The 10 Greatest Gay Composers?

Today the Sydney Mardi Gras parade takes place. During last year’s Mardi Gras the Australian classical music and arts magazine “Limelight” published an article on its website called “The 10 Greatest Gay Composers: Mardi Gras Special!”

The 10 composers (actually 11!) listed were, in ascending order :

10        Franz Schubert

9          George Frideric Handel

8          Aaron Copland

7          Ethel Smyth

6          Francis Poulenc

5          Peter Tchaikovsky

4          Arcangelo Corelli

3          Michael Tippett

2          Samuel Barber and Gian Carlo Menotti

1          Benjamin Britten

I’m sure there are composers absent from the list which you think should be there, or that some composers should be placed in a different position. Most of these composers have been known to be lgbt for many years. Several have been openly gay throughout their own lifetime, and perhaps one or two may come as a surprise.

The article has a light-hearted touch to it, though it gives an excellent overview of each composer’s sexuality or current thinking about it.

I hope to cover most of these composers throughout the year, if I haven’t already done so. For now I’ll leave you to enjoy the article here.