Where to begin… Well, the initial goal of my paper was to look at Paula Kimper’s opera, The Captivation of Eunice Williams, and discuss how homosexuality has impacted her compositions as well as other musicians of the past. I was well aware that the topic of sexuality and music is an extensive topic to delve into; I just didn’t realize how extensive. I have finished my paper, and have handed it in for a review, but I feel like I have opened a can of worms and the worms are escaping from me!
One of my main problems is trying to limit what aspect of sexuality in music I want to discuss. Two of my resources, The Queen’s Throat, and Queering the Pitch, have presented me with some great, enlightening information, but now I don’t know what to talk about anymore. Initially I wanted to discuss how Kimper’s opera is about acceptance and being able to live in accordance with one another even though we are different. Because of this, I was going to compare the issues in the opera to issues of today regarding sexuality, which directly affect her. Additionally, I wanted to discuss how homosexual composers and musicians of the past have paved the way for Kimper to be able to compose so freely and that sexuality is represented in her music very different from that of Britten, Bernstein, and etc… Well, as I started reading I came across some differnt material that discussed the voice as an androgynous entity. What to do?! This is rather interesting because now opera could be viewed very differently, especially when you think about it form a compositional aspect.
Lastly, I began to stress about my paper because there was so much to talk about and not enough time! So now I’m wondering if I should completely revise my paper and discuss my project in great detail. I just don’t know!!!
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