Numerous composers of Western classical music from the 16th century to the modern day were or are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer. Many of these composers faced persecution or violence as a result of their sexuality.

16th century Name Born Died Nationality Details Dominique Phinot 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. Dejean, Joan (1981). Libertine strategies: freedom and the novel in seventeenth-century France. Ohio State University Press. pp. 198–211. 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 with choirboys came to light.

18th century Name Born Died Nationality Details 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 Details 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 Hind, Rolf (2015). "Queer Pitch: is there such a thing?" The Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2022. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 1840 1893 Russian Siegfried Wagner 1869 1930 German Jonathan Keates, "Review of The Wagner Clan by Jonathan Carr", Daily Telegraph.Geoffrey_Wheatcroft. "A Widow's Might", The_New_York_Times, 11 March 2007.

20th century Name Born Died Nationality Details Walter Arlen 1920 2023 Austro-American Miguel del Aguila 1957 Uruguayan-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 Knoll, Brooke (2021). "10 contemporary queer composers to listen to in honor of Pride Month". Your Classical. Retrieved 19 July 2022. 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 GermanQueer.de: Nachruf, Aribert Reimann 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 Died Nationality Details Mark Adamo 1962 American Married to John Corigliano Miguel del Aguila 1957 American Thomas Adès 1971 English Matthew Aucoin1990American William Basinski 1958 American Eve Beglarian 1958 American Peterson, Catherine (2018). "10 Contemporary LGBTQ Composers You Should Know". Arts Boston. Retrieved 20 July 2022. 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 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 2026 American Philip Venables 1979 English Šimon Voseček 1978 Austro-Czech Rufus Wainwright 1973 American-Canadian

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