Talk:Queering the Pitch

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Queering The Pitch: The New Gay and Lesbian Musicology [1]is an informal social gathering and an organization run by the editors: Phillip Brett [2], Elizabeth Wood, and Gary C. Thomas but mainly Phillip Brett. They spoke about homosexuals and heterosexuals in the American Musicological Society(AMS ) of the differences on how the musician's sexuality and the sexuality defines the musician's music. Not just that but gender, race, class and nationally affected it as well. Queering the Pitch is mainly about music, the type, and the style the musician makes (feminine and masculine). Musicology (European composers) means[1][3]means the true study behind the music that people do not usually see and in this case, it is about gays and lesbians restrictions. The book was created in 1989 with the information from the editors, and what they have done, but was not published until 1994 by being a copyright.Â

Tnbates1 (talk) 04:17, 4 May 2018 (UTC) Téa Bates[reply]

This article will only be based on chapter 4, 9, and an extra information based on one part of chapter 9.

Some questions to help the reader to understand the main points of chapter 4 and chapter 9: If an artist is homosexual, does that define their music? Does someone's music define that musician's sexuality (homosexual versus. heterosexual)? How do both sexualities differ and compare in society if both sexualities (people) are interested in the same activities? The only thing that is different is the musician's sexuality as being straight, gay, or a lesbian. Why does society affect the sexualities within music and outside of music?

Chapter 4: On Lesbian Relation With Music: A Serious Effort Not To Think Straight

Suzanne Cusick(middle name starts with G.) is a music historian and Musicologist who teaches at Music of Artsand Science at the New York University. Her specialty involves Italy (music), music history, criticism, and queer studies in music. She edited a book titled Women and Music: A Journal of Gender and Culture but she has her own book titled Francesca Caccini at the Medici Court: Music and the Circulation of Power that was not published until 2009. [4]Off of her book, she spoke at the AMS but was afraid to talk because the world called her "sexuality" sex. She believed her music was separated from her "sexuality", but both are very important to the musician. As girls and boys are "assumed" to be from different planets, the word "lesbian" was as if it was a different language that only other lesbians understood. She feared the truth about her sexuality.

Why?: Within her book, it is about feminism or academic musical discourse for lesbians. Suzanne G. Cusick stated: "There was a difference between "non- recognition versus one of recognition" as for if musicians who are homosexual are not or are out" (p. 71).[5]Sexuality and sexual identity are quite different by one being personal and the other and the music message: "feminine" (emotional) or "aggressive" (violence). "Lesbian" music was expressed through physical pleasure that was shared, accepted, or given in sexual identity. People made music for different reasons: pleasure, sex, peace, power and intimacy reasons which will soon be shorted to being called the "triangle triad."

People thought if you listened to "feminine" music and were a male, then you, sir, were gay (homosexual): "... is a practice which allows movement within a field defined by power, intimacy, and pleasure..." (Cusick, G. Suzanne, p. 71).[6]The word "lesbian" was defined as power, pleasure, and intimacy, which was also known as the "triangle triad."Â

With heterosexual men having power over women entirely, especially white men, he was in charge of the triangle triad (pleasure, power, and intimacy) in society. But homosexual (lesbians) were equal because of "opposites attract" as in society did not want lesbians. Society was telling women to be women: powerless, a mother, fewer goals/ achievements, support husband (internalized and externally imposed). Internal imposed means that women are affecting others about their connection and giving by doing what they want which men see it as being selfish. Basically, women, who choose themselves, and their work over their husband, if she is heterosexual. External imposed is the exact opposite where the women quit doing what they love to help their husband or their life has started because of their husband so it is more of a repay. Homosexuals had similarities (activities) to heterosexuals.

Suzanne Cusick(middle name starts with G.) noticed that music is defined by "who's on top?" which is connected to the power part of the triangle triad. Lesbians are physically a man, but emotionally and intellectual a woman. A song titled "The Tennessee Waltz," which is a sad song made Cusick think of what music does to the mind, body, and soul that is related to "good sex."

Ludwig van Beethoven[7]was a German's composer and pianist. His music was aggressive and powerful ("masculine") because of the "pounding" and "thrusting." Learned from Gender and Sexuality Studies: Women Studies(GSS), men choose (power/ triangle triad) when and where the intimacy would happen. Cusick stated: ".... lesbian sexuality, the game where even the one who seems not to be on top has the power to defect caresses, to decline the offer; indeed, where she who is not on top often directs the proceedings (p. 76)". [8]The rhythm/ beat makes for the "pounding" and "thrusting." Not just that but the music: melody, harmony (women can reproduce) for heterosexual and that is rape for homosexual. Society does not agree on people being other than heterosexual because the Bible mainly wants a man and a woman together to reproduce while homosexuals, woman to woman or man to man cannot and so is raped at the end.

So, basically, chapter 4 is stating that homosexuals do have the triangle triad but it is not as major as heterosexuals and with a couple being heterosexual. Heterosexual couples are "normal" to what society wants. But, if an artist is "different" or if someone listens to "different" artist then he or she is homosexual. Especially for men liking "feminine" music while women, who are a lesbian do not have anything at all because she (both) are powerless and cannot overcome any men at all since it is a homosexual relationship. The music does not help with being stereotyped on which sex can like which style type of music without that person sexuality "coming out."

Chapter 9: Constructions of Subjectivity in Schubert's Music

Susan McClary[9]is a musicologist, who combined feminist music criticism into her musicology and called it "New Musicology." She was at a panel for gay issues in 1990 at AMS where those who spoke were beginning to develop methods for analyzing music with matters as gender in mind. Composer's sexuality might have been relevant to the music itself. Franz Schubert[10]was an Austrian composer who died at age 31. His work (music) was persuasive and Susan McClary thought he had understood (engaged) the same-sex erotic activities (if his music defined his sexuality). Society states that homosexual and heterosexual music are different because one is emotional and the other is aggressive. McClary did not believe that because of Maynard Solomon's work, who is a music producer that helped people such as Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart[11], and Schubert. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a prolific and influential composer of the classical era. McClary did not believe it (homo. being emotional and heter. being aggressive) and she states that: "... the "Y" in any given town is simply a community center indeed (as the village people's on them "YMCA" proclaims), a place to which men often go for anonymous sex" (McClary, Susan p. 206).[12]People even judged composers off of their size, if he or she was short and fat (men) then he was gay.

After the AMS, McClary wrote a letter to Times with two friends such as Phillip Brett and Elizabeth Wood but their letter was declined for multiple reasons: either they lost it, claimed they never received it, or the day was too hectic. So they found another place to publish their letter based on the panel for gay issues that happened in 1990 at the AMS even though they knew Times was lying. The other place was called Gay/ lesbian Study Group Newsletter which they received word that the people loved what McClary had to say.Â

If an artist was known to be "out" then he or she was debated to be an actual composer because of their sexuality over their music as a true artist. Some composers work were questioned after this had started. Schubert's work on "UnFinished" Symphony was masculine but people had believed that the composer was homosexual so that was a problem.Â

If an artist was gay and he was an artist, then he was unmanly and he was soon to be very flawed. Some artist did find their sexuality to be shameful: "So long as homosexuality itself is understood as a defect, we seem to have only two choices: either this inclination- it makes the music defective as well" (McClary, Susan p. 210).[13]But at the end of it all, any homosexuals being "out" was simply their choice. Also, for their gender or ethnicity which then defined their music. African-American music is "aggressive", "upbeat" for an example just based off of the color of the artist skin. This ends up being in the stereotypical area.

An example is: You can look at someone from the back and "guess" their sex. They could have long brunette hair, and someone believes that is a female but it was a male. Same with a female with short hair, well today at least, people thought it was a guy instead of a female. It is all based on the looks to see if it matches with the person sexuality.

Another example is which industry is "owned" or "dominated" by the sex (rap is a male-dominated industry)

Society wants the world to be in a certain way for both men and women.

Schubert's work was not "fully-straight" only because the artist was drawn to same-sex activities but that is not a 100% on him being gay or not but he "had" to be. If music had violence such as Beethoven ("pounding"/ "thrusting") then it doesn't have strength (power) when men are supposed to be "masculine". Susan McClary states "...Beethoven was scarcely a champion if heterosexuality, even if he did succeed in constructing what has been accepted the ideal of masculinity in music" which mean no respect, no healthy relationship, and was homosocial ( p. 214). [14]

Going back to his "Unfinished" Symphony, if the beat was strong, weak, stronger, and then weaker, that was feminized which was evidence of homosexual. Relative key and parallel key, major or minor do not help. If any music was "feminized" then the artist "had" to be gay. But Maynard Solomon[15]defined Schubert as he saw himself and how he wanted his music to be shown from his vision.

So, basically, there is a lot of stereotypes from race, ethnicity, and gender within music which then can affect if the artist is homosexual or not. Especially from the "aggressive" or "emotional" music and connecting that to the artist, who may be the opposite gender of the stereotyped music which makes it even worse.

Beethoven and Rape Controversy:

People enjoy music, but those who do not are listening closely to what is happening "behind" the music. It is also forcing the listener to listen to it and will want that listen to agree that the music is good when to them, it actually is not.That then is unfair. Beethoven is to be believed to corrupt people's minds, feelings to wanting to be raped by Beethoven.

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