Music Beyond Binaries

Catalog description

The history of Western music is predicated on binaries of all kinds. In the years around 1830, composer Robert Schumann proffered a distinction between "girlish" musical character and "masculine" musical style. At that time, certain styles of "high art" were associated with "Whiteness," while forms of "low art" were associated with "Blackness," and German music was "serious" while Italian music was "frivolous." Despite this apparent rigidity in perspective, classical and popular musics have long been replete with examples of non-conformist identity expression, and some of the most influential composers and artists have, since at least 1900, identified as LGBTQ+.