovsky was gay yet was he really or was he bisexual?
The times that they lived in were tough for gay/bi/lesbian people.So most were certainly still in the closet.

Thoughts?

Jim

There was a discussion about Tchaikovsky's sexual orientation over at MIMF a couple of years ago. There are a couple of interesting links in the thread itself as well.

I don't know of any publication that lists all the composers who were gay, or who may have been gay; one would think such a work would exist though.

Not sure what you mean by 'identity issues with their gender'; do you mean like Wendy Carlos?

http://www.magle.dk/music-forums/290...sexuality.html

(Btw, not directed at anyone in particular, but MJ is not a child molester.

)

Polednice · #35 (**permalink**) Jan-01-2010, 15:17

As I was reading this thread, a vague shadow of a quotation popped into my mind. I can't remember who said it or when, but I recall that it was something along the lines of almost all artists (he/she may specifically have been referring to poets) before the 20th century apparently being heterosexual, yet, from the 20th century, one could hardly be considered an artist/poet if you weren't gay.

Obviously, this was just a sound-bite style statement from someone who almost certainly wasn't looking at it from an academic perspective, nor do I know whether it's supposed to carry a disapproving tone (I don't know how old the quotation is), but I think it raises an interesting question about the sexuality of artists. It has always seemed to me that homosexuals/bisexuals are disproportionately predominant in the creative arts - or at least people who are/were open to 'alternative' (I hate that word) sexualities - which may say something about what draws people to be creative, or what allows them the capacity to create.

I imagine that there were many more closeted artists pre-20th century than we might at first assume; but perhaps the prevalence of LGBT artists in the modern era is rather a by-product of the increasing feminisation of the creative arts (perhaps, again, more specifically poetry). I don't know!