Composers
Composer focus
Famous Composers
JS Bach
1685 - 1750 Bach has been called 'the supreme arbiter and law-giver of music'. He is to music what... more
Beethoven
1770 - 1827 Beethoven coupled his genius for music with profoundly held political beliefs and an almost... more
Berlioz
1803 - 1869 The arch-Romantic composer, Berlioz’s life was all you’d expect – by turn turbulent and... more
Brahms
1833 - 1897 One of the giants of classical music, Brahms appeared to arrive fully armed, found a style in which... more
Debussy
1862 - 1918 Debussy was among the most influential of all the 20th century’s composers. His lyrical gift,... more
Dvořák
1841 - 1904 If Smetana was the founding father of Czech music, Dvořák was the one who popularised it. A love of... more
Elgar
1857 - 1934 Elgar worked firmly within conventional 19th century German harmonic and structural traditions, yet... more
Handel
1685 - 1759 Handel is one of the giants of musical history – a great man in physical stature, spirit and vision... more
Haydn
1732 - 1809 Haydn was among the most prolific of all great composers and he wrote in every form... more
Liszt
1811 - 1886 Composer, teacher, Abbé, Casanova, writer, sage, pioneer and champion of new music, philanthropist... more
Mahler
1860 - 1911 Mahler is the last great Romantic symphonist, music conceived on the grandest scale and employing... more
Monteverdi
1567 - 1643 Monteverdi can be justly considered one of the most powerful figures in the history of music... more
Mozart
1756 - 1791 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was arguably the most naturally gifted musician in history, but he also... more
Schubert
1797 - 1828 Schubert was not the first of the Romantics but he was, as one writer put it, 'the first lyric poet... more
Schumann
1810 - 1856 Schumann is a key figure in the Romantic movement; none investigated the Romantic’s... more
Stravinsky
1882 - 1971 From 1910 to 1945, Stravinsky was the single strongest influence on contemporary... more
Tchaikovsky
1840 - 1893 Tchaikovsky is the most popular of all Russian composers, his music combining... more
Suggested Composers

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