Was beethoven gay

One of the most famous composers of all time, Ludwig van Beethoven as far as history can tell never had a sexual relationship with a woman but clearly pined for a number of men in his life.

He was believed to have been gay, moving in circles in Italy and London where same-sex desire was accepted. Music historian Ellen Harris leads on the case for Handel’s homosexuality, arguing that his cantatas exhibit a clear homosexual subtext in her book Handel as Orpheus.

Beethoven almost certainly had unconscious homosexual feelings for his beloved brother Caspar Carl, whom he felt had been stolen from him by his marriage to Johanna Reiss in When Carl died in Beethoven adopted his son Karl (born in ), and engaged in a bitter feud with Johanna over possession of the boy.

The general consensus is that he was (an ass) Bad tempered, self important and far too busy being Beethoven to have enough time for others although there are stories of affairs with married women, Antonie Brentano for one.

From Beethoven to Britten, some of the most creative minds to put notes to a staff also pushed the boundaries of sexual acceptance. The complex compositions of classical music throughout history.

You’ve likely heard their music, but have you heard their stories? From Copland to Corelli, we celebrate some of the greatest LGBTQ+ composers in classical music history.

Beethoven lived in an era in which wealth was only beginning to equate to status. Historically this was true because the only way you could really be wealthy was to be high status, but the development of banking and major trade networks before and during the Renaissance led to the rise of wealthy families independent of status.

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.