IU East LGBTQ+ Archive
Just in time for Pride Month, we added several new items to the IU East LGBTQ+ Collection. Current Visiting Assistant Professor of Music, Dr. Nathan Froebe, recently premiered his new song cycle titled “In Paths Untrodden” on Facebook Live. This song cycle consists of ten poems by Walt Whitman and depicts the navigation of an LGBTQ+ relationship in the messy aftermath of romantic separation. Dr. Froebe composed this music over the last eight years, pulling from his own personal experience, and wrote the voice parts for two ungendered voices.
The IU East Archives now has the performance, the performance program, the musical score, and Dr. Froebe’s interview on how and why he created this song cycle as well as information on his growing up in Kansas, coming out as LGBTQ+, his musical education, and the details of this event.
Dr. Froebe talked about how he made this composition accessible to anybody to perform, regardless of gender identity or expression, labeling the two singing parts as “high” and “low” instead of labeling the parts a gendered range, such as baritone, tenor, soprano, etc. For the premier performance of “In Paths Untrodden,” the two parts are played by two LGBTQ+ men, one a tenor and one a baritone, but any gender expression can sing either of the parts and “it’s highly encouraged.” The song cycle narrative can also be reordered in any way to suit the performers preferences to fit their own personal narrative. To hear more about the creation and meaning behind “In Paths Untrodden,” you can listen to Dr. Froebe’s interview located in IU’s Media Collections Online.
All the items Dr. Froebe donated can be accessed via the IU East LGBTQ+ Archive Pressbook, including the performance. If you have any questions about the LGBTQ+ Archive Collection or any content in the IU East Archives, you can contact archivist Beth South at eabrockm@iue.edu. For any other research questions, simply Ask Us! at iueref@iue.edu or click here:
