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Important composers

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• Béla Bartók was a composer, pianist, ethnomusicologist, and teacher noted for the Hungarian flavor of his music.
• Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the greatest composers of all time. He made 9 symphonies, 5 concertos for piano, a violin concerto, and chamber music.
• Hector Berlioz was a prominent French composer, who composed the Symphonie fantastique and choral pieces including the Requiem and three operas.
• Alexander Borodin was a Russian doctor and chemist who – in his spare time – composed Romantic symphonies, chamber music, and an opera.
• Johannes Brahms was an uncompromising perfectionist. His four symphonies and the two piano concerts are among the most played in our time.
• Claude Debussy was a highly influential French impressionist composer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
• Antonín Dvořák frequently employed folk music in his compositions. His “New World” symphony is the most popular.
• Niels W. Gade composed 8 symphonies and a number of romantic cantatas.
• Vagn Holmboe was a neo-classical composer who composed about 370 works, including 13 symphonies.
• C. F. E. Horneman composed entertainments and opera fantasies.
• Friedrich Kuhlau was a Dane who composed the music to the popular play Elverhøj (The Elves’ Hill).
• Felix Mendelssohn’s best-known music includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Italian Symphony and the Violin Concerto.
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed more than 600 compositions in his short life. He is regarded as the finest composer ever in existence.
• Modest Mussorgsky was a Russian composer inspired by national themes. He made “Pictures at an Exhibition” and two operas.
• Carl Nielsen is Denmark’s greatest composer. He composed symphonies, concertos, operas and many songs.
• Sergei Prokofiev was a modern Russian composer who wrote symphonies, concerti, film music, operas, and ballet music.
• Giacomo Puccini was an Italian composer who was regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi.
• Sergey Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer who was the last great figure of the tradition of Russian Romanticism and a leading piano virtuoso of his time.
• Knudåge Riisager composed ballet music, symphonies, and concertos. He became famous for his music to the ballet Etudes.
• Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer who composed the suite Scheherazade, symphonies, and operas.
• Franz Schubert was extremely prolific. In his short life, he composed Lieder, symphonies and chamber and piano music.
• Robert Schumann made romantic works for piano, Lieder, chamber music, and four symphonies.
• Dmitri Shostakovich was a child prodigy. He composed symphonies, concerti. operas, song cycles, and film music.
• Igor Stravinsky was a Russian-born composer whose modern work had a revolutionary impact on musical thought and sensibility just before and after World War I.
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky obtained international popularity with his symphonies, concertos, operas, and ballet music.
• Carl Maria von Weber was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era.
• C. E. F. Weyse wrote symphonies, cantatas, and melodies for many Danish songs.