Playlist: Celebrating LGBTQIA+ Composers

June 1, 2023

by Hayden Neumann

Celebrate Pride Month with a gorgeous selection of pieces written by members of the LGBTQIA+ community, both self-identified and understood through historical context! You’ll hear musical voices spanning from the Baroque period all the way to composers of today.

1. Barber: Excursions, Op. 20: I. Un Poco Allegro (Samuel Barber) – Samuel Barber – Adagio (Leon McCawley)
2. Bookmarks from Japan: V. Evening Snow At Kambara (Julie Giroux) – A Few Notes Between Friends: The Music of Julie Giroux (University of North Texas Symphonic Band, Ray Cramer)
3. Photo-Op: IV. Will You Die for Me? (Conrad Cummings) – Conrad Cummings: Photo Op (Dora Ohrenstein, Andrew Sterman, Larry Adams, Gregory Fulkerson, Daryl Goldberg)
4. Rêverie (Angela Morley) – Rêverie (Esther Abranum, Her Ensemble)
5. Ellis Island (Meredith Monk) – Dream House Quartet (Katia Labéque, Marielle Labéque, Bryce Dessner, David Chalmin)
6. Serenade in D Major: II. Scherzo. Allegro Vivace (Dame Ethel Smyth) – Smyth: Orchestral Works (Odaline de la Martinez, BBC Philharmonic)
7. Blue Cathedral (Jennifer Higdon) – The Oberlin Conservatory Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall (Oberlin Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, Robert Spano)
8. Midnight Bus (Alex Temple) – Behind The Wallpaper (Spektral Quartet, Julia Holter)
9. Piano Concerto in C-Sharp Minor, FP 146: I. Allegretto Commodo (Francis Poulenc) – Poulenc: Piano Concerto, Organ Concerto & Stabat Mater (Live) (Yannick Nézet-Séguin, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Alexandre Tharaud)
10. Plan & Elevation: IV. The Orangery (Caroline Shaw) – Caroline Shaw: Orange (Attacca Quartet)
11. Barber: Adagio For Strings (Samuel Barber) – Samuel Barber – Adagio (Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle)
12. Another Time (Eve Beglarian) – In The Piano Chamber (Gabriel Urgell Reyes)
13. You Come Here Often? (Michael Tilson Thomas) – Tilson Thomas: You Come Here Often? (Yuja Wang)
14. Tao: A Walk (for Emilio) (Conrad Tao) – Conrad Tao – Pictures (Conrad Tao)
15. Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op.64: III. Valse. Allegro Moderato (Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky) – Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 (Berliner Philharmoniker, Kirill Petrenko)
16. Ending Titles – Tron (Wendy Carlos) – Tron (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (London Philharmonic Orchestra)
17. Appalachian Spring: IV. Quite Fast (Aaron Copland) – Copland: Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, Billy the Kid & Fanfare for the Common Man (Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic)
18. Prelude, Fugue and Riffs: II. Fugue (Leonard Bernstein) – Prelude, Fugue and Riffs & Other Works (Columbia Jazz Combo)
19. Poulenc Cello Sonata, FP 143: II. Cavatine (Francis Poulenc) – Debussy/Poulenc/Franck/Ravel: Music for Cello & Piano (Daniel Müller-Schott, Robert Kulek)
20. Audenesque: I (Mohammed Fairouz) – Follow, Poet (Evan Rogister, Kate Lindsey, Ensemble LPR)
21. Fate of the Gods (Live) (Steven Reineke) – 2017 Midwest Clinic: Banda Sinfóncia Escuela de Formación Artística y Cultural de Chía (Live) (Banda Sinfóncia Escuela de Formación Artística y Cultural de Chía, Jesus Orielso)
22. Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme: Chaconne Des Scaramouches, Freivelinset Arlequins (Jean-Baptiste Lully) – Lully: Ballet Music for the Sun King (Mary Enid Haines, Sharla Nafziger, Aradia Ensemble, Kevin Mallon)
23. The Medium: Monica’s Waltz (Gian Carlo Menotti) – Renée Fleming – I Want Magic! – American Opera Arias (Renée Fleming, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, James Levine)
24. The Companion Guide To Rome: II Benedetto (Andrew Norman) – The Law Of Mosaics (A Far Cry)
25. Femenine: No. 9, Can Melt (Julius Eastman) – Julius Eastman, Vol. 1: Femenine (Wild Up, Christopher Rountree)
26. Magic Lady (Chrysanthe Tan) – Stories (Chrysanthe Tan)
27. West Side Story: Overture (Leonard Bernstein) – West Side Story (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (West Side Story Orchestra, Johnny Green)