Episode 368. Gay Eccentrics (Pride 2025)

Somewhere along the line in planning my Pride 2025 episodes, I hit upon the idea of paying tribute to Gay Eccentrics. (Maybe because I am one of them myself?) There are many mad queer geniuses in the history of music, and I have chosen today to focus on three twentieth-century case studies. First, the husband and husband team of Norman Notley (1890 – 1980) and David Brynley (1902 – 1981), musical and artistic polymaths who settled in the small Dorset village of Corfe Castle. They were both members of the innocuously-named New English Singers, which was actually an early version of the high-caliber vocal chamber ensembles in such profusion today. In recent times their archives have been digitized and exhibited at the Dorset Museum and Art Gallery, which has led to their story going viral. In 1957 while living in the US, the pair made a recording of Elizabethan Songs that is a model of its kind and is featured on the episode. Next up us Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson (1883 – 1950), much better known as Lord Berners, the quintessential upper-class British eccentric who also happened to be the leading British avant-garde composer of his day (as well as a “notorious” homosexual!) I feature an excerpt from his single opera as well as a passel of songs from his small output. Finally, we cross the Atlantic to encounter the prescience, acerbic wit and borderline insanity of Ben Bagley (1933 – 1998), the producer of off-Broadway theatrical revues and a series of recordings featuring unknown material by the top Broadway composers of the day, including fellow gay eccentrics Cole Porter and Lorenz Hart. I may be a day late with this week’s episode, but I’m definitely not a dollar short! This episode has something for everyone! Countermelody is a podcast devoted to the glory and the power of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great singers of the past and present focusing in particular on those who are less well-remembered today than they should be. Daniel’s lifetime in music as a professional countertenor, pianist, vocal coach, voice teacher, and journalist yields an exciting array of anecdotes, impressions, and “inside stories.” At Countermelody’s core is the celebration of great singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. By clicking on the following link (https://linktr.ee/CountermelodyPodcast) you can find the dedicated Countermelody website which contains additional content including artist photos and episode setlists. The link will also take you to Countermelody’s Patreon page, where you can pledge your monthly or yearly support at whatever level you can afford.