100 greatest composers

Famous composers today
Who are the 3 famous composers of the classical period
Famous composers of the 20th century

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The best books on The Lives of Classical Composers

Tell me about Julian Shuckburgh’s biography of Johann Sebastian Bach, Harmony and Discord.

This just came out. Most biographies of Bach have been tremendously hagiographical and, broadly speaking, treated him as if he was God. Julian Shuckburgh’s approach is to treat him like any composer now, as it were: to study him in his living conditions, in his contracts and his disagreements with his employers – which were constant. The interesting thing about Bach is that he was actually, in career terms, not very successful, and the book shows the struggles that he had – for example, to support his (very large) family. Bach was essentially a local church musician who was also a schoolmaster – it’s very surprising when you think like that.

“Unlike Handel, say, who was a sort of flamboyant impresario figure, Bach remained a local composer who never made it beyond the confines of regional German culture.”

This is an integrated biography and very much a story of his actual life, as opposed to the sanctified version that was spread

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These are the 50 greatest composers of all time - and the 50 top albums you need in your collection

Who are the best composers of all time? We asked 174 leading contemporary composers for their choices. We've also added in some revealing insights for each composer, courtesy of one of the modern composers who voted for them. Plus, we've added in the perfect gateway album for each of the 50. Happy listening!

Meet our top 50 famous composers, in descending order - do you agree with our choices? And how many of the famous classical composers can you name and recognise?

Greatest composers: numbers 50 to 41

Best composers: numbers 40 to 31

Greatest classical composers: numbers 30 to 21

Best composers: numbers 20 to 11

Greatest composers: numbers10 to 2

The best composer of all time

50 greatest composers of all time: 50 to 41

50 Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)

Russian virtuoso pianist, gifted melodist and one of the greats of late Romanticism

John Rutter on Rachmaninov

Rachmaninov belongs to the aristocracy of composers. He never wrote

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A list of famous and influential composers throughout history, including the greatest composers Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Franz Schubert.

Composers of the Medieval period

Hildegard von Bingen (1097 – 1179) German writer, mystic, composer and polymath. Hildegard wrote many liturgical songs, which pushed the boundaries of traditional Gregorian Chant. Her greatest work was Ordo Virtutum (Play of the Virtues) – a morality play.

Composers of the Renaissance period

John Dunstable (1390 – 1453) English composer of polyphonic music. Dunstable had a big influence on the development of music through his creation of chords with triads, which became known as the Burgundian School: la countenance angloise or “the English countenance” e.g Quam pulchra es.

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525 – 1594) Italian Renaissance composer of sacred music. Palestrina was a prolific composer of masses, motets, madrigals and offertories. An influential work was Missa Papae Marcelli (Pope Marcellus Mass)

William Byrd (1543 – 1623) English composer