# List of LGBTQ classical composers

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Numerous composers of Western classical music were LGBTQ, from at least the 16th century to the modern day. Many of these composers faced persecution or violence as a result of their sexuality.

## 16th century

| Name | Born | Died | Nationality | Details | Ref(s) |
| Dominique Phinot | c. 1510 | c. 1556 | Franco-Flemish | Phinot was a composer of motets with polyphonic experimentation that predated the music of Palestrina. He was tried and executed by the French government for "homosexual practices", likely in the city of Lyon. | |

## 17th century

| Name | Born | Died | Nationality | Details |
| Charles Coypeau d'Assoucy | 1605 | 1677 | French | d'Assoucy is believed to have been the lover of the French novelist Cyrano de Bergerac. He was arrested multiple times by the Holy Office for unspecified reasons. |
| Jean-Baptiste Lully | 1632 | 1687 | Italian-French | Lully was a composer of Baroque music employed in the court of then-king Louis XIV. He was discovered to have had sexual affairs with both men and women, and was subsequently expelled from the courtship at the orders of the king. |
| Johann Rosenmüller | 1619 | 1684 | German | Rosenmüller was a German composer who fled to Italy in 1658, after a scandal involving his homosexual activities came to light. |

## 18th century

| Name | Born | Died | Nationality | Details | Ref(s) |
| Frederick the Great | 1712 | 1786 | Prussian | Frederick the Great is best known as the first King of Prussia, and had several musical works published during his lifetime. His homosexuality and numerous documented partners have been confirmed by modern historians. | |

## 19th century

| Name | Born | Died | Nationality |
| Clement Harris | 1871 | 1897 | English |
| Adela Maddison | 1862 | 1929 | English |
| Ella Overbeck | 1870 | 1919 | Russo-English |
| Camille Saint-Saëns | 1835 | 1921 | French |
| Ethel Smyth | 1858 | 1944 | English |
| Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | 1840 | 1893 | Russian |
| Siegfried Wagner | 1869 | 1930 | German |

## 20th century

| Name | Born | Died | Nationality | Ref(s) |
| Walter Arlen | 1920 | 2023 | Austro-American | |
| Ruth Anderson | 1928 | 2019 | American | |
| Samuel Barber | 1910 | 1981 | American | |
| Jean Barraqué | 1928 | 1973 | French | |
| Stanley Bate | 1911 | 1959 | English | |
| Arthur Benjamin | 1893 | 1960 | Australian | |
| R. R. Bennett | 1936 | 2012 | Anglo-American | |
| Lord Berners | 1883 | 1950 | English | |
| Leonard Bernstein | 1918 | 1990 | American | |
| Marc Blitzstein | 1905 | 1964 | American | |
| Konrad Boehmer | 1941 | 2014 | German-Dutch | |
| Henriëtte Bosmans | 1895 | 1952 | Dutch | |
| Pierre Boulez | 1925 | 2016 | French | |
| Paul Bowles | 1910 | 1999 | Moroccan | |
| Benjamin Britten | 1913 | 1976 | English | |
| Merton Brown | 1913 | 2001 | American | |
| Sylvano Bussotti | 1931 | 2021 | Italian | |
| John Cage | 1912 | 1992 | American | |
| Wendy Carlos | 1931 | | American | |
| Roger Sacheverell Coke | 1912 | 1971 | English | |
| Aaron Copland | 1900 | 1990 | American | |
| John Corigliano | 1938 | | American | Married to Mark Adamo |
| Henry Cowell | 1897 | 1965 | American | |
| Ingolf Dahl | 1912 | 1970 | German-American | |
| Peter Maxwell Davies | 1934 | 2016 | English | |
| David Del Tredici | 1937 | | American | |
| David Diamond | 1915 | 2005 | American | |
| Hubert du Plessis | 1922 | 2011 | South African | |
| Julius Eastman | 1940 | 1990 | American | |
| Joseph Fennimore | 1940 | | American | |
| William Flanagan | 1923 | 1969 | American | |
| Wolfgang Fortner | 1907 | 1987 | German | |
| Karel Goeyvaerts | 1923 | 1993 | Belgian | |
| Charles Tomlinson Griffes | 1884 | 1920 | American | |
| Clare Grundman | 1913 | 1996 | American | |
| Reynaldo Hahn | 1874 | 1947 | Venezuelan-French | |
| Lou Harrison | 1917 | 2003 | American | |
| Hans Werner Henze | 1926 | 2012 | German | |
| David Hogan | 1949 | 1996 | American | |
| Lee Hoiby | 1926 | 2011 | American | |
| Vladimir Horowitz | 1903 | 1989 | Russian | |
| Jerry Hunt | 1943 | 1993 | American | |
| Douglas Lilburn | 1915 | 2001 | New Zealander | |
| Annea Lockwood | 1939 | | New Zealander | |
| Frederick May | 1911 | 1985 | Irish | |
| Colin McPhee | 1900 | 1964 | Canadian-American | |
| Gian Carlo Menotti | 1911 | 2007 | Italian-American | |
| Noel Mewton-Wood | 1922 | 1953 | Australian-English | |
| Zygmunt Mycielski | 1907 | 1997 | Polish | |
| Dimitri Mitropoulos | 1896 | 1960 | Greek | |
| Pauline Oliveros | 1932 | 2016 | American | |
| Harry Partch | 1901 | 1974 | American | |
| Thomas Pasatieri | 1941 | | American | |
| Daniel Pinkham | 1923 | 2006 | American | |
| Francis Poulenc | 1899 | 1963 | French | |
| Roger Quilter | 1877 | 1953 | English | |
| Peer Raben | 1940 | 2007 | German | |
| Aribert Reimann | 1936 | 2024 | German | |
| Ned Rorem | 1923 | 2022 | American | |
| Henri Sauguet | 1901 | 1989 | French | |
| Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji | 1892 | 1988 | English | |
| Conrad Susa | 1935 | 2013 | American | |
| Karol Szymanowski | 1882 | 1937 | Polish | |
| Virgil Thomson | 1896 | 1989 | American | |
| Michael Tippett | 1905 | 1998 | English | |
| Tui St. George Tucker | 1924 | 2004 | American | |
| Claude Vivier | 1948 | 1983 | Canadian | |
| Ben Weber | 1916 | 1979 | American | |
| Juliusz Wertheim | 1880 | 1928 | Polish | |
| Arnold van Wyk | 1916 | 1983 | South African | |
| Charles Wuorinen | 1938 | 2020 | American | |

## 21st century

| Name | Born | Nationality | Details |
| Mark Adamo | 1962 | American | Married to John Corigliano |
| Thomas Adès | 1971 | English | |
| William Basinski | 1958 | American | |
| Eve Beglarian | 1958 | American | |
| Iain Bell | 1980 | English | |
| Chester Biscardi | 1948 | American | |
| Roger Bourland | 1952 | American | |
| Mark Carlson | 1952 | American | |
| David Conte | 1955 | American | |
| Conrad Cummings | 1948 | American | |
| Corey Dargel | 1977 | American | |
| Don Davis | 1957 | American | |
| Jeremy Dutcher | 1990 | Canadian | |
| Mohammed Fairouz | 1985 | American | |
| Gareth Farr | 1968 | New Zealander | |
| Michael Finnissy | 1946 | English | |
| Alan Fletcher | 1956 | American | |
| Jake Heggie | 1961 | American | |
| Jennifer Higdon | 1962 | American | |
| Stephen Hough | 1961 | Anglo-Australian | |
| Laura Karpman | 1959 | American | |
| Lowell Liebermann | 1961 | American | |
| Jonathan Mills | 1963 | Australian | |
| Meredith Monk | 1942 | American | |
| Nico Muhly | 1981 | American | |
| Andrew Norman | 1979 | American | |
| Patrick Nunn | 1969 | British | |
| Thomas Pasatieri | 1941 | American | |
| Albert Patron | 1969 | Italian | |
| Tobias Picker | 1954 | American | |
| Matthew Ricketts | 1986 | Canadian | |
| Gil Shohat | 1973 | Israeli | |
| Michael Tilson Thomas | 1944 | American | |
| Philip Venables | 1979 | English | |
| Šimon Voseček | 1978 | Austro-Czech | |
| Rufus Wainwright | 1973 | American-Canadian | |