Queering the pitch: The new gay and lesbian musicology

Abstract

Abstract A new, and to some a disturbing, area of study in the field of musicology is coming into its own: that of lesbian and gay musicological inquiry.1 Lest the reader think that this is just a new way to discredit ‘bad’ or ‘effeminate’ composers, this emerging part of the discipline is not primarily about uncovering lesbian and gay composers in the historical record. Rather, it is more profoundly about the questions of how people listen to music, how they perform it, how they compose it, and how they react to it. Like other recent studies in musicology that appear to be breaking new ground but which are really applying lessons and techniques learned from related forms of intellectual endeavour, many of these essays presuppose an acquaintance with the works of the French theorists of this century and a willingness to learn from the methods, approaches, and mistakes of other disciplines. Some of these essays provocatively suggest and sketch out ideas or areas of enquiry, but lack the breadth to fully develop these ideas.