Composers
Composer focus
Popular Composers
Bach
1685 - 1750 Bach has been called 'the supreme arbiter and law-giver of music'. He is to music what Leonardo da... more
Beethoven
1770 - 1827 Beethoven coupled his genius for music with profoundly held political beliefs and an almost... more
Brahms
1833 - 1897 One of the giants of classical music, Brahms appeared to arrive fully armed, found a style in which... more
Bruckner
1824 - 1896 Bruckner’s reputation rests almost entirely with his symphonies – the symphonies, someone said,... 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
Gershwin
1898 - 1937 No composer has done more to weld the two opposing cultures of serious and popular music together.... more
Grieg
1843 - 1907 Grieg’s music is Norway in just the same way that Elgar and Vaughan Williams are England. It is... 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: 104 symphonies... 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
Mendelssohn
1809 - 1847 Mendelssohn is one of the 'Sunshine Composers' who, like Rossini and Saint-Saëns, wrote effortless... more
Mozart
1756 - 1791 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was arguably the most naturally gifted musician in history, but he also... more
Puccini
1858 - 1924 Whatever the atmosphere he wanted to create, Puccini’s sound world is unique and unmistakeable with... more
Rachmaninov
1873 - 1943 Few musicians have successfully followed two musical disciplines, but Rachmaninov managed three:... more
Ravel
1875 - 1937 Ravel’s greatest significance was in establishing, with Debussy, a distinct French school of music... 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 obsession with... more
Stravinsky
1882 - 1971 From 1910 to 1945, Stravinsky was the single strongest influence on contemporary music. His early... more
Tchaikovsky
1840 - 1893 Tchaikovsky is the most popular of all Russian composers, his music combining some nationalist... more

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