Exclusive: Orchestra commissions Ode to Gay

The young Australian composer Gordon Hamilton, whose work we have featured on this site, has been commissioned by the Queensland Symphony to write a prelude to Beethoven’s ninth symphony.

Taking his cue (and a theme) from the Ode to Joy, he has titled the new work ‘Ode to Gay’ and dedicated it to men who were persecuted for their sexuality or forced to conceal it.

Gordon writes: ‘The text I’ve settled on is The Trillion Souls by Andy West(a BBC reporter, and a really top guy!). In memory of the countless dead who could not marry, he addresses the trillions of gay people who’ve ever “lived and loved and longed alone”, inviting them to “join us here” and “to rise up and be known.’

Read more of Gordon’s thinking here.