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This is the third in a series of articles showcasing the wide variety
of notable gays and lesbians that have made contributions throughout
history. In the previous installment, we highlighted gay European
composers of classical music, so this time we're going to consider gay
American composers.
Stephen C. Foster (1826-1864), was probably the most popular pre-Civil
War American composer/songwriter...and gay. He specialized in folk or
"people's" songs. Although other songwriters of his era are remembered
for only one or two such songs, Foster is noted for several. Some of
his better-known songs are Beautiful River, De Camptown Races, [I Dream
of] Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair, Oh! Susannah, Old Folks at Home,
and Way Down Upon the Swanee River.
Cole Porter (1891-1964) was a snob (he thought himself an aristocrat),
a bigot, and a rather unpleasant person under the superficial charm. He
also wrote some of the best popular music of the century...and he was
gay (despite having been married to divorcee Linda Thomas from 1919
until her death in 1954). One of Cole Porter's many lovers was
womanizer and narcissist John Vernou Bouvier III (yup, Jackie's
father). The effeminate Porter's best friend was butch lesbian social
climber and writer Elsa Maxwell (1883-?). While at Yale, Porter met
life-long friend, sex buddy, and gay American actor Monty Woolley
(1888-?), who played himself opposite gay British-born American actor
Cary Grant (1904-1986) in Porter's biopic, Night and Day (the title was
borrowed from one of the songs in his musical Gay Divorce); the film
was, to put it kindly, a less-than-accurate rendering of Porter's life
(no mention was made of his gayness, naturally).
Virgil Thomson (1896-1989) was a gay American composer and music
critic. He collaborated with lesbian American writer Gertrude Stein
(1874-1946) on the opera Four Saints in Three Acts (she wrote the
libretto), based on the life of pioneering lesbian American suffragist
Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906). Thomson received Kennedy Center Honors in
1983.
George Gershwin (1898-1937) may or may not have been gay; rumors still
abound, although there's no indication in his biographies (not
surprising, since until recently historians have ignored even well-
known homosexuality in their subjects). Gershwin is probably America's
most popular composer. Although he wrote a number of orchestral works
(the most famous being Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris), as
well as the great American opera, Porgy and Bess. Gershwin is also
well-known for his body of theatre and film songs, which were written
in collaboration with his lyricist brother Ira.
Aaron Copland (1900-1990) was most certainly gay, although--like
Leonard Bernstein (see below)--he married and had children. He composed
film music, song cycles, ballet music (Billy the Kid, Rodeo, and
Appalachian Spring), symphonies, chamber music, and other pieces (such
as Fanfare for the Common Man). His themes ranged from the homespun to
the exalted, as he captured an authentic American sound. Copland won a
Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for Appalachian Spring, an Oscar for Best
Dramatic Film Score in 1949 for The Heiress, the Presidential Medal of
Freedom from President Johnson, Kennedy Center Honors in 1979, and the
National Medal of Arts in 1986. The Russian-born American composer Igor
Stravinsky (1882-1971) once remarked, "Why call Copland a great
American composer? He's a great composer."
Frederick Loewe (1904-1988) was the gay half of Lerner and Loewe. With
lyricist Alan Jay Lerner (1918-1986), the Vienna-born Loewe created
many brilliant musicals, including Paint Your Wagon, My Fair Lady,
Gigi, and Camelot. Together, Lerner and Loewe won an Academy Award in
1958 for the title song Gigi and received Kennedy Center Honors in
1985.
Samuel Barber (1910-1981) was a gay American classical composer. His
best-known work is probably Adagio for Strings. He also wrote the
Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Vanessa. Barber and gay Italian composer
Gian Carlo Menotti (see previous installment) were together for 30
years.
Paul Bowles (1910-) is a gay American author (short stories, novels,
and other works) and composer. Bowles studied with Virgil Thomson (see
above) and Aaron Copland (see above).
John Cage (1912-1992) was a gay American composer, painter, and poet.
In 1937, Cage met gay dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham
(1922-), with whom he collaborated in art and life for the next 55
years.
Billy Strayhorn (1915-1967) was a gay African-American composer. His
best-known songs are probably those associated with Duke Ellington,
including "Take the 'A' Train." Although open with his friends about
his homosexuality, Billy stayed in Ellington's shadow, because "a more
public life would have required the hypocrisy of a 'marriage of
convenience' or other subterfuge." Ellington's well-known heterosexual
promiscuousness was contrasted by Strayhorn's long-term romantic
homosexual relationships.
David Diamond (1915-) is a gay American composer. In 1995, he was
presented the National Medal of Arts by President Clinton.
Lou Harrison (1917-) is a gay American classical composer, activist,
and polymath. Harrison "trained as a performer of Korean, Indonesian,
and Chinese music" and "built every instrument in two Indonesian
gamelan orchestras." His interests are not limited to music, however;
he is "fluent in Esperanto and American sign language;" is proficient
at calligraphy, paints, and writes poetry...and still finds time for
activism. He met John Cage (see above) at a young age in San Francisco,
and at one time was a music critic at the New York Herald Tribune for
Virgil Thomson (see above). His partner of 30 years is William Colvig.
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) was a gay American composer for stage
(West Side Story), film (On the Waterfront), and classical orchestra,
as well as long-time conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
Although he married and had children, Bernstein was most certainly gay;
in his later years, he was frequently seen with sweet young men around
town. He helped to popularize classical music in the United States with
his conducting showmanship. Bernstein received Kennedy Center Honors in
1980.
Ned Rorem (1923-) is a gay American composer who is also a writer and
critic with over a dozen books to his credit. While studying at
Juilliard following World War II, he worked as a copyist for Virgil
Thomson (see above) in exchange for orchestration lessons. His 1966
kiss-and-tell memior, The Paris Diary, scandalized the musical world
with its tales of Rorem's making the rounds of French cultural circles
from the late 1940s through the 1950s. He received a Fulbright
Fellowship in 1951 and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1957. He won a
Pulitzer prize in 1976 for Air Music. Time Magazine has called Rorem
"the world's best composer of art songs," although his musical output
has certainly not been limited to that genre; he has written symphonies
and other orchestral works, piano concertos, chamber music, operas,
choral works, ballet and other theatrical works. In 1994, Rorem's
autobiographical memior Knowing When to Stop was published.
Stephen Sondheim (1930-) is a gay American composer, lyricist, and
writer. His Broadway shows include Company, A Funny Thing Happened on
the Way to the Forum, and A Little Night Music. Sondheim cowrote the
screenplay for The Last of Sheilah with gay actor Anthony Perkins
(1932-1992). Sondheim was the recipient of Kennedy Center Honors in
1993.
Jerry Herman (1933-) is a gay American composer and lyricist. His
Broadway shows include Hello Dolly!, La Cage aux Folles, and Mame.
David Del Tredici (1937-) is a gay American composer. In 1980, he won a
Pulitzer Prize for In Memory of a Summer Day. He has also received
Guggenheim and Woodrow Wilson fellowships, has been elected to The
American Academy of Arts and Letters, and teaches at the City College
of New York and The Juilliard School.
John Corigliano (1938-) is a gay American composer. His major works
include the opera The Ghosts of Versailles (which won the 1991
Grawemeyer Award, music's Nobel Prize) and Symphony No. 1
("Corigliano's impassioned personal response to the AIDS crisis" won
two Grammy Awards). Corigliano has also written for film (he received
an Academy Award nomination for Altered States), and has created many
commissioned works. He is a member of the faculty at the Juilliard
School of Music.
Howard Ashman (1951-1991) was a gay American musical comedy librettist,
lyricist, playwright, and director. He wrote both the script and lyrics
for the off-Broadway musical (and later feature film) Little Shop of
Horrors. With composer Alan Menken, he provided the music for several
Disney animated features, including The Little Mermaid and Beauty and
the Beast (the first animated feature ever to be nominated for a Best
Picture Oscar). The latter film, for which he was also the executive
producer, included a dedication to Ashman, who died from AIDS before
the feature was released: "To our friend, Howard, who gave a mermaid
her voice and a beast his soul, we will be forever grateful." Ashman
and Menken were nominated for seven Best Song Academy Awards (four
after Ashman's death); in his career, Ashman won three Academy Awards,
two Golden Globe Awards, and two Grammy Awards. His lover accepted his
Best Song Oscar for Beauty and the Beast at the 1991 Academy Awards, a
first.
Fred Hersch (1956?-) is a gay American Grammy-nominated jazz pianist
and composer.
Mark Shaiman (?-) is a gay American Academy Award-winning film and
television music composer.
Laura Karpman (?-) is a lesbian American composer. She has creating
music for concerts (including the short opera Escape), film and
television (including Lover's Knot, A Woman of Independent Means, and
The Living Edens), and commercials. She has received a Charles Ives
fellowship from The American Academy of Arts and Letters and two ASCAP
Foundation grants.
Our Gay and Lesbian Heritage by Bruce Britton - Part 2
Our Gay and Lesbian Heritage by Bruce Britton - Part 4
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