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Luigi Cherubini
Italian composer, theorist, teacher, and administrator working in Paris, he was a dominant figure in French musical life, especially in opera and education -
Jean-Francois Le Sueur
French composer and writer; important to French music during and after the Revolution -
Johann Simon Mayr
Founder of Romantic Italian Opera; German by birth; a central figure in Italian opera before Rossini and after Mozart -
Etienne-Nicolas Mehul
French composer; contributed to the genre of opera comique; he was the most important French composer of symphonies in the early 19th century -
Prince Nikolaus Eszterhazy
Haydn's patron and employer after 1790 -
Anton Reicha
Czech composer; especially important as a theorist and teacher in Paris -
Ludwig van Beethoven
Instrumental in moving music towards Romanticism; he is an icon in our present culture; he established the heroic topic in orchestral music and was the transitional composer between classicism and romanticism -
Ferdinando Paer
Italian composer and teacher; admired by Napoleon -
Gaspare Spontini
Italian working in Paris; conductor; Empress Josephine's favorite musician; the central figure in French serious opera from 1800 to 1820 -
Adrien Boieldieu
French composer; he was the leading composer of opera in France during the early 19th century; leader in opera comique -
E. T. A Hoffmann
German writer and composer; writer of The Nutcracker fable; his writings epitomize Romanticism; also an artist -
Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Austrian composer, pianist, teacher, and conductor; student of Mozart; very important during his day -
Louise Reichardt
German composer and singing teacher; daughter of J. F. Reichardt; conducted women's chorus in Hamburg -
John Field
Irish composer and pianist; he originated the Romantic style of piano writing that is credited to Chopin; he invented the piano nocturne -
Nicolo Paganini
Italian violinist and composer; he contributed significantly to the history of the violin and to the development of virtuosity -
Georges Onslow
French composer of English descent; Berlioz thought he would be Beethoven's successor - he was not -
Ferdinand Ries
German composer, pianist, and copyist; student of Beethoven -
Louis Spohr
German composer, conductor, and violinist; he used Leitmotifs in his operas before Wagner did; prolific -
Carl Maria von Weber
Founder of German Romantic Opera; studied with Michael Haydn; important conductor -
Giacomo Meyerbeer
The leading composer of French Grand Opera; Jewish, and the object of Wagner's anti-Semitic writings in 1850 -
Gioachino Rossini
The most famous composer in the early 19th century in Vienna; composed mostly choral music and operas; Italian -
Ignaz Moscheles
Bohemian composer; pianist, teacher, and conductor of Czech birth; important as a pianist during the time of Schumann and Mendelssohn -
Saverio Mercadante
Italian composer and teacher; during his day he was as important as Donizetti, Bellini, and Verdi; prolific in most genres -
Gaetano Donizetti
Student of Mayr; Verdi's immediate forerunner in serious Italian opera; prolific composer of all genres -
Franz Schubert
Austrian composer who created a genre of artistic and dramatic Lieder; expansive melodies; frequent modulations; many unfinished works; romanticized after his early death -
Vincenzo Bellini
Italian opera composer; created dramas with extreme passion, action, and emotion -
Hector Berlioz
French composer, conductor, writer and innovator; he was the leading French musician in his day; his works embody the notions of Romanticism -
Louise Farrenc
French composer, pianist, teacher, and scholar; the most esteemed French female professor in the 19th century -
Mikhail Glinka
The father of Russian music; European trained; prolific -
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
Had the same training as Felix; she was discouraged from composing; married, then published more; her house was a center for intellectuals and culture -
Felix Mendelssohn
Early romantic; conservative style; important as a conductor; revived Bach's music; German composer Jewish heritage -
Felicien David
French composer; after Berlioz, the only other composer to do something highly original in the symphonic genre; he favored oriental topics -
Robert Schumann
Important as critic, editor, and composer; center of musical life; lost his sanity at a young age -
Frederic Francois Chopin
Polish/French composer and pianist; he innovated new piano techniques; he is more famous today than during his lifetime; known for his character pieces -
Franz Liszt
Virtuoso pianist; conductor; author; supporter of Wagner; innovator in musical form, aesthetics, and harmonics; inventor of the orchestral tone poem -
Ambroise Thomas
French composer; important to French opera -
Giuseppe Verdi
The leading Italian opera composer of the 19th century; became a national hero of Italy -
Richard Wagner
Created of German Music Drama; conductor, writer, musical innovator; wrote about music of the future; anti-semite; profoundly influenced Western harmony; strove for endless melodies -
Josephine Lang
German composer and singer; one of the most published women composers in the 19th century -
Niels Gade
Danish composer, conductor, violinist, and teacher; he was ranked with Brahms by his contemporary public -
Charles Gounod
French prolific composer; wrote in most genres of the day -
Jacques Offenbach
The founder of Opera bluffs; introduced the can-can -
Clara Wieck Schumann
Virtuoso pianist; wife of Robert Schumann; close friend of Brahms -
Pauline Viardot-Garcia
French composer, teacher, singer, and pianist; student of Liszt -
Cesar Franck
French nationalist composer, teacher, and organist -
Joachim Raff
German composer, teacher, and writer, ranked with Brahms during his day; associated with Liszt -
Anton Bruckner
Austrian composer and organist; follower of Wagner; known for his large orchestrations; incredibly conscientious approach to composition -
Carl Reinecke
German composer, teacher, pianist, writer, and conductor -
Bedrich Smetana
Czech composer; established Czech opera in the 19th century; nationalist -
Eduard Hanslick
Austrian music critic and writer; he is considered the first professional music critic; we learn a great deal about 19th century aesthetics from his writings; professor of music history and aesthetics at the University of Vienna (1861) -
Johann Strauss
Viennese composer, conductor, and violinist; called the "Waltz-King" -
Stephen Foster
American songwriter; vernacular style -
Louis Moreau Gottchalk
American composer and virtuoso pianist; one of the most significant American 19th century musicians; well known in Europe -
Anton Rubinstein
Russian composer and virtuoso pianist; Founder of the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1862 -
Joseph Joachim
Hungarian vionlinist, composer, conductor, and teacher; toured with Clara Schumann; friends with Brahms -
Aleksander Borodin
One of the Russian Mighty Five; a chemist by profession -
Johannes Brahms
Austrian composer; known as a classic-romantic; strong knowledge of the musical past; one of the first editors of Bach's music; conductor, pianist; friends with Schumanns; never wrote an opera -
Nikolay Rubinstein
Russian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher; brother of Anton; he founded the Moscow Conservatory -
Camille Saint-Saens
French composer, pianist, organist, and writer -
Cesar Cui
One of the Russian Mighty Five; of French descent -
Mily Balakirev
One of the Russian Mighty Five; one of the more professionally trained musicians of the five -
Georges Bizet
French composer who created a new type of serious French opera -
Modest Musorgsky
One of the Russian Mighty Five; most famous of the 5 today; his music is rooted in Russian folksong and lore -
John Knowles Paine
American; organist, composer; teacher of the new generation of American composers; Harvard's first professor of music -
Piotr II'yich Tchaikovsky
Russian composer, conductor and teacher; Western trained; emotional; conservative harmonic language -
Emmanuel Chabreir
French composer and pianist; Ravel's main influence; important for his piano works and imaginative stage works -
Antonin Dvorak
The most famous of the Czech composers; lived in the USA; influenced by African-American and Native American music and culture -
Jules Massenet
French composer; prolific and versatile -
Arthur Sullivan
English composer and conductor; his comic operas are still popular today (Gilbert and Sullivan operas) -
Edvard Grieg
The most important Norwegian composer during his day -
Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
One of the Russian Mighty Five; important as a teacher; conductor; wrote an orchestration treatise -
Gabriel Faure
French composer, teacher, and keyboardist; he foreshadowed moder tonality and style; extremely important as a teacher; head of the Paris Conservatory -
Vincent d'Indy
French composer, theorist and writer; Franck's leading pupil; used folksong -
Charles Villiers Stanford
British composer, conductor, writer, and teacher; he made important contributions to English church music -
Leos Janacek
Czech composer; ethnomusicologist; influenced by folk music -
Engelbert Humperdinck
German composer, critic, and teacher; close to Wagner -
John Philip Sousa
American; leader of the U.S. Marine Band in 1880 -
Ernest Chausson
French composer; admirer of Franck and Wagner -
Cecile Chaminade
French composer and pianist; most of her works were published -
Edward Elgar
English composer; received international acclaim; not folksong oriented -
Ruggiero Leoncavallo
Italian composer and librettist; strove for realism in his dramatic works -
Giacorno Puccini
Italian opera composer; gift for delicate melodies; strove for realism; the most successful Italian opera composer after Verdi -
Cecil Sharp
English composer; collector and editor of folksongs -
Hugo Wolf
Wrote mostly Lieder; influenced by Wagner -
Aleksander Glazunov
Pupil of RImsky-Korsakov; the last of the Russian nationalist