The Best Classical Music Period Composers

Discover the greatest classical music composers of all time who wrote their music during the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic Periods.

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany, in 1685. A great composer of the Baroque period, Bach’sBrandenburg Concertos and The Well-Tempered Clavier are some of his most famous works. Read on to learn more about the life and music of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Life

Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21, 1685, in Eisenach, Germany, into a family of distinguished musicians. His father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was the town musician, and his uncles were chapel masters in nearby courts. From an early age, Bach showed great talent and aptitude for music. At age 10 he became a member of the choir of the court chapel in Weimar; four years later he became its organist. In 1700 he obtained a similar position at Arnstadt.

In 1703 Bach was appointed court organist and concertmaster to Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cothen. There he had the opportunity to study works by the Italian masters that were in the prince’s possession and to absorb their influences. The Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring lyric is from one of his cantatas composed during this period—a happy time that came to an abrupt end when Prince Leopold married and moved his court away from Cothen in 1706.

Music

Johann Sebastian Bach was a renowned German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist of the Baroque Period. He is credited with instrumental works such as the Brandenburg Concertos, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Goldberg Variations, Mass in B Minor, and the St Matthew Passion. Bach also wrote a number of Cantatas and Motets.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a prolific and influential composer of the classical era. He composed over 600 works, many of which are widely recognized as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music. Mozart is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers, with his music being performed more often than that of any other composer.

Life

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria. His father, Leopold, was a well-known composer and violinist and his mother’s name was Anna Maria. Mozart showed great musical talent at an early age. By the time he was five years old, he had already composed several mini-operas. At six years old he began touring Europe with his father and sister Nannerl.

Mozart’s first important opera was The Marriage of Figaro, which premiered in 1786. He also wrote the popular operas Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte. Mozart is considered one of the greatest classical music composers who ever lived. Some of his other famous works include the symphonies Eine kleine Nachtmusik and Symphony No. 40, as well as the piano concertos No. 21 and No. 23.

Mozart married Constanze Weber in 1782 and they had six children together, only two of whom survived to adulthood: Karl Thomas and Franz Xaver Wolfgang. Constanze supported her family by selling some of Mozart’s manuscripts after his death.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died on December 5, 1791, in Vienna, Austria at the age of 35 from an unknown illness (some believe he may have had typhoid fever).

Music

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) was an Austrian composer. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers, and his influence is profound on subsequent Western art music. Ludwig van Beethoven composed his own early works in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Haydn wrote: “posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years.”

Born in Salzburg, Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. At 17, he was engaged as a court musician by the Archbishop of Salzburg. Between 1773 and 1777 he lived in Milan, where his opera seria La finta giardiniera was performed in 1775. In Vienna from 1781 to 1791 he achieved success as a composer and performer; this culminated in his opera The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte), which was especially popular among the common people but less so with the Court. During his final years in Vienna he composed many of his best-known symphonies and operas, as well as other works that gained posthumous fame such as the Requiem (K 626). His influence on subsequent Western art music is profound; Beethoven composed his own early works largely in response to it while Haydn wrote that “posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years.”

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist, who is arguably the most famous classical music composer in history. He was born in 1770 in the city of Bonn, and his father was a court musician. Beethoven’s first music teacher was his father, who taught him violin and piano. He later studied with other famous composers such as Joseph Haydn and Antonio Salieri.

Life

Ludwig van Beethoven (/ˈlʊdvɪɡ væn ˈbeɪt(h)oʊvən/ (listen); German: [ˈluːtvɪç fan ˈbeːt(h)oˊfn̩] (listen); baptised 17 December 1770 – 26 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the classical and romantic eras in classical music, he remains one of the most recognised and influential of all composers. His best-known compositions include 9 symphonies; 5 piano concertos; 1 violin concerto; 32 piano sonatas; 16 string quartets; his great Mass the Missa solemnis; and one opera, Fidelio. Born in Bonn shortly after the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War, Beethoven was taught by Christian Gottlob Neefe, debuts as a performer in 1778. He gained crucial public attention when he began his first opera, Egmont in 1785.

Maximilian Franz was Elector of Cologne from 1784 until the election of Napoleon as King of Germany in 1803 saw the end of over 200 years of electorate rule by the House of Habsburg. In 1786, Maximilian Franz went on to appoint Beethoven imperial court organist in Vienna, a position he held until Napoleon’s invasion forced Maximilian Franz to flee Vienna in early 1805.

As well as continuing to compose during this period, Beethoven also undertook a series of important teaching positions. In November 1792 he gave piano lessons to Archduke Karl (later Emperor Karl I), the son of Emperor Leopold II and future Austrian emperor. These lessons continued until Karl’s surprise abdication following Napoleon’s victory at Austerlitz in December 1805. Following this event, Beethoven entered into another period of mourning for his lost patron Maximilian Franz—during which time little new music was composed—and for his brother Caspar Carl, who died on 15 November 1815.

Music

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist, who is arguably the defining figure in the history of Western music.

Beethoven was born in 1770 in Bonn and his family was of Flemish origin. His grandfather Kapellmeister Ludwig van Beethoven (1712–73) had served as musical director to the electoral court in Cologne and Bonn; his father, Johann van Beethoven (1740–92), was his grandfather’s assistant.

There is no record of Ludwig’s early education, but he probably received some musical training from his father, who was a singer in the electoral court choir and later its music master. By 1779 Ludwig had begun to study with Christian Gottlob Neefe (1748–98), the newly appointed Court Organist.

In 1792 Beethoven moved to Vienna, where he studied with Haydn and other masters. His first published work appeared in 1793, and his Opus 1, a set of three piano trios, was published in 1795.

In 1800 Beethoven wrote his Symphony No. 1; the same year he also composed his Piano Concerto No. 1 and his first string quartet. The Symphony No. 2 followed in 1802, along with the Piano Concerto No. 2 and the incidental music to Goethe’s Egmont. In 1803 came Symphony No. 3 (Eroica), dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte; Piano Concerto No. 3; the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives; and the opera Leonore (later revised as Fidelio). Symphony No. 4 appeared in 1806, along with Violin Concerto; Piano Sonatas Nos. 14 (Moonlight) and 15 (Pastoral); Bagatelles for piano; String Quartet No. 7; and various other works. The years 1807–9 saw publication of Symphony No. 5; Violin Concerto; Fidelio; Piano Concerto No., 4; String Quartets Nos., 8 and 9; Sonatas for cello and piano Nos., 5 & 6; various other works for cello & piano, including 12 variations on ‘See, the Conqu’ring Hero Comes’ from Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus Opus 111: six Variations for piano on ‘Nel cor piu non mi sento’ by Paisiello Opus 133: 10 Variations for piano on ‘Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu’ Opus 121a: seven variations for piano on ‘Bei Männern welche Liebe fühlen’ from Mozart’s Magic Flute Opus 46: sixVariationsfor violin & piano on ‘salut à la France” by Cherubini WoO 78: sixVariationsfor violin &pianoon”Nänie ” by Schiller WoO 82 four Eckstein Songs Op 97b: Rondo Allegretto graziosoforpiano(Klavierstücke in Folge)Op 119 In 1811 came Symphony No 6 (Pastoral); Piano Concertos Nos 5 & 6 ; Violin Concerto ;Wellington’s Victoryor Battle Symphony ;Missa solemnis ;& 11 BagatellesforpianoOp 119

In 1814 Beethoven completed SymphonyNo 7and well as threemore string quartetsQuartetsNos 11 12 & 13 In early 1815 hesketchedhisMelancholySymphony whichwas later publishedunderthe titleSymphonyNo 8 That sameyearhealso completedtheStringQuartetNo 14 popularly knownas DeathandtheMaidenthough itsnicknamewastheresultof apublisher’serror TheStringQuartetNo 15wasfinishedin September1815andSymphonyNo 9 rumouredtobeinprogress as earlyas 1804 but notcompleteduntil May1824wasfirstperformedina private concertinViennaon7May1824withBeethovenhimself conducting The publicpremiere tookplace3dayslaterwith AntonEttingshausen conducting

chambermusicworksduringthisperiodincludeStringTriosNos 4 5 & 6 TheArchduke Triothe onlyworkdedicatedtoa memberoftheimperialfamilyisparticularlynoteworthy It is dedicatedtoArchdukeRudolphofAustriaHabsburg second sonoftheEmperorFranz Iandeemedbysomeasthemostaccomplishedamateurmusicianofhisday Workonthis trio actuallypreceded thatonthe NinthSymphony Anothernotedworkfromthisperiodisthe so calledHarp QuintetactuallyaStringQuartetwith adoublingof partsbyaharp player

Franz Schubert

Franz Schubert was born in 1797 and died in 1828, which places him squarely in the Classical period of music history. Schubert was immensely prolific, composing over 600 lieder, nine symphonies (including the famous “Unfinished Symphony”), liturgical music, solo works, and a great deal of chamber music. Much of Schubert’s music is characterized by a song-like quality, even when he was writing instrumental works.

Life

Franz Schubert was an Austrian composer. He was born on January 31, 1797, in Vienna, and died on November 19, 1828, also in Vienna. Franz was the twelfth child of Franz Theodor Schubert and Maria Elisabeth Schubert nee Vieth. Of his father’s twelve children only five survived infancy. Dionys Franz Schubert’s surviving siblings were Karl Otto, Ferdinand and Therese. Maria Anna Schubert, who was 22 months younger than Franz, died before he was six years old.

Schubert’s father wanted all of his sons to learn a useful trade so that they could support themselves financially. Franz began school at the age of six and studied reading, writing and arithmetic for six years until he left in 1804 to study at a higher class level. He loved music from an early age and his father taught him to play the violin. His brothers Karl Otto and Ferdinand also played the violin and often performed together as a trio with their friend Ignaz von Seyfried accompanying them on the piano.

Music

Franz Schubert (31 January 1797 – 19 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works (mainly Lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music and a large body of piano and chamber music. His major works include the Piano Quintet in A major, D.667 (Op. 114), the Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D.759 (Op. posth. 143), the three last piano sonatas (D. 958–960), the opera Fierrabras (D. 796), and the incidental music to the play Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus, D.797 (Op. 26).

A talented student starting from a young age, Schubert studied at the local monastic school at age eleven and soon after he was admitted to his father’s school where he became fluent in Latin and German but neglected mathematics and science; he also played violin in his father’s orchestra starting at age thirteen. He left school after his voice broke in 1813 and was taught for a short time by Salieri; he then worked for his father as a secretary before accompanying him on teaching trips to other villages around Lichtental. During these trips he met a number of people who would significantly influence his future career path including Josef von Spaun and Eduard von Bauernfeld with whom he stayed during summers while working for his father; Spaun later introduced Schubert to Goethe’s works.[1][2] The March 1814 declaration of Napoleon’s defeat signalled renewal of Austria’s opposition to French hegemony which resulted in expulsion of all French troops within Austrian controlled territory; by this time Schubert was already studying with Antonio Salieri who recognized that Schubert had great musical talent but needed formal musical training if he were to succeed as a professional musician.[3]

In November 1822 Schubert gave a series of five concerts known as the “Schuppanzigh Concerts”. They were very well received by Viennese audiences but did not lead to lasting fame or material success.[4][5]

Nevertheless, although initial popularity eluded him during his lifetime, Schubert has come to be hailed as one among the greatest composers of Western classical music.[6][7]