Was schubert gay

I suppose I will have to tell it now without any nonsense. Witty musical sidesteps add to his unpredictable charm. While they went on a long ocean voyage, he sketched out his tone poem Sehnsucht (“Longing”). She had a romantic relationship with performance artist Linda Montano.

Conclusion

Some people believe it’s unfair to label composers who never publicly “came out” as a particular queer identity.

But keeping quiet about the people they loved does history a disservice, too.

Nevertheless, a seldom seen portrait of the artist as an adolescent youth shows something of a young hottie – the price we pay for too much time spent in the bierkeller or wursthaus is all too plain.

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Musical Muscle

The German-born Handel was undoubtedly one of the greatest composers of all time.

They had four children between 1917 and 1920.

Winifred turned out to be one of Hitler’s best friends, and after her husband’s death, helped to cement a cultural connotation between Richard Wagner and anti-Semitism that has lasted into the present day.

Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947)

Reynaldo Hahn: Portraits de peintres – Paulus Potter

French composer Reynaldo Hahn had warm feelings of friendship for several female superstars of the French Belle Epoque, extraordinary women like Cléo de Mérode and Liane de Pougy (who he bluntly told upon her marriage: “Goodbye Lianon.

However, if you like a bon vivant with a love of small dogs and a strong taste of Gauloises, Francis Poulenc might just be your man.

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Musical Muscle

Another musical giant, Tchaikovsky can lay claim to the title of the greatest Russian composer of all time.

His room mate for some years, Johann Mayrhofer, was certainly gay and Schubert was most definitely attracted to Mayrhofer’s poetry, much of it laced with homoerotic references. Although not many of his works are played today, his opera Amahl and the Night Visitors remains a Christmas classic.

Over the decades, his romantic interest wandered, to Barber’s displeasure and even humiliation.

In 1974, he began dating the much younger actor Francis Phelan.

I hate married people”).

However, he was romantically attracted to men and had a relationship with Proust for two years. I can’t make it out for I am a very healthy-minded person.” She also fell in love with the married Emmeline Pankhurst. Tchaikovsky said of her: “Miss Smyth is one of the few women composers whom one can seriously consider to be achieving something valuable in the field of musical creation.”

The Goss

A natural rebel, there are no shortage of stories about Dame Ethel’s unorthodox behaviour.

A failed engagement to the Belgian soprano Désirée Artôt and various passions for male friends, both gay and straight, were the cause of frequent mood swings, loss of appetite and morbid thoughts. From 1690 he lived at Ottoboni’s villa, La Cancelleria – an exclusive academy of male artists. A sort of flasher in marble!

Phwoar Factor

Apparently ‘Il Caro Sassone’ (the dear Saxon) was considered quite a catch when on the Grand Tour, but sadly most of the portraits that we have show a bit of a fat German sausage with wobbly chin and bulging waistcoats.

Barber, the shorter of the two, had a clean cut, slightly preppy appearance but drink, alas, took its toll in later life.

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Musical Muscle

Undoubtedly one of the major musical figures of the 20th century, Britten combined multiple careers as composer, conductor and pianist. I have vivid memories of the elegant composer in the 1990s, still standing tall in a crowd despite his advanced years.

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Musical Muscle

Barber is one of the great American composers of the twentieth century, having achieved fame early in life and been celebrated for most of his musical career.

I was meant to be a composer, and will be I’m sure. This led to conflicting feelings about his own faith, providing the inspiration to write the poem Der Doppelgänger. His formally rigid concerti grossi and trio sonatas were widely imitated. From that time on, the two spent their lives in a constant creative and romantic conversation.

In 1974, two years before his death, Britten wrote to Pears, “My darling heart (perhaps an unfortunate phrase, but I can’t use any other) … I do love you so terribly, not only glorious you, but your singing.

But Lully’s affair did cause the King to distance himself from him, and the page was imprisoned.

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)

Arcangelo Corelli: Concerto in D Major Op. 6 No. 4

Arcangelo Corelli was famous for his groundbreaking violin technique, as well as his hugely influential compositions.

In 1683 Corelli met a violinist named Matteo Fornari, and the two were inseparable for nearly twenty years.

One of their mutual composer friends actually dedicated two trio sonatas to the couple, and Fornari oversaw the publication of Corelli’s work after Corelli’s death.

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

George Frideric Handel: Lascia ch’io pianga (from opera Rinaldo)

Handel was one of the best-known composers of the Baroque era, especially famous for his smash-hit oratorios like The Messiah.

Some modern-day musicologists consider him to be LGBTQ+.

Later on, Schubert would use Heine’s Der Doppelgänger as part of his song cycle titled Schwanengesang. Unlike the tight-lipped Britten, he was out there almost waving the rainbow flag. Rival prima donnas could scratch and bite each other on stage, castrati could preen and fuss but Handel remained aloof. His essentially contrapuntal style developed throughout his long composing career, adapting and transforming influences from the likes of Byrd, Dowland, Purcell, Handel and Bach into something highly individual.