History Profiles

The Greatest Composers in History

These composers created the enduring masterpieces of the musical canon, transforming the very language of music across the centuries.

  1. 1

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Composer · 1756 – 1791

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was an Austrian composer of the Classical era, a child prodigy who produced more than 600 works of extraordinary range and beauty and is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in history.

    96
  2. 2

    Johann Sebastian Bach

    Composer · 1685 – 1750

    Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque era whose mastery of counterpoint and harmony — in works like the Brandenburg Concertos and the Mass in B minor — made him one of the greatest composers in Western history.

    95
  3. 3

    Ludwig van Beethoven

    Composer · 1770 – 1827

    Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist, one of the greatest musicians in history, who bridged the Classical and Romantic eras and composed masterpieces even after going deaf.

    94
  4. 4

    Jean-Jacques Rousseau

    Philosopher · 1712 – 1778

    Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan-French philosopher, writer, and composer whose ideas on the social contract, the general will, and natural human goodness shaped modern political thought, education, and the Romantic movement.

    90
  5. 5

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Composer · 1840 – 1893

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian Romantic composer whose richly emotional music — including the ballets Swan Lake and The Nutcracker and the 1812 Overture — made him one of the most popular and widely performed composers in the world.

    89
  6. 6

    Frédéric Chopin

    Composer · 1810 – 1849

    Frédéric Chopin was a Polish-French Romantic composer and virtuoso pianist whose deeply expressive works for solo piano — nocturnes, études, polonaises and mazurkas — made him one of the most influential composers for the instrument.

    88
  7. 7

    Hildegard of Bingen

    Composer · 1098 – 1179

    Hildegard of Bingen was a German Benedictine abbess and one of the most remarkable polymaths of the Middle Ages — a visionary, composer, writer, healer and natural philosopher.

    84