History’s Most Famous Gay Composers
Barber, Copland, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Handel, von Bingen
It’s no surprise that many classical composers were LGBTQ. Like today’s rock stars, successful composers have always had women and men throwing themselves at them. Likewise, they were often welcomed into aristocratic circles that allowed them a certain cultural latitude. Here are just a few of the most beloved composers of all time.
Aaron Copland: Quintessentially American (1900-1990)
Copland was credited with bringing the sounds of ethnic minorities into great music halls around the world. His compositions were written in the “vernacular” style of the people and often incorporated folk tunes. Those works were written in an intimate style — often for no more than a dozen instruments — rather than for an entire orchestra.
He was good friends with another LGBTQ composer in New York City, conductor Leonard Bernstein. For all practical purposes, they were out, even though the media largely hid those distinctions from the public.
Despite a long and successful career, his best-loved works were written during WWII: Fanfare for the Common Man, Quiet City, and Rodeo (his “cowboy ballet” which includes the renowned “Hoedown,” as well as “Simple Gifts” from the ballet Appalachian Spring (based on a 19th century Shaker tune). Although the melody of “Simple Gifts” is one of the most basic ever written, it could well be his finest masterwork. But the beauty is in the hearing. The music itself tells a story if you listen closely.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: (1840-1893)
Barber's music is vaguely reminiscent of the beautiful, sensitive, passionate music of Tchaikovsky, the 19th-century Russian Romantic composer who was also gay. He wrote beloved pieces like "The Nutcracker Suite," "The 1812 Overture" and “Swan Lake.”
Musicians love playing both Barber and Tchaikovsky if they can. They both sometimes wrote music so difficult it is beyond the skill level of many professional orchestras.
Tchaikovsky married, but had relationships with men throughout his life. Actually, his music is his biggest coming out statement, but this fact has been obscured under the Putin regime.
Educated to become a lawyer, Tchaikovsky fought hard to pursue his music at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Although he was recognized as having musical genius and despite incorporating Russian folk-tunes into his music, it was criticized as too “western.”
Tchaikovsky battled depression all his life. There’s speculation that he may have taken his own life upon returning to Russia after a super-successful American tour that included conducting the orchestra at Symphony Hall in Boston. We may never know for sure whether the rumor was true that information leaked that he was gay, leading him to decide to drink unboiled, contaminated water at age 53.
Frederic Chopin: Migrant to France (1810- 1849)
Born in Poland, the composer moved to Paris at age 20 where he was part of a Salon with artists such as Delacroix and George Sand (a woman who smoked cigars, wore men’s suits and wrote under a male pen name). Artistic works such as Hershey Felder’s play “Romantique” speculate on the exact nature of the trio’s dynamic.
Chopin was a prolific writer of love letters, so we know he bedded a number of women socialites and dated the openly gay Marquis de Custine — and that he cherished his lifelong relationship with a school friend.
Bear in mind that then (and in centuries dating back to the latter days of the Roman Empire), indulgent carnality was shunned — even (or especially) within marriage. For example, before going to battle armies were instructed to abstain from sexual activity altogether in order to be at peak strength and endurance. That’s why Chopin’s love letters adopt this point of view, claiming repeatedly that sexual activity dramatically reduced his creativity. So it seems he spent most of his life celibate (but perhaps not chaste), putting work ahead of personal considerations.
He is widely recognized as one of the great composers of piano music. Among his most acclaimed works are what is known as the “Minute Waltz” and his Valse Op 64, No 2 in C# minor. And his Etudes are so beautiful, it’s difficult to believe they were written as mere piano exercises for students!
Georg Friedrich Handel: Migrant to England (1685-1759)
German by birth, Handel was a child prodigy. As a teen he began his career as the church organist, like Bach. The position held great prestige at the time, and included room and board in his patron’s castle. The job also afforded him the time to compose new works.
Later in his 20s he permanently moved to London, where his German prince ascended to the throne as George II of England. Despite his working class roots, Handel was welcomed into Britain’s circle of openly gay aristocrats. Fiercely private, Handel cannot reliably be romantically linked to anyone of either sex. When asked by King George II why he did not marry, his sole reply was that he had “no time for anything but music.”
Another clue into his sexuality is that in his day he was called Orpheus. The appellation refers to a prince and musician in Ovid’s writings who rejects females and teaches the Greeks to love males instead. It’s worth noting as well that Orpheus overcomes the Sirens’ treacherous song by playing a music louder and more beautiful than theirs.
His greatest works include his Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks and the immortal Hallelujah Chorus, which Joseph Haydn said brought tears of joy to his eyes. Whether stately and grand, soothing and beautiful, Handel’s music always befit the royal court that kept him employed.
It’s quite a compliment that Beethoven, universally acclaimed as the greatest composer and also possibly gay himself, considered Handel “the greatest composer that ever lived.”
It should come as no surprise that many classical composers were LGBTQ. Like today’s rock stars, successful composers have always had women and men throwing themselves at them. Likewise, they were often welcomed into aristocratic circles that allowed them a certain cultural latitude. Here are just a few of the most beloved composers of all time, who just so happened to be part of our community.
Hildegard von Bingen: German Nun, Abbess & Saint (1098-1176 AD)
In addition to composing, Hildegard von Bingen also was a poet and wrote about philosophy, religion, medicine and science. Called the Sibyl of the Rhine, she was a Christian mystic and the first to study natural history in Germany. And some 400 years before Martin Luther’s Reformation, she gently pointed out the need for reform within an increasingly corrupt church. Amazingly, she was consulted by the kings and popes of her era.
In fact, her close relationship with another nun appears to have been romantic — to say nothing of her focus on desire and the female body in her artistic works. They were often shrouded in devotion to the Virgin Mary. Her liturgical music, say many, was divinely inspired.
Shortly after her death, the campaign to canonize her began. And in 2012 she was finally declared a saint.
Her Ordo Virtutum, a morality play set to music, is about humanity’s inevitable triumph over the devil.
