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Prince Nikolaus Eszterházy II
Eszterházy II was the Hungarian prince who succeeded as Haydn's patron after his father. He continue to employ Haydn after 1790. -
Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven was the transitional figure between classicism and romanticism. An icon even today, he created the heroism topic inside orchestral music. -
E. T. A. Hoffmann
Hoffmann was an author, composer, and artist most known for writing "The Nutcracker." His writing style epitomized Romanticism. -
Carl Maria von Weber
von Weber was a German composer who studied with Haydn. He was the founder of German Romantic Opera as well as an important conductor of the time. -
Gioachino Rossini
Rossini was an Italian composer who mostly wrote operas and choral music. He was THE most famous composer in Vienna during the 19th century. -
Gaetano Donizetti
Donizetti was a prolific composer in most genres. In serious opera, he was directly before Verdi. Donizetti was a student of Mayr. -
Franz Schubert
Schubert was romanticized for his early death and his Lieder genre, which was very dramatic and artistic. He left many unfinished works, but his works were full of modulations and expansive melodies. -
Vincenzo Bellini
Bellini was an Italian composer who mostly wrote operas. His works were full of action, emotion, and passion. -
Hector Berlioz
Berlioz embodied romanticism with his works. He was the leading French musician of his era. In addition to being a gifted composer, Berlioz was also an innovator, conductor, and writer. -
Mikhail Glinka
Glinka was a Russian composer trained in Europe. He was prolific, and is known as the father of Russian music. -
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
Hensel was a sister of Felix Mendelssohn and received the same training as him, though was discouraged from composing. When she married, she continued publishing and made her house into a cultural and intellectual center. -
Felix Mendelssohn
Mendelssohn was early Romantic composer who wrote with a more conservative style. He was a German composer of Jewish heritage who revived Bach's music and was an important conductor. -
Robert Schumann
Schumann was at the center of musical life during his time. An important composer, critic, and editor, his career was cut short by his loss of sanity young in life. -
Frédéric François Chopin
Chopin was known for his character pieces. While more famous now than in his time, Chopin was a talented composer and pianist who created new piano techniques. -
Franz Liszt
Liszt is known as the inventor of the orchestral tone poem. A supporter of Wagner, he was an innovator in harmonics, aesthetics, and musical form. He was also a conductor, an author, and a virtuoso pianist. -
Grimm's Fairy Tales
The first set of fairy tales by Wilheim and Jacob Grimm, originally known as Children's and Household Tales. This collection was dark, and viewed folktales as embodying the spirit of a country- sparking early movements toward nationalism. -
Giuseppe Verdi
Verdi is known as a national hero of Italy. His work earned him the title of the leading Italian composer of the 19th century. -
Richard Wagner
Wagner was known for many contributions in music; he was a composer, conductor, musical innovator, writer, and creator of German Music Drama. His music impacted western society, and he strove to write endless melodies. His music also focused on the future. -
Charles Gounod
Gounod was a French composer well known for being prolific in most genres. Some of his compositions include oratorios, operas, choral works, and piano works. -
Clara Wieck Schumann
Clara was the wife of Robert Schumann, but a prolific composer in her own right. In addition to being a composer, she was a virtuoso pianist and close friend of Brahms. -
Jacques Offenbach
Offenbach is known as the founder of Opera Bouffe. Aside from that, he also made a lot of dramatic works, vocal works, dance music, and is credited with introducing the can-can. -
César Franck
Franck was a French organist, composer, and teacher. He composed stage and orchestral works, as well as piano and organ works. -
Anton Bruckner
Bruckner was an Austrian organist and composer. A follower of Wagner, Bruckner had a very conscientious way of approaching his compositions. -
Bedrich Smetana
Smetana was a Czech composer and nationalist. He is credited for establishing Czech opera in the 19th century. -
Johann Strauss
Strauss was a composer, conductor, and violinist known for his operettas. He was given the title "Waltz King" by peers and scholars. -
Stephen Foster
Foster was an American songwriter known for his vernacular style. -
Johannes Brahms
Brahms was a classic-romantic composer from Austria. He was very well versed in musical past, and was one of the first editors of Bach's music. He was also friends with the Schumanns. -
Camille Saint-Saëns
Saint-Saëns was a composer, organist, writer, and pianist of French decent. He was known for composing in a variety of genres. -
Georges Bizet
Bizet was a French composer credited with creating a new type of serious French opera. He also wrote dramatic works and piano works. -
Tuba
Carl Wilhelm Moritz is credited for inventing the first tuba. He was a German instrument builder and designed this 5 valve instrument with the help of Wilhelm Wieprecht. -
Modest Musorgsky
Musorgsky was a composer with his works rooted in Russian lore and folk music. He was the most famous of a Russian group called "The Mighty Five." -
John Knowles Paine
Paine was an American composer, organist, and teacher. His tutelage influenced the new generation of American composers. He was also the first music professor at Harvard. -
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Tchaikovsky was known for his conservative harmonic language and emotional compositions. He was a Russian composer, teacher, and conductor with Western training. -
Antonín Dvořák
Dvořák was a Czech composer who lived in the US. He drew inspiration from Native American and African American music and culture. -
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Rimsky-Korsakov was another member of the composer group known as the Russian Mighty Five. He was known for writing an orchestra treatise, as well as his work as a conductor and teacher. -
Gabriel Fauré
Fauré was a composer whose work indicated style and tonality of the modern era. He was an important French composer, teacher, and keyboardist. -
Saxophone
Adolphe Sax patented the invention of the saxophone. His goal was to combine sounds of both the woodwind and brass instrument families. When his patent ran out, several people rushed to improve upon it, and the range of the instrument was increased. -
Tone Poem
The invention of the tone poem is credited to Liszt in 1849. These were created to be more open than the traditional symphony of the time. They are one movement works usually accompanied by a reading of a poem or passage. -
Leoš Janáček
Janáček was a Czech composer who was influenced by folk music. He also was an ethnomusicologist. -
Engelbert Humperdinck
Humperdinck was a German composer, teacher, and critic in the 19th century. He was close to Wagner as well. -
John Philip Sousa
Sousa is well known for his extensive compositions of marches. He was also in charge of the US Marine Band in 1880. -
Edward Elgar
Elgar was an English composer who drew from other inspirational sources other than folk music. He received international acclaim for his works. -
Giacomo Puccini
Puccini is known as the most successful Italian composer after Verdi. He is known for his operas as well as his gift for delicate melodies and always strove for realism in his works. -
Cecil Sharp
Sharp was an English composer during the 19th century. He is known for his work with collecting and editing folksongs. -
Hugo Wolf
Wolf was a German composer who was influenced by Wagner. His compositions were mostly Lieder.