Great composers

TOMASO ALBINONI -

JOHAN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) - Bach had a beautiful voice and at the age of 15 he earned a place in an important choir. He composed many important works for organ. He is also the author of many famous cantatas. His Brandenburg Concertos are beautiful and very popular. His 'St Matthew Passion' is also highly esteemed.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) - He learned music by himself at a very early age. The Court's organ player of his time helped him expand his knowledge and he was Mozart's pupil for a short time. He composed many works for piano and he will always be remembered for his nine symphonies. He lost his hearing in midlife, but this did not affect his creative impulse. He also composed many 'concertos' and 'sonatas'. You probably know the tune of his 'Ode to Joy'.

GEORGES BIZET -

JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897) - Brahm's father taught him music at an early age. Brahms became the Court's pianist and choir conductor when he was 24. He composed 'Lieders' and works for piano. He found some inspiration in popular folklore. His 'Hungarian Dances' are just an instance of that. His music is often melancholic, but the variety of his themes is astonishing. He dealt with all sorts of musical genres except opera. He composed a lot of chamber music as well as many trios and quartets.

BENJAMIN BRITTEN -

FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN (1810-1849) - This Polish composer was an expert pianist by the age of 20. He travelled to Vienna, Prague, Berlin and settled down in Paris, the heart of the French Romantic movement, where he worked very hard, both on his music and as a teacher of various aristocrats. He lived in Majorca (Spain) for a year, where he composed his famous 'Preludes'. He made many innovations in the technique for playing the piano. His style and his melodies are simple and beautiful.

CLAUDE DEBUSSY -

GAETANO DONIZETTI -

GEORGE FRIEDRICH HÄNDEL (1685 - 1759) - This German composer studied Law and Music, more or less at the same time. At the age of 18 he played the violin at the Hamburg Theatre. Later he travelled in Italy. He naturalized as a British subject in 1726. He wrote many operas and concertos. His oratorio 'The Messiah' (which includes a famous Hallellujah) was first performed in Dublin. His work 'Water Music' was conceived to be played in the open air. Händel was buried at Westminster Abbey, London.

JOSEPH HAYDN (1732 - 1809) - Born in a humble family, he sang as a child in the Cathedral in Vienna. He wrote many works for orchestra (over 100 symphonies; there is a beautiful one called 'The Toys'.) He was tremendously popular in his lifetime. Beethoven became his pupil in 1792. Haydn composed many religious works, such as 'Stabat Mater', the 'Missa Solemnis' and the oratorio 'Die Jahreszeiten' (The Seasons).

CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI -

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791) - A musical genius, he played before the Queen of Austria at the age of 6. One year later he travelled in many European countries. In Rome he surprised everyone when he was able to write the notes of Allegri's 'Miserere' after listening to it only once. Mozart composed many concerts and operas. He was the first great composer to work mostly for himself and not for a patron. Life was far from easy for him, though. He worked so hard and so well that it is difficult to name only a few of his works. However, the operas 'The Marriage of Figaro' and 'Don Giovanni' are just delightful. You probably know his 'Eine Kleine Nächt Musik' (Little Night Serenade). And you may have heard about his 'Requiem', which he left unfinished. His 'Symphony No. 40' is also very popular.

GIACOMO PUCCINI -

MAURICE RAVEL -

GIOACHINO ROSSINI -

FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828) - His first years as a composer were not easy. However, he worked really hard. He composed works for the string section and many 'Lieders'. Among the latter there are 'Die schöne Müllerin' (The beautiful grinder) and 'Ellens Gesänge' (Helen's Songs), which includes the well-known 'Ave Maria'.

ROBERT SCHUMANN -

JOHANN STRAUSS -

ÍGOR STRAVINSKY (1882-1971) - This Russian composer has left us over 100 works. He loved his country, but his job took him to France and The USA. 'L'oiseau de feu' (The Firebird) is one of his first masterpieces. In 1964 he composed a work dedicated to JF Kennedy, by then the President of The USA: 'Elegy for JFK'.

PIOTR ILLICH TCHAIKOVSKY -

GIUSEPPE VERDI -

ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678-1741) - Vivaldi was one of the most influential composers of his time. He became a priest in 1703 and he was the violin teacher at the Ospedale della Pietà (in Venice, Italy) where there was a reputed music school. Most of his works were composed to be played there, where he himself conducted them. Vivaldi wrote about 30 cantatas and some 450 concerts. You are probably familiar with his work 'The Four Seasons'.

RICHARD WAGNER (1813-1883) - This German composer considered opera a 'total art': The music, the text and the scenes are all carefully linked together. Wagner found his inspiration in the old German myths and legends. Musically speaking, he was a revolutionary. Wagner composed 4 operas on the character of Sigfrid, a mythological hero. This tetralogy is known as 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' (The Nibelung's Ring). In Wagner's operas the orchestra played a very important part, marking the characters' and the singers' feelings and attitudes.