Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
The German composer and pianist, he is widely regarded
as the greatest composer who ever lived. He expanded
the Classical traditions of Joseph Haydn, one of his
teachers, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and
experimented with personal expression, a characteristic
that influenced the romantic composers who succeeded him. His life and
career were marked by progressive deafness, yet the malady did not prevent
him from composing some of his most important works during the last 10
years of his life when he was nearly unable to hear.
Johann Sebastian Bach(1685–1750
He is a German composer and organist of the Baroque
period. His contemporaries admired him for his talent as
a musician but thought his compositions were
old-fashioned. A rediscovery of his work in the early 19th
century led to the so-called Bach revival, in which he
came to be seen as one of the greatest composers of all time. His
most-celebrated compositions include Brandenburg Concertos, The
Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846–893, Suites for Unaccompanied Cello,
BWV 1007–1012, Orchestral Suites, BWV 1066–1069, and Mass in B Minor,
BWV 232.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart(1756–91)
An Austrian composer of the Classical period, Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart is widely recognized as one of the
greatest composers of Western music. He is the only
composer to write and excel in all of the musical genres
of his time. Rumored to have had the ability to play music at age three and to
write music at age five, Mozart began his career as a child prodigy.
Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)
Antonio Vivaldi was an Italian composer and violinist
of the Baroque period. He wrote music for operas, solo
instruments, and small ensembles, but he is often
celebrated for his concerti, in which virtuoso solo
passages alternate with passages for the whole
orchestra. He wrote about 500 concerti, of which his best-known work is the
group of four violin concerti titled The Four Seasons. His Mandolin Concerto
in C Major, RV 425, Concerto for Four Violins and Cello in B Minor, Op. 3,
No.10 and Concerto for Two Trumpets in C Major are equally playful and
complex.
Johannes Brahms (1833–97)
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist of
the Romantic period, but he was more a disciple of the
Classical tradition. He wrote in many genres, including
symphonies, concerti, chamber music, piano works, and
choral compositions, many of which reveal the influence
of folk music. Some of his best-known works include
Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Wiegenlied, Op. 49, No. 4,
and Hungarian Dances.
Claude Debussy (1862–1918)
The French composer Claude Debussy is often
regarded as the father of modern classical music.
Debussy developed new and complex harmonies
and musical structures that evoke comparisons to
the art of his contemporary Impressionist And
Symbolist painters and writers. His major works
include Clair de lune, La Mer, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, and the
opera Pelléas et Mélisande.
Frédéric Chopin (1810–49)
Frédéric Chopin was a Polish French composer and
pianist of the Romantic period. He was one of few
composers to devote himself to a single instrument,
and his sensitive approach to the keyboard allowed
him to exploit all the resources of the piano,
including innovations in fingering and pedaling. He
is thus primarily known for writing music for the piano, notably Nocturne,
Op. 9 No. 2 in E-flat Major, Nocturne in C-sharp Minor, B. 49, and Heroic
Polonaise.
