Hildegard von Bingen 1098-1179
Guillaume de Machaut 1300-1377
Claudio Monteverdi 1567-1643
Barbara Strozzi 1619-1677
Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre 1665-1729
Antonio Vivaldi 1678-1741
George Frideric Handel 1685-1759
Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750
Ignatius Sancho 1729-1780
Joseph Haydn 1732-1809
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges 1745-1799
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756-1791
Ludwig van Beethoven 1770-1827
Franz Schubert 1797-1828
Clara & Robert Schumann C: 1819-1896 R: 1810-1856
Giuseppe Verdi 1813-1901
Johannes Brahms 1833-1897
Lili‘uokalani 1838-1917
Chiquinha Gonzaga 1847-1935
Gustav Mahler 1860-1911
Erik Satie 1866-1925
Claude Debussy 1862-1918
Harry T. Burleigh 1866-1949
Scott Joplin 1868-1917
Arnold Schoenberg 1874-1951
Maurice Ravel 1875-1937
Samuel Coleridge Taylor 1875-1912
Igor Stravinsky 1882-1971
Florence Price 1887-1953
Lili & Nadia Boulanger L: 1893-1918 N: 1887-1979
William Grant Still 1895-1978
Shirley Graham Du Bois 1896-1977
George Gershwin 1898-1937
John Cage 1912-1992
Leonard Bernstein 1918-1990
Galina Ustvolskaya 1919-2006
Astor Piazzolla 1921-1992
George Crumb 1929-2022
Tōru Takemitsu 1930-1996
Young-ja Lee 1931-
Louis W. Ballard 1931-2007
John Williams 1932-
Pauline Oliveros 1932-2016
Arvo Pärt 1935-
Philip Glass 1937-
Roscoe Mitchell 1940-
Julius Eastman 1940-1990
Meredith Monk 1942-
Tania León 1943-
Nobuo Uematsu 1959-
featuring
listen
go on a journey through the music of the 50 iconic composers!
Ignatius Sancho
1729-1780
Ludwig van Beethoven
1770-1827
Clara Schumann
1819-1896
Gustav Mahler
1860-1911
Scott Joplin
1868-1917
Igor Stravinsky
1882-1971
William Grant Still
1895-1978
Leonard Bernstein
1918-1990
Tōru Takemitsu
1930-1996
John Williams
1932-
Julius Eastman
1940-1990
Joseph Haydn
1732-1809
Franz Schubert
1797-1828
Johannes Brahms
1833-1897
Claude Debussy
1862-1918
Arnold Schoenberg
1874-1951
Florence Price
1887-1953
Shirley Graham Du Bois
1896-1977
Galina Ustvolskaya
1919-2006
Louis W. Ballard
1931-2007
Arvo Pärt
1935-
Meredith Monk
1942-
Joseph Bologne
1745-1799
Robert Schumann
1810-1856
Lili‘uokalani
1838-1917
Erik Satie
1866-1925
Samuel Coleridge Taylor
1875-1912
Nadia Boulanger
1887-1979
George Gershwin
1898-1937
Astor Piazzolla
1921-1992
Young-ja Lee
1931-
Philip Glass
1937-
Tania León
1943-
George Frideric Handel
1685-1759
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
1756-1791
Giuseppe Verdi
1813-1901
Chiquinha Gonzaga
1847-1935
Harry T. Burleigh
1866-1949
Maurice Ravel
1875-1937
Lili Boulanger
1893-1918
John Cage
1912-1992
George Crumb
1929-2022
Pauline Oliveros
1932-2016
Roscoe Mitchell
1940-
Nobuo Uematsu
1959-
these 50 composers...
..are just the beginning
add an
ICONIC COMPOSER
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Last Name | First Name | Birth Year | Death Year | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
Leonarda | Isabella | 1620 | 1704 | Italy |
Telemann | Georg Philipp | 1681 | 1767 | Germany |
Rameau | Jean-Philippe | 1683 | 1764 | France |
Paganini | Niccolò | 1782 | 1840 | Italy |
Farrenc | Louise | 1804 | 1875 | France |
Chopin | Frederic | 1810 | 1849 | Poland |
Wagner | Richard | 1813 | 1883 | Germany |
Saint-Saens | Camille | 1835 | 1921 | France |
Saint-Saens | Camille | 1835 | 1921 | France |
Tchaikovsky | Pyotr | 1840 | 1893 | Russia |
Blake | Eubie | 1887 | 1983 | USA |
Bonds | Margaret | 1913 | 1972 | USA |
Ligeti | György | 1923 | 2006 | Hungary |
Boulez | Pierre | 1925 | 2016 | France |
Wuorinen | Charles | 1938 | 2020 | USA |
Sakamoto | Ryuichi | 1952 | 2023 | Japan |
Ortiz | Gabriela | 1964 | Mexico | |
Hersch | Michael | 1971 | USA | |
Balter | Marcos | 1974 | Brasil / USA | |
Rhiannon | Giddens | 1977 | USA | |
Shaw | Caroline | 1982 | USA | |
Iannotta | Clara | 1983 | Italy | |
Aucoin | Matthew | 1990 | USA |
become a composer!
anyone can be a composer! here are a few ways to start....
sing
dream
listen
imagine
improvise
collaborate
you can make music with anything!
experiment
with flowerpots
with stones
with vegetables
with silence
you can make music with anything!
glossary
arrangements
english
a musical arrangement is when someone adapts an existing piece of music to suit the instruments they have on hand. for example, J.S. Bach took Vivaldi's "Concerto in B Minor" for 4 violins, and arranged it for 4 harpsichords in the key of A minor.
art song
english
an original piece of music for voice and piano, usually under 10 minutes in length
bandoneon
spanish
a bandoneon is an accordion-like instrument, developed first in Germany, but now associated with the country of Argentina where it is used widely in Tango music
belle époque
french
1871-1914 France
cantata(s)
italian
a piece of music for voice(s) and instruments
chamber ensembles
english / french
a group of musicians, usually between 2-10 players. a string quartet, woodwind quintet, brass quintet, and a trio, are all examples of chamber ensembles that play “chamber music”
chamber music
english
music composed for a group of roughly 2-10 instrumentalists
composer
english
a person who creates music.
composition
english
a piece of music.
concerto(i)(s)
italian
a musical piece that features an instrumental soloist with an orchestra.
conductor
english
a person who directs an ensemble, choir, or orchestra
counterpoint
english
the act of combining multiple lines of music at the same time in a composition.
crescendo
italian
an increase of volume or intensity in music.
dalcroze techniquye
english
a method of musical training that emphasizes the relationship between music and movement
decrescendo
italian
a decrease in volume or intensity in music.
dissonance
english
when two or more sound waves rub against each other.
electronic music
english
music that uses electronic instruments or sound production
ensemble
english / french
1. a group of musicians
2. The French word for “together”
folk (music)
english
the traditional music of a particular region or group of people, typically passed along orally.
forte
italian
loud (volume level)
harmony(ies)
english / italian
the sound of and relationship between two or more notes
libretto
italian
the text, or words, of an opera or other dramatic vocal work
mass
english
a form of sacred musical composition that often feature vocalists
measure(s)
english
a unit of time with a specific number of beats set by a time signature that helps organize a musical piece.
melody
english
a linear succession of notes
monophony
english
a musical style employing a single melodic line
motive (motif)
english / french
a small but identifiable, and often repeated, musical idea in a composition.
musicals
english
a theatrical production that includes music, dialogue, acting, and dancing.
neoclassical
english
opera
italian
a theatrical musical work that can include vocal soloists, choir, instrumentalists, actors, dancers, and more
opera house
english
a theater created for performances of opera.
oratorio
italian
a large musical composition focused on a sacred topic scored for choirs, vocal soloists, and orchestras. Unlike an opera, an oratorio generally does not include costumes, scenery, or staging
pedagogue
english / french
a teacher
pedagogy
english
the method, or practice of teaching. Someone who practices pedagogy, is called a pedagogue, another word for “teacher”
piano
italian
soft (volume level)
ragtime
english
a syncopated genre of music known for its ‘ragged’ - irregular - rhythm on the piano and was influenced by elements of both African American and European music.
A style of music that was developed and popularized between 1899 and 1917 in the United States. Many pieces of ragtime are played on the piano and feature large jumps between notes and syncopated rhythms that became emblematic of the ragtime style.
OR
“A genre of musical composition for the piano, generally in duple meter and containing a highly syncopated treble lead over a rhythmically steady bass. A ragtime composition is usually composed three or four contrasting sections or strains, each one being 16 or 32 measures in length.” - Ed Berlin
register
english
is a relative term that is used to describe where a note lies in the range of a musical instrument, i.e. “high register” “low register”
repertoire
english / french
a collection of musical works that a performer is familiar with
resonance
english / french
a way to describe how sound waves behave
reverb
english
the persistence of sound after it is produced that bounces around the space creating a “tail” or extended decay. Reverb can be produced naturally by the space that the sound is produced in, or electronically, by adding a digital “tail” to a recording.
sacred music
english
music written for the church or religious purposes
schubertiade
german / french
an evening or concert devoted to the songs composed by Franz Schubert
score
english
secular music
english
music NOT written for the church
sonata
italian
an instrumental musical composition with several movements of different moods
song cycle
english
a group of songs intended to be performed together. A precursor to the modern idea of an “album”
spiritual(s)
english
music of religious and folk backgrounds developed in the 19th century United States that is closely associated with the enslavement of African people in the United States
symphony
english
1. Another name for an orchestra (for example, the Boston Symphony Orchestra. 2. A composition written for an orchestra, typically with several moments of contrasting moods
syncopated
english
music that has syncopation, or repeated emphasis where it is note expected
syncopation
english
the act of emphasizing a note, rhythm, or beat that is not usually accented
synthesized
english
1. To bring something together. 2. Music that has been created with the help of an electronic instrument called a synthesizer
texture(s)
english
a term borrowed from the sense of touch to describe how music sounds i.e. “rough”, “soft”, “jagged”, “rounded”. Sometimes it is used to describe the relationship between the different lines of music in a piece, i.e. “two part texture”.
timbre
french
the character of an instrument, sound, or voice
tintinnabuli
a style and minimalistic technique created by composer Arvo Pärt
treatise
english
Usually a written document or book, put together by a composer, performer, or musical theorist, that describes their method and approach to their craft.
virtuoso
italian
a musician with extraordinary musical abilities.