Trivia / Wendy Carlos

• Follow the Leader: Other electronic adaptations of classical music have followed, most notably by Isao Tomita (who scored Gustav Holst's "The Planets", Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird, Claude Debussy's "Clair De Lune" and Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, among others) and Frank Zappa (who scored the work of obscure composer Francesco Zappa on Francesco Zappa).
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: Much of Carlos' discography is out of print, and has not been licensed for digital distribution to legal streaming or download platforms. You can't find her music on YouTube either; she made sure to strike down any video upload of her work.
• Reclusive Artist: Carlos gained a reputation for this after a nervous breakdown just before a 1968 live performance motivated her to minimize her public appearances; at the time of the performance, Carlos had already begun her gender transition, but was wracked with fear about how the public would respond to her identity, with the breakdown in question coming about after Carlos came to the conclusion that she had to continue disguising herself as a man. Even after she finally disclosed her identity as a trans woman in 1979 (the response to which was, to her surprise, fairly indifferent), she generally kept out of the public eye save for the occasional interview, and has mostly retreated into private life following Tales of Heaven and Hell, only resurfacing when it's absolutely necessary. Her personal website has not been updated since 2009.
• She Also Did: In addition to composing, Carlos is known for her high-quality astrophotography, particularly of eclipses.

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