Williams/Rufus Wainwright, 2. Western Art Music and Pop: Conflict and Coherence

This chapter evaluates the co-existence and inherent tensions between the Western Art Music and popular music worlds in Wainwright’s music and life, using musicological perspectives from both disciplines. I consider Wainwright’s experiences of and attitudes towards music education, and the songwriting technique that he has developed. Songs analysed include ‘Imaginary Love’ and ‘Pretty Things’, and the second half of the chapter is an exploration of his western art music projects: Yellow Lounge, Sonnette, and his 2009 opera Prima Donna. More details about Rufus Wainwright can be found at Williams’ recent blogpost on Thinking About Music, available here.