Music · Curated list
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach and 37 more, ranked by how much of the world has written about each one.
Most written-about first. Each description summarises the composer's Wikipedia article, which its name links to.
1
Composer and musician (1756–1791)
A composer and musician of the Classical era who finished over 800 works, among them outstanding examples of most of the forms of his day: opera, choral music, chamber music, concertos and symphonies. He is ranked among the greatest composers Western music has known.
Wikidata · Photo: Barbara Krafft, Public domain
2
German composer (1770–1827)
A German pianist, conductor and composer, ranked among Western music's greatest composers. Trained in the Classical period, he was, through his style, a main force in the move to Romantic music, and in enlarging instrumental forms such as the string quartet, the piano sonata and the symphony.
Wikidata · Photo: Joseph Karl Stieler, Public domain
3
German composer (1685–1750)
A German musician and composer of the late Baroque, known for the great amount he wrote across many instruments and forms: for orchestra, the Brandenburg Concertos; for solo instruments, the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin and the Cello Suites; for keyboard, The Well-Tempered Clavier and the Goldberg Variations; for organ, the Toccata and Fugue in D minor and the Schübler Chorales; and for choir, the Mass in B minor and the St. Matthew Passion.
Wikidata · Photo: Elias Gottlob Haussmann, Public domain
4
German composer (1813–1883)
Wilhelm Richard Wagner, a German composer, conductor, theatre director and essayist, best known for his operas, though his mature works are often called music dramas. Unusually for a composer, he wrote the words (libretti) as well as the music for every one of his stage works.
Wikidata · Photo: Franz Hanfstaengl, Public domain
5
Polish composer and pianist (1810–1849)
Frédéric François Chopin, a Polish virtuoso pianist and composer of the early Romantic period who wrote mostly for piano alone. He has kept his fame worldwide as a leading composer of his time, whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation".
Wikidata · Photo: Louis-Auguste Bisson, Public domain
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6
Russian composer (1840–1893)
A Romantic-era composer from Russia, and the first from his country whose music left a lasting mark abroad.
Wikidata · Photo: Nikolai Kuznetsov, Public domain
7
Italian composer (1813–1901)
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi, an Italian composer known above all for his operas. Born near Busseto, a small town in today's province of Parma, into a family of modest means, he was able to study music thanks to a local patron, Antonio Barezzi.
Wikidata · Photo: Ferdinand Mulnier, Public domain
8
Austrian composer (1797–1828)
Franz Peter Schubert, an Austrian composer who worked as the Classical era gave way to the Romantic. Hugely productive in a short life, he left more than 1,000 compositions: over 600 songs (Lieder) and other vocal pieces, seven finished symphonies, operas, sacred and incidental music, and a great deal of chamber and piano music.
Wikidata · Photo: Wilhelm August Rieder, Public domain
9
Italian composer and violinist (1678–1741)
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, an Italian impresario, virtuoso violinist and composer of Baroque music. Counted among the greatest Baroque composers, he was influential across Europe in his lifetime, and inspired many admirers and imitators.
Wikidata · Photo: Unknown author, Public domain
10
German composer and pianist (1833–1897)
A German conductor, pianist and composer of the mid-Romantic period. His music combines traditional forms with rhythmic energy, freer dissonance and expressive counterpoint.
Wikidata · Photo: C. Brasch , Berlin ( biography ), Public domain
11
German-British composer (1685–1759)
A Baroque composer, German-British, well known for his organ concerti, concerti grossi, anthems, oratorios and operas.
Wikidata · Photo: Attributed to Balthasar Denner, Public domain
12
Austrian composer (1732–1809)
Franz Joseph Haydn, an Austrian composer of the Classical period, who was central to the development of chamber music forms such as the piano trio and string quartet.
Wikidata · Photo: Thomas Hardy, Public domain
13
Austro-Bohemian composer and conductor (1860–1911)
A Romantic composer from Austria-Bohemia, and in his generation one of the foremost conductors. As a composer he was a bridge from the tradition of the 19th century to the modernism of the early 20th.
Wikidata · Photo: Moritz Nähr, Public domain
14
Czech composer (1841–1904)
Antonín Leopold Dvořák, a Czech composer who often used rhythms and other elements of the folk music of Moravia and of Bohemia, where he was born, following the Romantic-era nationalist lead of Bedřich Smetana, who came before him.
Wikidata · Photo: Unknown author, Public domain
15
Italian opera composer (1858–1924)
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini, an Italian composer known mainly for his operas. Widely seen as the greatest and most successful champion of Italian opera after Verdi, he came from a long line of composers going back to the late Baroque.
Wikidata · Photo: Unknown author, Public domain
16
French Romantic composer and conductor (1803–1869)
Louis-Hector Berlioz, a French Romantic composer, conductor and critic. His works include orchestral pieces such as Harold in Italy and the Symphonie fantastique; choral works including L'Enfance du Christ and the Requiem; his three operas, Béatrice et Bénédict, Les Troyens and Benvenuto Cellini; and works of mixed genre such as the "dramatic legend" La Damnation de Faust and the "dramatic symphony" Roméo et Juliette.
Wikidata · Photo: Pierre Petit, Public domain
17
French classical composer (1862–1918)
Achille Claude Debussy, a French composer born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He is sometimes called the first Impressionist composer, a label he firmly rejected.
Wikidata · Photo: Adam Cuerden, Public domain
18
German composer, pianist and critic (1810–1856)
A German music critic, pianist and composer of the early Romantic era, who wrote in every main genre of his day: for solo piano, for voice with piano, for chamber groups, for orchestra and for choir, and opera.
Wikidata · Photo: Williamtosun, Public domain
19
Hungarian composer and pianist (1811–1886)
A Hungarian virtuoso pianist, composer, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a varied output spanning more than six decades, he is seen as one of his era's most productive and influential composers, and his piano music is still widely played and recorded.
Wikidata · Photo: Franz Hanfstaengl, Public domain
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20
German composer (1809–1847)
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, known simply as Felix Mendelssohn, a German composer, conductor, organist and pianist of the early Romantic era. His works include chamber music, music for organ and for piano, concertos and symphonies.
Wikidata · Photo: Eduard Magnus, Public domain
21
Italian Renaissance composer (c. 1525 – 1594)
An Italian composer of the late Renaissance. The central figure of the Roman School, together with Tomás Luis de Victoria and Orlande de Lassus, he is regarded as the foremost composer in Europe in the late 16th century.
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22
Norwegian composer and pianist (1843–1907)
Edvard Hagerup Grieg, a Norwegian pianist and composer, widely seen as one of the leading composers of the Romantic era, whose music belongs to the standard classical repertoire everywhere.
Wikidata · Photo: Bergen Public Library Norway from Bergen, Norway, No restrictions
23
Italian opera composer (1792–1868)
Gioachino Antonio Rossini, an Italian conductor and composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Most of his fame comes from his 39 operas, but he also wrote many piano and chamber pieces and some sacred music.
Wikidata · Photo: Étienne Carjat, Public domain
24
Soviet composer and pianist (1906–1975)
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, a Russian pianist and composer of the Soviet era who won international fame after his First Symphony was premiered in 1926, and was regarded from then on as a major composer.
Wikidata · Photo: Fotothek_df_roe-neg_0002792_002_Portrait_Dmitri_Dmitrijewitsch_Schostakowitchs_im_Publikum_der_Bachfeier.jpg : Roger &…, CC BY-SA 3.0 de
25
French composer (1875–1937)
Joseph Maurice Ravel, a French conductor, pianist and composer. He is often linked with Impressionism, together with Claude Debussy, his older contemporary, though both of them rejected the label.
Wikidata · Photo: Unknown author Unknown author The image holder, the Bibliothèque nationale de France has not identified a photographer.…, Public domain
26
French composer (1838–1875)
A Romantic-era composer from France whose operas are what he is best known for, and whose career ended early with his death. He had few successes until his last work, Carmen, now one of the most popular and most often performed works in all of opera.
Wikidata · Photo: Étienne Carjat, Public domain
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27
German-born French composer (1819–1880)
A French composer, cellist and impresario, born in Germany. He is remembered for nearly 100 operettas written from the 1850s to the 1870s, and for The Tales of Hoffmann, an opera he did not finish.
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28
Finnish composer (1865–1957)
A composer from Finland whose career spanned late Romanticism and early modernism, widely seen as his country's greatest. His music is often credited with helping Finland build a stronger national identity at a time, late in the 19th century, when it was struggling against repeated attempts at Russification.
Wikidata · Photo: Paul Heckscher, Public domain
29
Hungarian composer (1881–1945)
Béla Viktor János Bartók, a Hungarian ethnomusicologist, pianist and composer. He is counted among the most important composers of the 20th century, and he and Franz Liszt are seen as Hungary's greatest composers.
Wikidata · Photo: RIA Novosti, CC BY-SA 3.0
30
Italian violinist and composer (1782–1840)
An Italian composer, guitarist and violinist, the most famous violin virtuoso of his day, who left a lasting mark as one of the foundations of modern violin technique.
Wikidata · Photo: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Public domain
31
Italian composer and conductor (1928–2020)
An Italian composer, conductor, orchestrator, trumpeter and pianist who wrote in a great range of styles. With more than 400 scores for film and television and more than 100 classical works, he is widely seen as one of the most prolific and finest film composers ever.
Wikidata · Photo: Olivier Strecker, CC BY-SA 3.0
32
Czech composer (1824–1884)
A Czech composer who pioneered a style of music closely tied to his people's hopes for a cultural and political "revival". At home he is regarded as the father of Czech music.
Wikidata · Photo: Unknown author, Public domain
33
Russian composer (1844–1908)
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov, a Russian composer and one of the group known as The Five. His best-known orchestral works, Scheherazade, the symphonic suite, the Russian Easter Festival Overture and Capriccio Espagnol, are staples of classical music, as are extracts and suites drawn from several of his fifteen operas.
Wikidata · Photo: Karl Fischer, Public domain
34
German composer and conductor (1864–1949)
Richard Georg Strauss, a German conductor and composer known for his operas and tone poems, and a leading figure as late Romanticism passed into early Modernism.
Wikidata · Photo: unidentified photograph, Public domain
35
Russian Romantic composer, physician, and chemist (1833–1887)
Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin, a Russian chemist and Romantic composer, of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was among the prominent 19th-century composers called "The Five", a group devoted to creating a "uniquely Russian" kind of classical music.
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36
Russian composer and pianist (1873–1943)
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff, a Russian conductor, virtuoso pianist and composer. He is widely seen as one of the best pianists of his time and, in his compositions, as one of the final great Romantics of Russian classical music.
Wikidata · Photo: Kubey-Rembrandt Studios, Public domain
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37
Austrian composer (1824–1896)
Joseph Anton Bruckner, an Austrian organist and composer best known for his symphonies and his sacred music, including motets, a Te Deum and Masses. His symphonies, with their rich harmony, strongly polyphonic texture and great length, are seen as typical of the last phase of Austro-German Romanticism.
Wikidata · Photo: Unknown author, Public domain
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38
Austrian composer (1825–1899)
Johann Baptist Strauss II, also called Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger, the Son, or simply Johann Strauss: an Austrian violinist and composer of light music, above all dance music and operettas. He wrote more than 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, marches and other dances, as well as a ballet and several operettas.
Wikidata · Photo: Fritz Luckhardt, Public domain
39
German film composer (born 1957)
Hans Florian Zimmer, a German music producer and film composer. His many honours include two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards and five Grammy Awards, and he has been nominated for seven Primetime Emmy Awards.
Wikidata · Photo: ColliderVideo . Uploader cropped., CC BY 3.0
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40
Russian composer (1839–1881)
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, a Russian composer and one of the group called "The Five." An innovator of Russian music in the Romantic period, he sought a musical identity that was distinctly Russian, often deliberately defying the established conventions of Western music.
Wikidata · Photo: Рузана Ширинян, Public domain
Every Wikidata item that is a person whose occupation is composer, and whose one-line description on Wikidata names composing first, and that has its own English Wikipedia article, ranked by the number of Wikimedia sites with a page about it — Wikipedia's language editions, mostly, and sister projects such as Wikiquote. That counts how many communities independently thought it worth describing, and nobody can buy a place on it. The top 40 are shown.
Wikidata files these under this list's query, but they are not what the list is about:
Fetched from Wikidata on 2026-09-25. Each description is this site's summary of the entry's Wikipedia article, which its name links to: the wording is ours, the facts are Wikipedia's, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. To correct an entry, correct it there; the next refresh carries the change.
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