List of German composers
Encyclopedia
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- Carl Friedrich Abel (1723–1787), performer on the viola da gamba and Classical composer
- Johan AgrellJohan AgrellJohan Agrell was a late German/Swedish baroque composer.He was born in Löth, Östergötland, a province in Sweden and studied in Uppsala. By 1734 he was a violinist at the Kassel court, travelling in England, France, Italy and elsewhere. From 1746 onward, he was Kapellmeister in Nuremberg...
(1701–1765), Baroque/Classical composer of symphonies - Michael AltenburgMichael AltenburgMichael Altenburg was a German theologian and composer.Altenburg was born at Alach, near Erfurt. He began attending school in Erfurt in 1590; he began studying theology at the University of Erfurt in 1598, and was awarded a bachelor's degree in 1599 and a master's in 1603. From 1600 he taught at...
(1584–1640), Baroque composer
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- Carl Philipp Emanuel BachCarl Philipp Emanuel Bachright|250pxCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and second son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach...
(1714–1788), early Classical era composer - Johann Christian BachJohann Christian BachJohann Christian Bach was a composer of the Classical era, the eleventh and youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. He is sometimes referred to as 'the London Bach' or 'the English Bach', due to his time spent living in the British capital...
(1735–1782) - Johann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
(1685–1750), Baroque composer, known for the Mass in B Minor and many other compositions - Friedrich BaumfelderFriedrich BaumfelderFriedrich August Wilhelm Baumfelder was a German composer of classical music, conductor, and pianist. He started in the Leipzig Conservatory, and went on to become a well-known composer of his time. His many works were mostly solo salon music, but also included symphonies, piano concertos, operas,...
(1836-1916), Middle Romantic composer, conductor, and pianist, known in his day for his Tirocinium musicae, and today known for his Melody in F major - Ludwig van BeethovenLudwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
(1770–1827), regarded by some as the first Romantic composer, famous for his symphonies, piano sonatas and many other works - Jean BergerJean BergerJean Berger was a German-born pianist, composer, and music educator.-Early years:...
(1909-2002), 20th-century composer known for his choral works - Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179), early church music composer, wrote sacred works including her morality play with music Ordo VirtutumOrdo VirtutumOrdo Virtutum is an allegorical morality play, or liturgical drama, by Hildegard of Bingen, composed c. 1151...
- Hans-Jürgen von BoseHans-Jürgen von BoseHans-Jürgen von Bose is a German Composer.-Life:After an unsettled adolescence, Bose entered the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt in 1969, where he received instruction in piano and music theory...
(born 1953), 20th-century Post-Modernist composer - Johannes BrahmsJohannes BrahmsJohannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
(1833–1897), Romantic composer - Caspar Joseph BrambachCaspar Joseph BrambachCaspar Joseph Brambach , born 14 July 1833 in Oberdollendorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, died 20 June 1902 in Bonn, Westphalia, was a famous 19th century German musician, pedagog, composer whose reputation extended beyond Germany to America, and a renowned conductor of the leading choirs in Bonn.He...
(1833-1902), Romantic musician, pedagog, composer and conductorConductingConducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble... - Max BruchMax BruchMax Christian Friedrich Bruch , also known as Max Karl August Bruch, was a German Romantic composer and conductor who wrote over 200 works, including three violin concertos, the first of which has become a staple of the violin repertoire.-Life:Bruch was born in Cologne, Rhine Province, where he...
(1838–1920), Romantic era composer, today known mostly for his Violin Concerto No. 1Violin Concerto No. 1 (Bruch)Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26, is one of the most popular violin concertos in the repertoire. It continues to be performed and recorded by many violinists and is arguably Bruch's most famous composition.- History :...
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- Franz DanziFranz DanziFranz Ignaz Danzi was a German cellist, composer and conductor, the son of the noted Italian cellist Innocenz Danzi. Born in Schwetzingen, Franz Danzi worked in Mannheim, Munich, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, where he died....
(1763–1826), Classical composer and noted cellist - Albert DietrichAlbert DietrichAlbert Hermann Dietrich , was a German composer and conductor, remembered less for his own achievements than for his friendship with Johannes Brahms.Dietrich was born at Golk, near Meissen...
(1829–1908), composer and conductor
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- Johann Ernst EberlinJohann Ernst EberlinJohann Ernst Eberlin was a German composer and organist whose works bridge the baroque and classical eras. He was a prolific composer, chiefly of church organ and choral music...
(1702–1762), organistOrganistAn organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
and composer, a bridge between the Baroque and Classical eras
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- Florian Leopold GassmannFlorian Leopold GassmannFlorian Leopold Gassmann was a German-speaking Bohemian opera composer of the transitional period between the baroque and classical eras. He was one of the principal composers of dramma giocoso immediately before Mozart....
(1729–1774)http://www.hoasm.org/XIIC/Gassmann.html, Classical composer of opera buffaOpera buffaOpera buffa is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ‘commedia in musica’, ‘commedia per musica’, ‘dramma bernesco’, ‘dramma comico’, ‘divertimento giocoso' etc... - Christoph Willibald GluckChristoph Willibald GluckChristoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
(1714–1787), early Classical era composer - Berthold GoldschmidtBerthold GoldschmidtBerthold Goldschmidt was a German Jewish composer who spent most of his life in England...
(1903–1996) - Carl Heinrich GraunCarl Heinrich GraunCarl Heinrich Graun was a German composer and tenor singer. Along with Johann Adolf Hasse, he is considered to be the most important German composer of Italian opera of his time.-Biography:...
(1704–1759), Baroque composer and tenorTenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
singer - Johann Gottlieb GraunJohann Gottlieb GraunJohann Gottlieb Graun was a German Baroque/Classical era composer and violinist.Graun was born in Wahrenbrück. His brother Carl Heinrich was also a composer and singer. He studied with J.G. Pisendel in Dresden, and Giuseppe Tartini in Padua. Appointed Konzertmeister in Merseburg in 1726, he taught...
(1703–1771), Baroque composer and violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist
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- Andreas HakenbergerAndreas HakenbergerAndreas Hakenberger was a German composer.A motet Beati omnes, qui timent Dominum à 12 is recorded on Hanseatic Wedding music. Weser-Renaissance Ensemble Bremen dir. Manfred Cordes. cpo-References:...
(1574–1627), Baroque composer - George Frideric HandelGeorge Frideric HandelGeorge Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
(1685–1759), Baroque composer, wrote a significant amount of music for the church including MessiahMessiah (Handel)Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later... - Hans Werner HenzeHans Werner HenzeHans Werner Henze is a German composer of prodigious output best known for "his consistent cultivation of music for the theatre throughout his life"...
(born 1926), 20th-century modernist composer. - Paul HindemithPaul HindemithPaul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
(1895–1963), 20th-century composer, conductor and theorist, developer of "GebrauchsmusikGebrauchsmusikGebrauchsmusik is a German term, essentially meaning “utility music,” for music that exists not only for its own sake, but which was composed for some specific, identifiable purpose...
" - Gottfried August HomiliusGottfried August HomiliusGottfried August Homilius was a German composer, cantor, and organist. He was the main representative of the empfindsamer style....
(1714–1785), church musicChurch musicChurch music may be defined as music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclestiacal liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. This article covers music in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. For sacred music outside this...
composer, wrote passions, oratorioOratorioAn oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
s, and cantataCantataA cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
s - Bertold HummelBertold HummelBertold Hummel was a German composer of modern classical music.- Life :Bertold Hummel was born November 27, 1925 in Hüfingen . He studied at the Academy of Music in Freiburg from 1947 to 1954, taking composition with Harald Genzmer, and cello with Atis Teichmanis...
(1925–2002), 20th-century modernist composer - Johann Nepomuk HummelJohann Nepomuk HummelJohann Nepomuk Hummel or Jan Nepomuk Hummel was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era.- Life :...
(1778-1837), Classical composer
J
- Johann Gottlieb JanitschJohann Gottlieb JanitschJohann Gottlieb Janitsch was a German Baroque composer.Janitsch was born in Schweidnitz, Silesia. He graduated from the University of Frankfurt an der Oder. He held various positions at the court of the Kingdom of Prussia, eventually becoming the personal musician of Frederick the Great. Janitsch...
(1708–c1763), musician at the court of Frederick II of PrussiaFrederick II of PrussiaFrederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
, wrote 28 quadro sonatas
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- Richard Rudolf KleinRichard Rudolf KleinRichard Rudolf Klein is a German composer, musician and teacher. His compositional output is diverse, including nursery rhymes and music for children, choral music and hymns, incidental music, orchestral music as well as chamber music.- Life :Klein attended the humanistic Gymnasium in Landau,...
(* 1921), musician, university professor, composer and conductor - Julius KlengelJulius KlengelJulius Klengel was a German cellist who is most famous for his etudes and solo pieces written for the instrument. He was the brother of Paul Klengel....
(1859–1933), cellist and composer - Paul KlengelPaul KlengelPaul Klengel was a German violinist, violist, pianist, conductor, composer, editor and arranger. He was the brother of cellist Julius Klengel....
(1854–1935), violinist, pianist - August Friedrich Martin Klughardt (1847–1902), composer and conductor
- Joseph Martin KrausJoseph Martin KrausJoseph Martin Kraus , was a composer in the classical era who was born in Miltenberg am Main, Germany. He moved to Sweden at age 21, and died at the age of 36 in Stockholm...
(1756–1792), Classical composer who moved to SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... - Johann Ludwig KrebsJohann Ludwig KrebsJohann Ludwig Krebs was a Rococo musician and composer primarily for the pipe organ.-Life:Krebs was born in 1713 in Buttelstedt, Germany to Johann Tobias Krebs, a well-known organist. J. Tobias had at least three sons who were considered musically talented, and J...
(1713–1780), composer and organistOrganistAn organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists... - Peter Anton KreusserPeter Anton Kreusser-Biography:Claiming to be of Swabian aristocrat stock he was born in Lengfurt . He began the Anglo-Bavarian branch to the Kreusser [Kreußer] family when he married Anne Rickets in London....
(1765–1831)
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- Alexander LedkovskyAlexander LedkovskyAlexander Borisovich Ledkovsky was a German-American conductor, composer, and music editor of Russian descent.-Life:A. B...
(1944–2004), German-American conductor, composer, and music editor of Russian descent. - Johann Carl Gottfried LöweJohann Carl Gottfried LöweJohann Carl Gottfried Loewe , usually called Carl Loewe , was a German composer, baritone singer and conductor. In his lifetime, his songs were well enough known for some to call him the "Schubert of North Germany", and Hugo Wolf came to admire his work...
(1796–1869), Romantic era composer of liedLiedis a German word literally meaning "song", usually used to describe romantic songs setting German poems of reasonably high literary aspirations, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert and culminating with Hugo Wolf...
er - Henning LohnerHenning LohnerHenning Lohner is a German born filmmaker and composer. His artistic output embraces diverse fields within the audio-visual arts...
(born 1961), film score composer
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- Simon MayrSimon MayrJohann Simon Mayr , also known in Italian as Giovanni Simone Mayr or Simone Mayr was a German composer.- Life :...
(1763–1845), Classical era operaOperaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
composer, rarely performed today - Fanny MendelssohnFanny MendelssohnFanny Cäcilie Mendelssohn , later Fanny Hensel, was a German pianist and composer, the sister of the composer Felix Mendelssohn and granddaughter of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn...
(1805-1847), sister of Felix Mendelssohn, pianist and composer - Felix MendelssohnFelix MendelssohnJakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
(1809–1847), Romantic composer, known for Wedding MarchWedding March (Mendelssohn)Felix Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" in C major, written in 1842, is one of the best known of the pieces from his suite of incidental music to Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream...
from his music to A Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta... - Giacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
(1791–1864), Romantic era operaOperaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
composer, known for Les HuguenotsLes HuguenotsLes Huguenots is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, one of the most popular and spectacular examples of the style of grand opera. The opera is in five acts and premiered in Paris in 1836. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps.... - Jan MorgensternJan MorgensternJan Morgenstern is a German music and audio composer. His works include scoring and audio design for short films and video games, amongst them all the Blender Institute open-content movies and the Nintendo DS game Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled...
(born 1980), film score composer - Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
(1756–1791), son of Leopold, influential composer of operas, piano concertos, chamber music, symphonies, sacred works, and much else
O
- Jacques OffenbachJacques OffenbachJacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
(1819–1880), Romantic composer and cellist - Carl OrffCarl OrffCarl Orff was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana . In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for children.-Early life:...
(1895–1982), 20th century modernist composer - Caspar OthmayrCaspar OthmayrCaspar Othmayr was a German Protestant priest, theologian and composer.Othmayr was born in Amberg, Upper Palatinate, and studied in Heidelberg as a pupil of Lorenz Lemlin, among others. Later, he became rector of the monastery school of Heilsbronn near Ansbach...
(1515–1553), Renaissance composer
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- Johann PachelbelJohann PachelbelJohann Pachelbel was a German Baroque composer, organist and teacher, who brought the south German organ tradition to its peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the most...
(1653–1706), Baroque composer known for his Canon in D major - Hans PfitznerHans PfitznerHans Erich Pfitzner was a German composer and self-described anti-modernist. His best known work is the post-Romantic opera Palestrina, loosely based on the life of the great sixteenth-century composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.-Biography:Pfitzner was born in Moscow, Russia, where his...
(1869–1949), composer and self-described anti-modernist - Michael PraetoriusMichael PraetoriusMichael Praetorius was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms based on Protestant hymns, many of which reflect an effort to make better the relationship between...
(1571–1621), Baroque composer, organistOrganistAn organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
and writer on music
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- Carl ReineckeCarl ReineckeCarl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke was a German composer, conductor, and pianist.-Biography:Reinecke was born in Altona, Hamburg, Germany; until 1864 the town was under Danish rule. He studied with his father, Johann Peter Rudolph Reinecke, a music teacher...
(1824–1910), musician and composer - Wolfgang RihmWolfgang RihmWolfgang Rihm is a German composer.Rihm is Head of the Institute of Modern Music at the Karlsruhe Conservatory of Music and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Salzburg Festival...
(born 1952), 20th Century Post-Modernist composer.
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- Christoph SchaffrathChristoph SchaffrathChristoph Schaffrath is best known as a musician and composer of classical western music of the late Baroque to Classical transition era.-Career:...
(1709–1763), chamber musicChamber musicChamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
composer, a bridge between the Baroque and Classical eras - Samuel ScheidtSamuel ScheidtSamuel Scheidt was a German composer, organist and teacher of the early Baroque era.-Biography:...
(1587–1653), Baroque composer, organistOrganistAn organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
and teacher - Martin ScherberMartin ScherberMartin Scherber was a German composer and the creator of metamorphosis symphonies.- Childhood and Youth :Martin Scherber was born as the third child of Marie and Bernhard Scherber in Nuremberg, where his father was First Bassist in the orchestra of the State Opera House. Martin was a quiet child,...
(1907–1974), 20th century composer of three symphonies - Johann SchopJohann SchopJohann Schop was a German violinist and composer, much admired as a musician and a technician, who was a virtuoso and whose compositions for the violin set impressive technical demands for that area at that time. In 1756 Leopold Mozart commented on the difficulty of a trill in a work by Schop,...
(1590–1667), composer of violin music - Clara SchumannClara SchumannClara Schumann was a German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era...
(1819–1896), Romantic composer, wife of Robert Schumann and pianist who also wrote piano music, chamber music and songs - Robert SchumannRobert SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
(1810–1856), Romantic composer, a significant liedLiedis a German word literally meaning "song", usually used to describe romantic songs setting German poems of reasonably high literary aspirations, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert and culminating with Hugo Wolf...
er writer, also wrote many short piano pieces - Georg Caspar SchürmannGeorg Caspar SchürmannGeorg Caspar Schürmann was a German Baroque composer. His name also appears as Schurmann and in Hochdeutsch as Scheuermann.-Life:...
(c. 1673–1751), Baroque composer - Heinrich SchützHeinrich SchützHeinrich Schütz was a German composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and often considered to be one of the most important composers of the 17th century along with Claudio Monteverdi...
(1585–1672), Baroque composer and organistOrganistAn organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists... - Philipp ScharwenkaPhilipp ScharwenkaLudwig Philipp Scharwenka was a German composer and teacher of music. He was the older brother of Xaver Scharwenka.- Early training :...
(1847–1917), composer and teacher - Fritz SeitzFritz SeitzFritz Seitz was a German Romantic Era composer. He was a violinist who served as a concertmaster, who wrote chamber music and five student concertos for the violin....
(1848–1918), Romantic era violin teacher - Louis SpohrLouis SpohrLouis Spohr was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Born Ludewig Spohr, he is usually known by the French form of his name. Described by Dorothy Mayer as "The Forgotten Master", Spohr was once as famous as Beethoven. As a violinist, his virtuoso playing was admired by Queen Victoria...
(1784–1859), Romantic composer of symphoniesSymphonyA symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
, operas, and other works - Karlheinz StockhausenKarlheinz StockhausenKarlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
(1928–2007), 20th Century serialSerialismIn music, serialism is a method or technique of composition that uses a series of values to manipulate different musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though his contemporaries were also working to establish serialism as one example of...
and electronic musicElectronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
composer. - Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
(1864–1949), late Romantic composer, known for Also Sprach Zarathustra, based on Friedrich NietzscheFriedrich NietzscheFriedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
's philosophy
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- Georg Philipp TelemannGeorg Philipp TelemannGeorg Philipp Telemann was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesheim, Telemann entered the University of Leipzig to study law, but eventually...
(1681–1767), Baroque composer with more than 800 credited works - Friedrich Hieronymus TruhnFriedrich Hieronymus TruhnFriedrich Hieronymus Truhn was a 19th century German conductor, composer and music writer who worked mainly in Berlin, Danzig, Elbing and Riga. He was the son of Hofmarschall Nathanael Truhn and the grandfather of Selma Erdmann-Jesnitzer, born Bethge-Truhn, father of Clara and Anna Marie Elizabeth...
(1811-1886), Romantic composer, conductorConductingConducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
and music writer
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- Max WagenknechtMax WagenknechtMax Otto Arnold Wagenknecht was a German composer of organ and piano music. He was born in Woldisch Tychow, Pomerania, Free State of Prussia and spent most of his life in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania region where he was music teacher at the Franzburg Teachers’ College and in his later life...
(1857–1922), composer of organ and piano music - Ignatz WaghalterIgnatz WaghalterIgnatz Waghalter was a Polish-German composer and conductor.-Early years:Waghalter was born into a poor but musically-accomplished Jewish family in Warsaw. His eldest brother, Henryk Waghalter , became a renowned cellist at the Warsaw Conservatory. Wladyslaw , the youngest Waghalter brother,...
(1881-1949), composer of operas, operettas, songs, and works for violin and orchestra. - Richard WagnerRichard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
(1813–1883), opera composer, made use of extreme chromaticismChromaticismChromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. Chromaticism is in contrast or addition to tonality or diatonicism...
, known for Tristan und IsoldeTristan und IsoldeTristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...
as well as the famous four-opera cycle Der Ring des NibelungenDer Ring des NibelungenDer Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied... - Carl Maria von WeberCarl Maria von WeberCarl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
(1786–1826), composer who was a bridge between the Classical and Romantic styles, noted for Der FreischützDer FreischützDer Freischütz is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin... - Franz Wohlfahrt (1833–1884), Romantic era violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
teacher
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- Adolf ZanderAdolf ZanderAdolf Zander was a 19th century German composer, organist at the Church of St...
(1843-1914), Middle Romantic composer, organist, music director, choir director and founder of the Berliner LiedertafelBerliner LiedertafelBerliner Lierdertafel , as the name for a male-voice choir, was first used in December of 1808 by Carl Friedrich Zelter, who established the first north German prototype for such male-voice choirs...
choir. - Hans ZimmerHans ZimmerHans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...
(born 1957), composer for over 100 film scores, notable for blending electronic music and orchestral arrangements
See also
- Chronological list of German classical composersChronological list of German classical composersThe following is a chronological list of classical music composers who live in, work in, or are citizens of Germany.-Baroque:*Michael Praetorius *Andreas Hakenberger *Heinrich Schütz *Samuel Scheidt...