-
Dukas was a French composer who rarely published his works. He was also a teacher and a critic.
-
Sibelius was a Finnish composer who wrote tone poems and symphonies. His later works were more modern.
-
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach was an American composer and pianist who was very successful in Europe. She wrote with a more conservative style, and she was the first successful female American composer of large-scale art music.
-
Joplin was an American composer who is credited with popularizing ragtime. While he did write some marches, waltzes, and one opera, he focused more on the style of ragtime.
-
Williams became the leader of English music with his many compositional works, and was a teacher and conductor as well. He was also the music editor of the English Hymnal.
-
Skryabin was a composer who was influenced by impressionism and chromaticism. He had his own complex original harmonic language that he put into his works.
-
Rachmaniov was not focused on the nationalist movement at the time, and was a master of melodies. He was also a virtuoso pianist who traveled the U.S.
-
Holst was an English composer who found influence in folksong and Hindu mysticism. He was an original composer, and an important teacher of many.
-
de Falla was the principal Spanish composer of the 20th century. He gathered international fame for using Spanish folk and popular music in his works.
-
Bartok was a Hungarian composer and ethnomusicologist who incorporated his own native folk music into his works. He was known for his favoring of rhythm in his music.
-
Kodály is credited with creating a solfege system starting on "do". He was a Hungarian ethnomusicologist and music educator.
-
A French-American composer who focused on more atonal compositions. Varèse was an innovative composer who was interested in creating organized sound as music, and found other things to be more important than pitch in his works.
-
Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer and cellist of the 20th century. He favored drama in his pieces.
-
A 20th century Russian composer and pianist, Prokofiev was an important Russian voice in Western culture.
-
Hindemith was a German conductor, composer, and author. He wrote Gebrauchsmusik, which translates to utility music, which means music written not just to exist, but for a very specific and identifiable purpose.
-
Still was a very notable African-American composer, and the first one to have a symphony of his played by a leading orchestra at the time. In addition, he was the first black American to conduct a major orchestra, as well as the first black American to write for media like film and radio.
-
Gershwin was a notable composer who was well-known for his work in Hollywood. He is also credited with fusing pop and jazz music together.
-
Ellington was a jazz composer of the 20th century who broke boundaries with his music. A band leader, pianist, and jazz musician, Ellington created a unique style of big band jazz music.
-
An important figure in Mexican culture, Chávez was not only a composer, but a conductor, teacher, and government official as well.
-
Known as the most popular composer of the 20th century, Copland was best known for the lasting impact he's made on American people, even today. He was a teacher, conductor, and author as well.
-
Armstrong was a popular African-American jazz musician of the 20th century. He was a singer, band-leader, and trumpeter, and is credited with revolutionizing jazz today.
-
Shostakovich was the most notable Russian name of his time. He was a very important composer and was known for how versatile he was with his works.
-
An innovative composer recognized for his treatment of rhythm and form, Carter's compositions are still quite prevalent in the 21st century. He was a teacher in an addition to being a composer.
-
The first to advocate for tonal serialism, Messiaen was an innovator in rhythm in his works. He was a French organist, author, and composer who used nature and natural sounds in his compositions.
-
A child prodigy and gifted melodist, Barber became popular due to his conservative tonality in the broad experimentation of the 20th century. In addition to being an accomplished composer, Barber was also a talented singer.
-
The center of avant-garde music of the 20th century, Cage changed the definition of music with his compositions. He was also a philosopher in addition to being a composer, and one of the most innovative composers of the 20th century at that.
-
The most well-known and prolific English composer of the 20th century, Britten helped keep opera alive in English countries.
-
An incredibly influential American musician of the 20th century, Bernstein was quite versatile as a pianist, composer, teacher, and composer. He brought classical music to the general public using various media sources.
-
A French composer of Greek and Romanian background, Xenakis advocated for music based on mathematic calculations, known as Stochastic music. He was also a proponent of aleatoric, or chance, music.
-
An Austrian composer of Hungarian descent, Ligeti wrote sound blocks into his textural style of compositions. He has been described as one of the most important avant-garde composers of the 20th century.
-
He is a French composer who advocates for total serialism in music. He believes all "art of the past should be destroyed" as the composers Boulez admires have not followed tradition, but had tradition follow them.
-
A pioneer of electronic music as well as new forms of modern notation, Stockhausen has been one of the most important post-WWII innovators on the musical field.
-
Crumb became most popular for expressing despair during the Vietnam War, specifically during the times of 1962 to 1973. He is an American composer.
-
After the Roaring 20s, the stock market crashed heavily and American went into the Great Depression until the late 1930s.
-
Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist. He has written many musicals and musical numbers, such as Into the Woods and Sweeney Todd.
-
Considered one of the best film score composers in America, with notable works in Star Wars and Harry Potter, Williams is a composer and conductor. In addition to his 80 film scores, he also has written orchestral works.
-
Hailed as Poland's greatest living composer, Penderecki's atonal music has attracted great popularity amongst the public. His compositional style also feature textural music with the use of sound blocks.
-
An American composer and performer influenced by jazz and classical Indian music, Riley became one of the founders of minimalism with his work "In C." He also was interested in tape and electronic music.
-
Also a pioneer of minimalism, Reich is a percussionist and composer. He has written tape and electronic music, orchestral music, and chamber music.
-
One of the most influential minimalist composers of the 20th century, Glass is one of the innovators of the minimalist style. He is an American-Jewish performer and composer who has written several well-known vocal pieces.
-
Corigliano is an American composer who uses his sometimes intense works to address important social issues. He has been noted as one to watch for the future generations and his impact on them.
-
The first female to win a Pulitzer Prize for her piece (in 1982), Zwilich is a popular and busy composer. She has created several noteworthy pieces, and is a talented violinist and composer.
-
-
Lansky is a pioneer in the synthesis of digital sound. He has written chamber music, as well as an electronic opera and other electronic and computer music.
-
A leading composer of the post-minimalist movement, Adams helped expand the minimalist and neo-romantic compositional language. He is an American composer and conductor.
-
A contemporary British composer, Weber's works have been extraordinarily successful. He is quite famous for his film scores, stage works, and choral-orchestra pieces.
-
The computer to make electronic music was invented.
-
Sitcoms were popularized with memorable jingles, such as the Brady Bunch, MASH, and Gilligan's Island.
-
-
Kondo is a Japanese composer who has been the sound director of Nintendo since 1984. He is most known with his incredible works on the "Legend of Zelda" and "Super Mario" video game series with Nintendo.
-
The Beatles and other British groups were popularized in America.
-
Famous for his "Virtual Choir" project, Whitacre has created several notable online musical performances. His compositions are written in a neo-tonal style, and he is a conductor and lecturer in addition to being a composer.
-
An American composer and teacher at SHSU, Kindred is an active composer of the 21st century. He has written band, chamber, orchestral, and stage works.
-
Phantom of the Opera debuted. This is the longest running musical, and is still going today.