Name: Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Hometown: Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA
Listen to: ‘Candide Overture’, ‘West Side Story: Symphonic Dances’, ‘The Complete Mahler Symphonies’ (Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic)
Leonard Bernstein was an American composer best known for the musical West Side Story. However, he wrote in many styles, including works for orchestra, ballets, film scores, musicals, operas, chamber music, and piano music. Alongside composition, Bernstein was an incredibly successful conductor, holding a long-term position at the New York Philharmonic, as well as guest conducting many other iconic orchestras. Despite being a leading figure in the conducting scene, rumours about his sexuality took off and so in 1951 he married actress Felicia Cohn Montealegre. However, Nigel Simeone‘s book The Leonard Bernstein Letters shows that Felicia acknowledged his sexuality, she wrote, “you are a homosexual and may never change – you don’t admit to the possibility of a double life, but if your peace of mind, your health, your whole nervous system depend on a certain sexual pattern what can you do?”. The couple had three children together before Bernstein left Felicia for a male lover in 1976, however, she was diagnosed with lung cancer the next year and he returned to care for her until her death in 1978.
I’ve mentioned just a few of the many LGBTQ+ composers who have blessed the compositional canon over the years. To name some more, Benjamin Britten, Michae Tippett, Samuel Barber, Gian Carlo Menotti, Maurice Ravel, Lou Harrison, Pauline Oliveros, Henry Cowell, John Cage, and Aaron Copland, are all notable names. Three further composers still alive today, contributing to the contemporary classical scene, are Jennifer Higdon, Nico Muhly, and Wendy Carlos. Today we have the chance to listen to their music, and their stories, with open ears and open hearts.
Words by Martha Lily Dean
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