Lorenz Hart, 1895-1943

“The era’s darkest and most debonair wit” as one writer put it, Hart was a wildly successful and tragically discontent man. Having penned some of the most infamous and romantic lyrics we know today, Hart lived a depressed, closeted and alcohol­ dependent existence. The comfort found in the popular version of “Blue Moon” (“I heard someone whisper ‘please adore me’, and when I looked the moon had turned to gold”), Hart never found in his own life. After his mother, whom he had never lived apart from, passed away in 1943 and following a wintery Manhattan night of heavy drinking, he would die of exposure just months later. The lyrics heard here are taken from an early version of the song, found in the 1934 film “Manhattan Melodrama”.

Written by Rodgers & Hart (1934)
Arrangement by Ford Pier

Alex Samaras: Vocals
Jennifer Burford: Violin
Evan Lamberton: Cello
Lief Mosbaugh: ­English Horn
Micajah Sturgess: ­French Horn
Shaun Brodie: ­Trumpet
Thom Gill: ­Guitar
Bram Gielen: ­Piano
Dan Fortin: ­Double Bass
Stefan Schneider: ­Drums

Live at Videofag, March 2014
Recorded by James Bunton & Heather Kirby
Mixed by Igor Vrabac

The Bad In Every Man (Blue Moon)

Written by Ani Difranco (1990)
Arrangement by Giorgio Magnanensi

Sienna Dahlen: Vocals
Jennifer Burford: Violin
Evan Lamberton: Cello
Lief Mosbaugh: ­Oboe
Micajah Sturgess: ­French Horn
Shaun Brodie: ­Trumpet 
Thom Gill: ­Guitar
Bram Gielen: ­Piano
Dan Fortin: ­Double Bass
Stefan Schneider: ­Drums

Live at Videofag, March 2014
Recorded by James Bunton & Heather Kirby
Mixed by Igor Vrabac 

Both Hands

"When I was growing up, I didn't listen to much music even though I played the glockenspiel and piano from a young age. My parents are quite a bit older, so the only albums around the house that made much of an impression on me were by Leonard Cohen and ABBA, and then, of course, the original broadway cast recording (not the film soundtrack please!) of Hair. I listened to this album over and over again, savouring the queer content in songs like "Sodomy" and "My Conviction" and memorizing every word of every song. And then there was "Easy to Be Hard," a haunting, plaintive song where a young woman yearns for a friend and someone to understand what she is going through. The song is quite literal, speaking very clearly to how I was feeling as a queer teenager in the Montreal suburbs in the mid­1990s." ­ - Jon Davies ­

From the musical "HAIR", by MacDermot/Rado/Ragni (1967)
Arrangement by Bryden Baird

Alex Samaras: Vocals
Jennifer Burford: Violin
Evan Lamberton: Cello
Lief Mosbaugh: ­Oboe
Micajah Sturgess: ­French Horn
Shaun Brodie: ­Trumpet/Flugelhorn
Thom Gill: ­Guitar
Bram Gielen: ­Piano
Dan Fortin: ­Double Bass
Stefan Schneider: ­Drums

Live at Videofag, March 2014
Recorded by James Bunton & Heather Kirby
Mixed by Igor Vrabac

Easy To Be Hard

Written by Elton John & Bernie Taupin (1972)
Arrangement by Ryan Brouwer

Alex Samaras: Vocals
Ghislain Aucoin: Vocals
Thom Gill: Vocals
Jennifer Burford: Violin
Evan Lamberton: Cello
Dan Fortin: ­Double Bass
Lief Mosbaugh: ­Oboe
Micajah Sturgess: ­French Horn
Shaun Brodie: ­Trumpet

Live at The Music Gallery
September 21, 2014



Daniel

Billy Strayhorn 
Arrangement by Andrew Downing 

Recorded live at the Music Gallery, Sept 21 2014

Day Dream

Written by Arthur Russell, arranged by Nick Storring. 
Featured on the QSO's 2018 album Anthems & Icons.

Anthems and Icons

Anthems & Icons

Let's Go Swimming

The Queer Songbook Orchestra is a professional Toronto-based chamber pop ensemble, creating and performing a living archive of songs that have shaped the LGBTQ community.

Focusing for the time being on songs with a connection to the closet - either a queer adolescent's secret connection to a particular song, or those written by artists closeted during their lifetime - the tracks included here are presented alongside the story contextualizing their place in the songbook. 

Queer Songbook Orchestra

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