Queering
the Pitch : The New Gay and Lesbian Musicology by
Philip Brett (Editor), Elizabeth Wood (Editor), Gary C. Thomas
(Editor)
The first collection of gay and
lesbian work in musicology. Contributors cover a wide range of
subjects from analysis of the work of gay composers to queer
readings of Schubert's `Unfinished Symphony.'
"Queering the Pitch is the first anthology
to be published in the new field of queer musicology (although it
does draw from works like Solie's "Musicology and
Difference" collection.)
The quality of the fourteen essays here varies
greatly. Some, like Philip Brett's "Musicality, Essentialism,
and the Closet" are absolutely earthshaking-provocative,
well-written, and inspiring. Other essays seem a bit out of place,
and show how much work their needs to be done in this field. It
occasionally feels as if the editors had to scrape around to find
enough material for the collection.
The three editors, all well-known musicologists,
are to be commended for this effort. The book is already something
of a classic, and has certainly helped to legitimatize this field
of inquiry." -- Anonymous Reader
