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Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven (16 December 1770-26 March 1827) wrote his Symphony No. 9 piece as his final symphony, which premiered on 7 May 1824. Although Beethoven was born in the Classical era many of his pieces were in the Romantic style and many consider Beethoven the bridge between Classical and Romantic music. This is by many considered to be his greatest piece and it is in a clearly progressed style from Classicism; one of the earliest Romantic pieces. -
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin was born on this day. He was a composer of the Romantic era who wrote foremostly for solo piano. One of his most famous pieces is the "Raindrop Prelude". -
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann was a German composer and critic. Many regard him as one of the greatest composeres of the Romantic era. Most of the pieces he wrote were for either solo piano or piano and orchestra. One of his most famous pieces is "Dichterliebe", which is a song cycle. -
Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner was a German composer primarily renowned for his operas, one of the most famous of these being "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg". Some people dislike Wagner due to his very pronounced political opinions and way of life, yet even many of these people cannot deny his astounding musical brilliance. -
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer who was widely popular and influential in his time. He wrote a lot for piano, so his most famous pieces would be his piano concertos. Being himself a virtuoso pianist he premiered most of his pieces himself. -
Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Mussorgsky was another Russian composer who was part of a group of composers called "The Five". These composers were not as famous as their Russian counterpart Tchaikovsky, but they also wrote amazing music. Mussorgsky's most famous piece is undoubtedly his "Pictures at an Exhibition", which was based on his friend's exhibition. -
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer, the first to make an enduring impression on the whole world and still does so today. His most famous works are undoubtedly his ballets, one of which, "The Nutcracker", is still a Christmas tradition to be performed all over the world. -
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Dvorák was a Czech composer who wrote music of a nationalistic style, using the examples of Moravian folk music and music of his native Bohemia. One of his most famous pieces are his "Slavonic Dances", based on folk dances and written for orchestra. -
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was of Czech and Jewish origin and is renowned for providing the bridge between Romanticism and Modernism of the 20th century. His most famous work is his "Symphony No. 8", which was popular and well-received in his time. -
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer who was also quite nationalistic. This can be heard in his undoubtedly most famous piece "Finlandia". His music was very important for establishing the Finnish national identity.
