English > composer: 1 sense > noun 1, person | Meaning | someone who composes music as a profession. |
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| Instances | Ambrose, Saint Ambrose, St. Ambrose | (Roman Catholic Church) Roman priest who became bishop of Milan |
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| Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach | German baroque organist and contrapuntist |
| Barber, Samuel Barber | United States composer (1910-1981) |
| Bartok, Bela Bartok | Hungarian composer and pianist who collected Hungarian folk music |
| Beethoven, van Beethoven, Ludwig van Beethoven | German composer of instrumental music (especially symphonic and chamber music) |
| Bellini, Vincenzo Bellini | Italian composer of operas (1801-1835) |
| Berg, Alban Berg | Austrian composer in Schoenberg's twelve-tone music system (1885-1935) |
| Berlioz, Hector Berlioz, Louis-Hector Berlioz | French composer of romantic works (1803-1869) |
| Bernstein, Leonard Bernstein | United States conductor and composer (1918-1990) |
| Bizet, Georges Bizet | French composer best known for his operas (1838-1875) |
| Blitzstein, Marc Blitzstein | United States pianist and composer of operas and musical plays (1905-1964) |
| Bloch, Ernest Bloch | United States composer (born in Switzerland) who composed symphonies and chamber music and choral music and a piano sonata and an opera (1880-1959) |
| Borodin, Aleksandr Borodin, Aleksandr Porfirevich Borodin | Russian composer (1833-1887) |
| Boulez, Pierre Boulez | French composer of serial music (born in 1925) |
| Brahms, Johannes Brahms | German composer who developed the romantic style of both lyrical and classical music (1833-1897) |
| Britten, Benjamin Britten, Edward Benjamin Britten, Lord Britten of Aldeburgh | major English composer of the 20th century |
| Bruch, Max Bruch | German composer (1838-1920) |
| Bruckner, Anton Bruckner | Austrian organist and composer of romantic music (1824-1896) |
| Byrd, William Byrd | English organist and composer of church music |
| Cage, John Cage, John Milton Cage Jr. | United States composer of avant-garde music (1912-1992) |
| Chavez, Carlos Chavez | Mexican composer of nationalistic works using themes from Indian folk music (1899-1978) |
| Cherubini, Luigi Cherubini, Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Cherubini | Italian composer of church music and operas (1760-1842) |
| Chopin, Frederic Francois Chopin | French composer (born in Poland) and pianist of the romantic school (1810-1849) |
| Copland, Aaron Copland | United States composer who developed a distinctly American music (1900-1990) |
| Corelli, Arcangelo Corelli | Italian violinist and composer of violin concertos (1653-1713) |
| Couperin, Francois Couperin | French composer of music for organ and a member of a family of distinguished organists (1668-1733) |
| Coward, Noel Coward, Sir Noel Pierce Coward | English dramatist and actor and composer noted for his witty and sophisticated comedies (1899-1973) |
| Czerny, Karl Czerny | Austrian virtuoso pianist and composer of many works for the piano |
| Debussy, Claude Debussy, Claude Achille Debussy | French composer who is said to have created Impressionism in music (1862-1918) |
| Delibes, Leo Delibes, Clement Philibert Leo Delibes | French composer of operas (1836-1891) |
| Delius, Frederick Delius | English composer of orchestral works (1862-1934) |
| Donizetti, Gaetano Donizetti | Italian composer of operas (1797-1848) |
| Dowland, John Dowland | English lutenist and composer of songs for the lute (1563-1626) |
| Dukas, Paul Dukas | French composer (1865-1935) |
| Dvorak, Antonin Dvorak | Czech composer who combined folk elements with traditional forms (1841-1904) |
| Elgar, Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Edward William Elgar | British composer of choral and orchestral works including two symphonies as well as songs and chamber ... / chamber music and music for brass band (1857-1934) |
| Enesco, Georges Enesco, George Enescu | Romanian violinist and composer (1881-1955) |
| Falla, Manuel de Falla | Spanish composer and pianist (1876-1946) |
| Franck, Cesar Franck | French composer and teacher who influenced a generation of composers (1822-1890) |
| Gershwin, George Gershwin | United States composer who incorporated jazz into classical forms and composed scores for musical comedies (1898-1937) |
| Glinka, Mikhail Glinka, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka | Russian composer (1804-1857) |
| Gluck, Christoph Willibald von Gluck | German composer of more than 100 operas (1714-1787) |
| Gounod, Charles Francois Gounod | French composer best remembered for his operas (1818-1893) |
| Grainger, Percy Grainger, Percy Aldridge Grainger, George Percy Aldridge Grainger | United States composer (born in Australia) who lived in London and collected English folk songs (1882-1961) |
| Grieg, Edvard Grieg, Edvard Hagerup Grieg | Norwegian composer whose work was often inspired by Norwegian folk music (1843-1907) |
| Halevy, Fromental Halevy, Jacques Francois Fromental Elie Halevy | French operatic composer (1799-1862) |
| Handel, George Frideric Handel, George Frederick Handel, Georg Friedrich Handel | A prolific British baroque composer (born in Germany) remembered best for his oratorio Messiah (1685-1759) |
| Handy, W. C. Handy, William Christopher Handy | United States blues musician who transcribed and published traditional blues music (1873-1958) |
| Haydn, Joseph Haydn, Franz Joseph Haydn | prolific Austrian composer who influenced the classical form of the symphony (1732-1809) |
| Hindemith, Paul Hindemith | German neoclassical composer and conductor who believed that music should have a social purpose (1895-1963) |
| Honegger, Arthur Honegger | Swiss composer (born in France) who was the founding member of a group in Paris that included Erik Satie and Darius Milhaud and Francis Poulenc and Jean Cocteau (1892-1955) |
| Humperdinck, Engelbert Humperdinck | German composer of six operas and other incidental music (1854-1921) |
| Ibert, Jacques Francois Antoine Ibert | French composer (1890-1962) |
| Ives, Charles Edward Ives | United States composer noted for his innovative use of polytonality (1874-1954) |
| Joachim, Joseph Joachim | Hungarian violinist and composer (1831-1907) |
| Joplin, Scott Joplin | United States composer who was the first creator of ragtime to write down his compositions (1868-1917) |
| Kachaturian, Aram Kachaturian | Armenian composer who incorporated oriental folk music (1903-1978) |
| Kern, Jerome Kern, Jerome David Kern | United States composer of musical comedies (1885-1945) |
| Khachaturian, Aram Khachaturian, Aram Ilich Khachaturian | Russian composer (born in Armenia) whose works are romantic and reflect his interest in folk music (1903-1978) |
| Lambert, Constant Lambert, Leonard Constant Lambert | English composer and conductor (1905-1951) |
| Lasso, Orlando di Lasso, Roland de Lassus | Belgian composer (1532-1594) |
| Ledbetter, Huddie Leadbetter, Leadbelly | United States folk singer and composer (1885-1949) |
| Lehar, Franz Lehar | Hungarian composer of light operas (1870-1948) |
| Liszt, Franz Liszt | Hungarian composer and piano virtuoso (1811-1886) |
| Lloyd Webber, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd Webber of Sydmonton | English composer of many successful musicals (some in collaboration with Sir Tim Rice) (born in 1948) |
| Loewe, Frederick Loewe | United States composer (born in Austria) who collaborated with Lerner on several musicals (1901-1987) |
| Lully, Jean Baptiste Lully, Lulli, Giambattista Lulli | French composer (born in Italy) who was the court composer to Louis XIV and founded the national French opera (1632-1687) |
| MacDowell, Edward MacDowell | United States composer best remembered as a composer of works for the piano (1860-1908) |
| Mahler, Gustav Mahler | Austrian composer and conductor (1860-1911) |
| Massenet, Jules Emile Frederic Massenet | French composer best remembered for his pop operas (1842-1912) |
| Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn, Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy | German musician and romantic composer of orchestral and choral works (1809-1847) |
| Menotti, Gian Carlo Menotti | United States composer (born in Italy) of operas (born in 1911) |
| Meyerbeer, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Jakob Liebmann Beer | German composer of operas in a style that influenced Richard Wagner (1791-1864) |
| Milhaud, Darius Milhaud | French composer of works that combine jazz and polytonality and Brazilian music (1892-1974) |
| Monteverdi, Claudio Monteverdi | Italian composer (1567-1643) |
| Moore, Douglas Moore | United States composer of works noted for their use of the American vernacular (1893-1969) |
| Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | prolific Austrian composer and child prodigy |
| Mussorgsky, Moussorgsky, Modest Mussorgsky, Modest Moussorgsky, Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, Modest Petrovich Moussorgsky | Russian composer of operas and orchestral works (1839-1881) |
| Nielsen, Carl Nielsen, Carl August Nielsen | Danish composer (1865-1931) |
| Offenbach, Jacques Offenbach | French composer of many operettas and an opera (1819-1880) |
| Orbison, Roy Orbison | United States composer and rockabilly tenor popular in the 1950s (1936-1988) |
| Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina | Italian composer (1526-1594) |
| Piston, Walter Piston | United States neoclassical composer (1894-1976) |
| Porter, Cole Porter, Cole Albert Porter | United States composer and lyricist of musical comedies (1891-1946) |
| Poulenc, Francis Poulenc | French pianist and composer (1899-1963) |
| Prokofiev, Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev | Russian composer of ballets and symphonies and operas (1891-1953) |
| Puccini, Giacomo Puccini | Italian operatic composer noted for the dramatic realism of his operas (1858-1924) |
| Purcell, Henry Purcell | English organist at Westminster Abbey and composer of many theatrical pieces (1659-1695) |
| Rachmaninoff, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, Sergei Rachmaninov, Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninov | composer and piano virtuoso born in Russia (1873-1943) |
| Rameau, Jean-Philippe Rameau | French composer of operas whose writings laid the foundation for the modern theory of harmony (1683-1764) |
| Ravel, Maurice Ravel | French composer and exponent of Impressionism (1875-1937) |
| Reich, Steve Reich, Stephen Michael Reich | United States composer (born in 1936) |
| Respighi, Ottorino Respighi | Italian composer remembered for his symphonic poems (1879-1936) |
| Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov, Rimski-Korsakov, Nikolai Andreyevich Rimski-Korsakov | Russian composer of operas and orchestral works |
| Rodgers, Richard Rodgers | United States composer of musical comedies (especially in collaboration with Oscar Hammerstein II and with Lorenz Hart) (1902-1979) |
| Romberg, Sigmund Romberg | United States composer (born in Hungary) who composed operettas (1887-1951) |
| Rossini, Giloacchino Antonio Rossini | Italian composer remembered for his operas (1792-1868) |
| Rubinstein, Anton Rubenstein, Anton Gregor Rubinstein, Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein | Russian composer and pianist (1829-1894) |
| Saint-Saens, Charles Camille Saint-Saens | French pianist and composer (1835-1921) |
| Satie, Erik Satie, Erik Alfred Leslie Satie | French composer noted for his experimentalism and rejection of Romanticism (1866-1925) |
| Schnabel, Artur Schnabel | United States composer (born in Austria) and pianist noted for his interpretations of the works of Mozart and Beethoven and Schubert (1882-1951) |
| Schonberg, Arnold Schonberg, Schoenberg, Arnold Schoenberg | United States composer and musical theorist (born in Austria) who developed atonal composition (1874-1951) |
| Schubert, Franz Schubert, Franz Peter Schubert, Franz Seraph Peter Schubert | Austrian composer known for his compositions for voice and piano (1797-1828) |
| Schumann, Robert Schumann, Robert Alexander Schumann | German romantic composer known for piano music and songs (1810-1856) |
| Schumann, Clara Josephine Schumann | German pianist and composer of piano music |
| Scriabin, Aleksandr Scriabin, Aleksandr Nikolayevich Scriabin | Russian composer of orchestral and piano music (1872-1915) |
| Segovia, Andres Segovia | Spanish guitarist who made classical guitar a concert instrument (1893-1987) |
| Sessions, Roger Sessions, Roger Huntington Sessions | United States composer who promoted 20th century music (1896-1985) |
| Shostakovich, Dmitri Shostakovich, Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich | Russian composer best known for his fifteen symphonies (1906-1975) |
| Sibelius, Jean Sibelius, Johan Julius Christian Sibelius | Finnish composer (1865-1957) |
| Smetana, Bedrich Smetana | Czech composer (1824-1884) |
| Sondheim, Stephen Sondheim | United States composer of musicals (born in 1930) |
| Sousa, John Philip Sousa, March King | A United States bandmaster and composer of military marches (1854-1932) |
| Strauss, Johann Strauss, Strauss the Elder | Austrian composer of waltzes (1804-1849) |
| Strauss, Johann Strauss, Strauss the Younger | Austrian composer and son of Strauss the Elder |
| Strauss, Richard Strauss | German composer of many operas |
| Stravinsky, Igor Stravinsky, Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky | composer who was born in Russia but lived in the United States after 1939 (1882-1971) |
| Sullivan, Arthur Sullivan, Arthur Seymour Sullivan, Sir Arthur Sullivan | English composer of operettas who collaborated with the librettist William Gilbert (1842-1900) |
| Tallis, Thomas Tallis | English organist and composer of church and secular music |
| Taylor, Deems Taylor, Joseph Deems Taylor | United States composer and music critic (1885-1966) |
| Tchaikovsky, Peter Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky | Important Russian composer whose works are noted for their expressive melodies (1840-1893) |
| Telemann, Georg Philipp Telemann | German baroque composer (1681-1767) |
| Thomson, Virgil Thomson, Virgil Garnett Thomson | United States composer who collaborated with Gertrude Stein (1896-1989) |
| Varese, Edgar Varese | United States composer (born in France) whose music combines dissonance with complex rhythms and the use of electronic techniques (1883-1965) |
| Vaughan Williams, Ralph Vaughan Williams | English composer influenced by folk tunes and music of the Tudor period (1872-1958) |
| Verdi, Giuseppe Verdi, Guiseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi | Italian operatic composer (1813-1901) |
| Villa-Lobos, Heitor Villa-Lobos | Brazilian composer (1887-1959) |
| Vivaldi, Antonio Vivaldi, Antonio Lucio Vivaldi | Italian baroque composer and violinist (1675-1741) |
| Wagner, Richard Wagner, Wilhelm Richard Wagner | German composer of operas and inventor of the musical drama in which drama and spectacle and music are fused (1813-1883) |
| Walton, William Walton, Sir William Walton, Sir William Turner Walton | English composer (1902-1983) |
| Weber, Carl Maria von Weber, Baron Karl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber | German conductor and composer of romantic operas (1786-1826) |
| Weill, Kurt Weill | German composer |
| Wolf, Hugo Wolf | Austrian composer (1860-1903) |
| Narrower | contrapuntist | A composer who specializes in counterpoint |
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| psalmist | A composer of sacred songs |
| songwriter, songster, ballad maker | A composer of words / words or music for popular songs |
| symphonist | A composer of symphonies |
| Broader | musician | artist who composes or conducts music as a profession |
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| Spanish | compositora, compositor |
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| Catalan | compositora, compositor |
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| Verbs | compose | write music |
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