Composer Gallery

The most performed living American composer, Adams builds on the rhythmic momentum of minimalism, but introduces sharp contrasts and a wide range of musical references.

Bach was a formidable intellectual and technical composer, but his music is also uplifting and spiritual, melodic, and rhythmically irresistible. Few names in music are as revered as Bach’s.

American composer noted for craft and emotional power. His Adagio for Strings is one of the more popular classical works of the mid-20th century.

One of the most celebrated early 20th-century composers. He collected and studied Eastern European folk music, which became the basis of his mature compositions.

The most famous and influential composer in music history. His life and music provided the template for musical Romanticism.

A Viennese composer whose romantic modernism is unique and multifaceted. His music communicates with audiences despite his adoption of "atonal" musical techniques.

His heart on his sleeve, fanatically dedicated, disillusioned, bushy-haired—Berlioz was the archetypal Romantic composer.  He composed mostly large-scale orchestral and choral works.

American composer of everything from popular musicals to symphonies. He was also the most eminent and successful conductor born in the United States.

Composer of the opera Carmen and a handful of other popular works.

Full-time chemist, part time genius composer.

Often called the successor to Beethoven, Brahms achieved greatness in a wide variety of genres. Despite his intellectual rigor, he is one of the most popular Romantic composers.

Twentieth-century English composer of opera and other works. Many of his operas have become standard repertory.

Considered by many to be the greatest composer of the English Renaissance, with an intensely personal and recognizable style.

Chopin embodies the Romantic ideal of the introverted and reclusive genius. His music is full of unexpected twists and turns, and explores the full  range of Romantic expression through the piano.

20th-century American composer, often nicknamed "The Dean of American Composers," for the quintessentially American musical sound he created.

Composer of the most influential keyboard music of his time, he introduced popular forms and Italian style into French classicism.

Frenchman Claude Debussy offered a musical alternative to Romanticism. Because he reinterpreted or discarded many of the laws of traditional harmony and form, he is considered one of the fathers of modern music.

Wrote two of the all-time-greatest Italian opera hits, and several more that are widely loved. He was an important influence on Verdi.

Beloved Czech composer of symphonic, chamber and operatic works. Most famous for the “New World” symphony.

The leading English composer at the beginning of the 20th century, Elgar was the first one in more than a century to earn a major international reputation. He was equally successful with small, popular works and large, symphonic ones.