[click]

First, lgbt people had to hide who they are, for fear of being physically attacked, fired, shamed and/or ostracized.

Second, people who ask questions about who those hidden lgbt folks were and what their art was like are told such questions are irrelevant, dangerous, antisocial, or just plain bad.

That is an interesting transition.

 

[Pete Thomas]

I don't see what's wrong with that.

I agree.

Plus I think there is legitimate academic interest in the topic, which is what the OP is about.

It can be a useful thread.

 

[hakukani]

Much as I hate to say. Please, Please stick to the subject. I really don't want to close this thread down.

 

[Pete Thomas]

It's a shame that the agitation by the people who have jumped into this thread in the last week is probably going to cause the thread to be locked, or at least result in a series of deleted posts.

The OP respectfully asked about biographical information relating to COMPOSERS for the saxophone. This is not an uncommon inquiry by any means -- and yes, sexuality is part of people's lives, and therefore part of their biographies. It's unfortunate that some members should take umbrage at a reasonable discussion and join the conversation simply to declare it invalid, based solely on their personal discomfort with the topic.

Sadly we have had to delete a lot of posts, and I apologise to those whose deleted posts were actually rational, but sadly there is often some collateral damage when you have to delete the irrelevant or offensive stuff. It is not an easy thread to moderate, because there is a lot of interesting discussion going on which is sad to lose. I have left a couple that maybe should be also be deleted but the rational positive content of those seems to be valuable (mods will be discussing). Meanwhile please stay on topic.

If you disagree with moderator action that is totally your prerogative, we respect that, and please feel free to discuss it with admins privately.

Again: This thread question appears legitimate. It is in the context of academia, so all posts (however well intentioned) that say it doesn't matter will be deleted, not for any political reason, purely because there have been so many and however true in social or personal contexts misses the point of the thread.

It seems a good thing people agree a person's sexuality/gender may not be relevant to them personally or socially, however as an academic study it seems totally acceptable to discuss and learn from.

Apparently, some folk are interested in these matters and some are not.

Anyone interested please continue, if not please don't...

 

[Taragot]

A little bit ot, because it's not strictly related to composers for saxophone:
"Alex Ross: The rest is noise" is imo a great book about the music of the 20th century. The author says that he is homosexual and his focus is a bit on Copland, Britten, Cage and others. Or perhaps better said: He mentiones sometimes en passant that a composer is homosexual where other books would not mention it. I especially like about the book, that he, coming from classical music, is open minded about jazz and rock.
That book should be a good source for inspiration for the OPs question.

 

[LostConn]

A little bit ot, because it's not strictly related to composers for saxophone:
"Alex Ross: The rest is noise" is imo a great book about the music of the 20th century. The author says that he is homosexual and his focus is a bit on Copland, Britten, Cage and others. Or perhaps better said: He mentiones sometimes en passant that a composer is homosexual where other books would not mention it. I especially like about the book, that he, coming from classical music, is open minded about jazz and rock.
That book should be a good source for inspiration for the OPs question.

I've read The Rest is Noise (or rather, I listened to it as an audiobook while commuting), and I agree that it's an excellent, long, extremely "chewy" book (i.e., packed with nuggets of information that need to be processed). I don't remember the author's statement about himself, but it's true that he does pay attention to this issue with respect to the composers he covers.

 

[PigSquealer]

Hello, does anyone have a list of saxophone repertoire that is written by LGBT+ composers? I already know of the Dahl and Rorem but that's about it, surely there is more music out there?

Thanks

Barry Manilow
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Manilow

 

[skeller047]

Not sure if this will help in the OP's search, but when I mentioned Leonard Bernstein in the other thread about this thread (LOL), I thought "I wonder if he did write specifically for the saxophone". Turns out he did, sort of. "Prelude, Fugue and Riffs", originally written for the Woody Herman band, but never performed by them, here is Bernstein's own version of this piece. The middle section is for saxophone section alone. I really like this...

 

[Manitou]

not sure about accuracy, these were shared by my wife -- dave koz and billy tipton

 

[ZootTheSim]

"Prelude, Fugue and Riffs", originally written for the Woody Herman band

One of my faves! So decadent. I've actually been looking for other orchestral pieces like this one or Stravinsky's "Ebony Concerto" for some time, but without much luck.

 

[ZootTheSim]

Peggy Gilbert (1905-2007), American saxophonist and leader of an all-female band, featured in films of the 30s. Not sure if she composed any original tunes, but she must've at least done some arrangements.

 

[lesacks]

"Prelude, Fugue and Riffs", originally written for the Woody Herman band,

new to me. Great stuff. Thanks for the link!

 

[hakukani]

John Corigliano is reported to be working on a Saxophone Concerto, as of last February. His spouse, Mark Adamo, is also a composer. He regularly includes saxophones in his compositions, so who knows if he might write something?

 

[LostConn]

John Corigliano is reported to be working on a Saxophone Concerto, as of last February.

Yes; see posts 8, 19, and 21. I haven't been able to find anything else on this topic aside from the interview noted by TrueTone.

 

[hakukani]

Yes; see posts 8, 19, and 21. I haven't been able to find anything else on this topic aside from the interview noted by TrueTone.

Oops, sorry. So much noise in this thread.

 

[Sigmund451]

With older music one can only make assumptions as to the orientation of the writer. Ive known quite a few modern day (and especially of older age) musicians that were not straight that lived straight lives. It simply was not acceptable...often times even to that person so they lived much of their lives trying to be someone different. And of course it was not socially acceptable either. It may be easier to pick some music you like and do a biographical search to see if they "Might" have had a different orientation.

If we do not know for a self admitted fact it is rather libelous to say, " Jpe composer was LGBT". That would be contrary to good taste and PC....and might land you in hot water as well. Folks didnt wear rainbow t-shirts announcing their lifestyle...it just was not ok at the time. Sadly, it can still be dangerous in many circles.

 

[click]

With older music one can only make assumptions as to the orientation of the writer. Ive known quite a few modern day (and especially of older age) musicians that were not straight that lived straight lives. It simply was not acceptable...often times even to that person so they lived much of their lives trying to be someone different. And of course it was not socially acceptable either. It may be easier to pick some music you like and do a biographical search to see if they "Might" have had a different orientation.

If we do not know for a self admitted fact it is rather libelous to say, " Jpe composer was LGBT". That would be contrary to good taste and PC....and might land you in hot water as well. Folks didnt wear rainbow t-shirts announcing their lifestyle...it just was not ok at the time. Sadly, it can still be dangerous in many circles.

I recall the story that "On the Sunny Side of the Street" was really a song about passing for white. There are a lot of sad stories out there about what people had to do to get by.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

I haven't seen him mentioned yet, and he didn't compose specifically for saxophone, but Cole Porter is certainly one of the greatest and most prolific composers of the first half of the 20th century. A New Yorker article about him says "He was, as Alan Jay Lerner quipped, 'a homosexual who had never seen the closet'."
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/07/12/king-cole

And this article about Alan Jay Lerner says that his composing partner Frederick Loewe was gay. Lerner was the lyricist and Loewe wrote the music for their many successful musicals including My Fair Lady. https://worldofwonder.net/bornthisday-broadway-lyricist-alan-jay-lerner/

Googling also turned up the fact that Lerner was married 8 times - to women - before he died at age 67. I've only been married twice. I don't think I could handle many more.

Edit: OP "I'm working on programming my Senior Recital for next year and I am wanting to play music by LGBT composers which is why I'm interested. Thanks!"
A recital made up of music composed by Cole Porter and Frederick Loewe would be very entertaining.

 

[Budget Explosion]

I don't think anyone mentioned Fred Ho. He was a great Asian-American Baritone Sax player and composer. He was also an out gay man and gay activist. His music hews closer to Jazz/Performance Art but it is largely composed so maybe there is a piece that could pass as modern classical.

 

[tenorsaxomaniac]

Anthony Green is a tremendous composer that I have premiered 2 of his pieces, he is currently based in the Netherlands. His saxophone writing is great, and one piece I commissioned has a slide show and audio, if you're going for A/V Electronic thing, perhaps also including other music with pre-recordings/ghetto-blasters and the like, or live electronics.

David Werfelmann has written a few great pieces.

There are surely many others, but as I actually read this thread and the other my brain is a bit tired. Why can't people just answer questions, or ignore if they don't know.