Sapphism in Song: English Art Songs by LGBTQ+ Women Composers from 1900 to the Present

Abstract

How can one sing their truth if their truth is left unwritten? Despite the growing societal acceptance of LGBTQ+ people, classical art songs with queer themes are still excluded from programming, research, and performances. As a result, LGBTQ+ musicians may feel isolated, erased, and alienated from classical canon. Sapphic singers, unable to find a reflection of themselves in the music they perform, can eventually feel as though that identity is not worthwhile or necessary to be shown. While there has been growing interest in research on the impact of queer male sexuality in classical music, there has been no equivalent research for how LGBTQ+ women are represented in classical vocal music. This thesis aims to fill the gap in research by analyzing sapphic identity in art song through the perspective of sapphic women. Uniquely, this research only includes composers and poets who publicly identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, and/or sapphic. In the following analysis, I will argue that sapphic identity is represented in classical art song through various musical tropes such as low tessitura, mezzo-soprano range, harmonic texture, and text with feminine-coded imagery. As such, these elements become integral to recognizing the queer implications of the pieces. This research presents a practical understanding of how the history, context, and process of the piece influences the performance of it through text painting, registration, and harmonic texture. This paper explores the implications using queer history, music theory, poetic analysis, musical characterization, and, most importantly, sapphic creators' own experiences.