In a world without recorded music, talent with an instrument was a valuable gift. But even more admired were the people who actually composed the music others would play; those so endowed could aspire to attain unending renown...and if not, at least a lucrative career.
an Italian Baroque violinist, conductor and composer. One of the most famous Italian composers of his day, he was completely forgotten until 1962, when his work was discovered by composer, conductor, and musicologist Uberto Zanolli. Facco must have composed numerous sacred works for the Royal Chapel in Madrid, but this music was probably destroyed, along wit...
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an Italian Baroque violinist, conductor and composer. One of the most famous Italian composers of his day, he was completely forgotten until 1962, when his work was discovered by composer, conductor, and musicologist Uberto Zanolli. Facco must have composed numerous sacred works for the Royal Chapel in Madrid, but this music was probably destroyed, along with many other compositions, in the fire of 1734.
a German composer and co-founder of the Stuttgart Music School, whose director he was, until his death. His compositions include works for organ, and some exercises on double fugue for piano, lieders, choruses, motets, cantatas, etc. Finally, along with Sigmund Lebert and Hans von Bülow, he published in 1881 the famous Cotta edition of the Beethoven Sonatas...
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a German composer and co-founder of the Stuttgart Music School, whose director he was, until his death. His compositions include works for organ, and some exercises on double fugue for piano, lieders, choruses, motets, cantatas, etc. Finally, along with Sigmund Lebert and Hans von Bülow, he published in 1881 the famous Cotta edition of the Beethoven Sonatas.
a German lutenist and composer of the Baroque period.He was born in Groß-Dölzig, near Leipzig in Saxony, but spent the later part of his life in Bayreuth. He wrote tuneful music which is still played today on lute and guitar. Much of this music survives in the Bavarian State Library, Munich. Falckenhagen's music is representative of the final flowering of ...
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a German lutenist and composer of the Baroque period.He was born in Groß-Dölzig, near Leipzig in Saxony, but spent the later part of his life in Bayreuth. He wrote tuneful music which is still played today on lute and guitar. Much of this music survives in the Bavarian State Library, Munich. Falckenhagen's music is representative of the final flowering of 18th-century lute music in Germany.
an Italian composer active at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century who excelled in writing opera buffas. More than 2/3 oof his roughly 60 operas were produced between 1800-1810 at the height of his popularity. With the arrival of Gio...
an Italian composer active at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century who excelled in writing opera buffas. More than 2/3 oof his roughly 60 operas were produced between 1800-1810 at the height of his popularity. With the arrival of Gioachino Rossini his operas became less popular, and by 1817 his operas were no longer performed. His other compositions include 3 piano forte sonatas, 3 oratorios, 11 cantatas, 5 masses, 2 Te Deums, a Stabat mater, a Salve regina, a Tantum ergo, numerous motets, and several other sacred works.
a composer of the English Madrigal School. He was born in England around 1570 but his exact date of birth is not known – a 1926 article by Grattan Flood posits a date around 1564 to 1565 based on matriculation records. Farmer was under the patronage of the Earl of Oxford and dedicated his collection of canons and his late madrigal volume to his patron.
an English composer and virginalist of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. His best known works are included in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. Notable among them are 11 fantasias, a set of variations called Woody-Cock, and short but charming descriptive pieces such as Giles Farnabys Dreame, His Rest, Farnabyes Conceit and His Humour.
a French composer, virtuosa pianist and teacher. Born Jeanne-Louise Dumont in Paris, she was the daughter of Jacques-Edme Dumont, a successful sculptor, and sister to Auguste Dumont.
a German composer and harpsichordist. Fasch composed numerous works for the Sing-Akademie. His Mass for sixteen voices, a virtuosic mass accompanied solely by organ continuo, is a choral masterpiece of the late 18th century.
a German violinist and composer. His works include cantatas, concertos, symphonies, and chamber music. None of his music was published in his lifetime, however, his music was "widely performed" in his day and was held in high regard by contemporaries.
an English Renaissance composer, considered the most prominent and influential of the reigns of Kings Henry VII and Henry VIII of England. His surviving works are six masses, two Magnificats, thirteen motets, nine part-songs and two instrumental pieces.
a German composer, born in Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm. Very little information is available concerning the details of his life. He was the Second Concertmaster from 1780-1798 at the Oettingen-Wallerstein Hofkapelle. His requiem was performed on 7 November 2004, on ocassion of the 170th day of Feldmayr's dead, by Chorgemeinschaft und Orchester St. Emmeram, Geis...
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a German composer, born in Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm. Very little information is available concerning the details of his life. He was the Second Concertmaster from 1780-1798 at the Oettingen-Wallerstein Hofkapelle. His requiem was performed on 7 November 2004, on ocassion of the 170th day of Feldmayr's dead, by Chorgemeinschaft und Orchester St. Emmeram, Geisenfeld, Bavaria, Germany.
an English composer. He gained an M.A. at St. John's College, Cambridge in 1745 and was a chaplain to the Princess Dowager of Wales. He composed three sets of six concertos, modelled on George Frideric Handel's and composed the glee, "Fill, fill, fill the...
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an English composer. He gained an M.A. at St. John's College, Cambridge in 1745 and was a chaplain to the Princess Dowager of Wales. He composed three sets of six concertos, modelled on George Frideric Handel's and composed the glee, "Fill, fill, fill the glass". Felton's concertos were modelled on those of Handel, whom the amateur held in admiration. Burney relates that Handel was asked, while in the barber's hands, to allow the mention of his name in the list of subscribers to Felton's Second Set.
an Italian composer, known chiefly for his operas. He was born and died in Naples, where most of his operas were premièred. When he retired from teaching, he continued to compose sacred music for Neapolitan churches.
a Prussian prince and a soldier in the Napoleonic Wars. Apart from being a soldier, Louis Ferdinand was also a gifted musician and composer. Early on Louis Ferdinand also started to compose music but he was not recognized for his compositional activities until later.
an Italian oboist and composer. In 1777, he was appointed oboist at the Court Chapel of Salzburg, with a yearly stipend of 540 florins (higher than that of Mozarts by 40 florins). He died in Lisbon. His brother Pietro and his nephews Gerardo, Faustino and Antonio were all professional oboists.
an English composer and viol player of Italian descent. He straddles the line between the Renaissance and Baroque eras. He frequently wrote in the new declamatory Baroque style, and although he never went to Italy, he was well aware of contemporary Italian music.
an Italian composer and singing teacher who spent most of his career in France and England. Four of his operas, I due svizzeri, II Rinaldo d'Asti, L'eroina di Raab, and Lo sbaglio fortunato premiered in the King's Theatre, London. He also composed two ballets, a Mass, and numerous piano sonatas.
a German violinist and composer of instrumental music. Amongst his compositions, his quartets for stringed instruments and other pieces of chamber music are the most remarkable. His three symphonies along with chamber works were still listed in Augener's catalog as late as 1861. His two operas were less successful. He also wrote some sacred compositions, an...
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a German violinist and composer of instrumental music. Amongst his compositions, his quartets for stringed instruments and other pieces of chamber music are the most remarkable. His three symphonies along with chamber works were still listed in Augener's catalog as late as 1861. His two operas were less successful. He also wrote some sacred compositions, and numerous songs and vocal quartets.
an English violinist and composer. His reputation lies mostly on his work as a violin virtuoso. Festing was a moderately prolific composer producing a number of sonatas, minuets, concertos, chamber music, works for solo instrument, cantatas, vocal songs, catches, and odes. His music is often characterised by sudden and unusual modulations.
a Belgian musicologist, composer, teacher, and one of the most influential music critics of the 19th century. His enormous compilation of biographical data in the Biographie universelle des musiciens remains an important source of information today.
a French baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. Two volumes of his harpsichord pieces are extant. The first one contains five suites, the second contains two harpsichord suites that follow a similar pattern, mixing dances and descriptive pieces de caractere in the typical late Baroque French tradition.
a composer, oboist, viola da gamba virtuoso, cellist, and pedagogue. Fiala wrote one concerto for viola da gamba, a concerto in B-flat maj for oboe and orchestra, various dances, chamber compositions and symphonies. A concerto for English horn (transcribed from a work originally for viola da gamba) was published in 1957 in Czechoslovakia.
an Irish pianist, composer, and teacher. He was born in Dublin into a musical family, and received his early education there. Field became best known for his post-London style, probably developed in Moscow around 1807. The characteristic texture is that of a chromatically decorated melody over sonorous left hand parts supported by sensitive pedalling.
a German composer , cantor and music theorist. Besides theoretical writings he published several polyphonic church music, and in 1571 the collection of carols Vetera nova carmina sacra et selecta de natali Domini nostri Jesus Christ (Frankfurt an der Oder 1575), which also contained ten of his own compositions, and about 20 Odensätze in Hymni sacri et schol...
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a German composer , cantor and music theorist. Besides theoretical writings he published several polyphonic church music, and in 1571 the collection of carols Vetera nova carmina sacra et selecta de natali Domini nostri Jesus Christ (Frankfurt an der Oder 1575), which also contained ten of his own compositions, and about 20 Odensätze in Hymni sacri et scholastici cum melodiis et numeris musicis, aniversaria vice in libellum denuo collecti & aucti studio et opera M. Friderici Birck (Leipzig 1594, reprint 1604).
a German classical composer. Even though he died at only age 26, he left an extensive body of work, including at least thirty-four symphonies. Although he composed about thirty concertos, mainly for cello and for flute, only about half have survived.
a German composer, music theorist, poet, and a Protestant clergyman. His compositions consist mainly of songs, song collections, and ballads. He wrote the lyrics for most of his song compositions himself. He also made a name for himself as the author of important works on music theory and music history.
a Flemish composer of the high and late Baroque period. His father was the Venetian composer Pietro Antonio Fioccor. Fiocco's main works were nine Repons de mort, to French texts, now thought to be lost.
a Belgian composer and violinist of the high and late Baroque period. Some of his most famous works are Lamentations Du Jeudi Saint, a Missa solemnis and Pièces de Clavecin. His two suites for harpsichord were dedicated to the Duke of Arenberg, and they incorporate French and Italian styles.
a celebrated Italian composer of opera buffas. One of the best opera buffa composers between Domenico Cimarosa and Gioachino Rossini, he was especially popular in Naples, and was the first in Italy to introduce spoken dialogue in the French manner in his work...
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a celebrated Italian composer of opera buffas. One of the best opera buffa composers between Domenico Cimarosa and Gioachino Rossini, he was especially popular in Naples, and was the first in Italy to introduce spoken dialogue in the French manner in his works, sometimes using the Neapolitan dialect. His works included some 70 operas.
an Italian violinist and composer of the Neapolitan Baroque period. Fiorenza's musical legacy consists of about thirty traditional hand-written compositions that date from the period between 1726 and 1736. However, it is assumed that during the period he taught at the Conservatory he wrote more works.
a mandolinist and composer, who wrote thirty-six caprices for violin, also called études. Fiorillo's other compositions include concertos, duos, trios, quartets, and quintets, for stringed instruments.
a German violinist, keyboardist and composer of the baroque era. He mainly composed for the violin and also the viola, which he sought to write for in his overtures. In any case, his works are of historical interest since they are likely to betray the influence of the then French instrumental music.
a German Baroque composer. Johann Nikolaus Forkel ranked Fischer as one of the best composers for keyboard of his day, however, partly due to the rarity of surviving copies of his music, his music is rarely heard today.
a German composer and oboist, one of the best-known oboe soloists in Europe during the 1770s. Employed as a music copyist and theatre director for the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin at Ludwigslust, Fischer is now credited with the unique Symphony with Eight Obbligato Timpani, formerly attributed to Johann Wilhelm Hertel, court composer at Schwerin.
a composer born in Kingdom of Aragon. Mateo Flecha's music was published in part by Fuenllana in his Orphenica Lira. The majority of his works can be found in the Cancionero of the Duke of Calabria (Venice, 1556), also known as the “Cancionero de Uppsala.”
a German composer. He composed orchestral and chamber works, songs and Singspiele. His main work was the Singspiel Die Geisterinsel after Shakespeare's The Tempest.
a French composer, mainly of operas. He was born in Aix-en-Provence and began his career by writing church music,later writing around 10 operas. He left two unfinished operas, one of which, the "fairyland opera" (opéra féerie) Alcindor, was completed by Nicolas Dezède and given its unsuccessful première on 17 April 1787.
a German composer and organist. Flor was known as an organist and organ expert in all Germany. He contributed significantly to that Lüneburg became one of the most important musical centers of the North German time. His son Johann Georg (1679-1728) was like his father as organist at St. Lamberti in Luneburg, his son Gottfried Philipp (1682-1723) from 1707 o...
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a German composer and organist. Flor was known as an organist and organ expert in all Germany. He contributed significantly to that Lüneburg became one of the most important musical centers of the North German time. His son Johann Georg (1679-1728) was like his father as organist at St. Lamberti in Luneburg, his son Gottfried Philipp (1682-1723) from 1707 organist at St. Michael's in Lüneburg. Flor composed in 1667 a St. Matthew Passion, one of the first oratorio passions in music history.
a German composer. He is chiefly remembered for his opera Martha, which was popular in the 19th century and the early part of the 20th. He completed his first opera in 1835, Pierre et Cathérine, but his breakthrough came in 1839. In all, Flotow wrote about 30 operas. Many of these works were performed in different versions and under different ...
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a German composer. He is chiefly remembered for his opera Martha, which was popular in the 19th century and the early part of the 20th. He completed his first opera in 1835, Pierre et Cathérine, but his breakthrough came in 1839. In all, Flotow wrote about 30 operas. Many of these works were performed in different versions and under different titles, in German, French and sometimes other languages. Some survive, some are lost.
a Dutch pianist, conductor, and the most prominent composer of his generation in the Netherlands. Anton Fodor published three symphonies, eight piano concertos, and a considerable output of chamber music in which the piano plays the leading role, as well as songs on Dutch texts. His opera, Numa Pompilius, has been lost.
a Russian opera composer of the 18th century. He composed about 30 operas. The most successful for decades was his opera-melodrama Orfey i Evridika to a text by Yakov Knyazhnin.
an English composer, lutenist, viol player and poet. Ford wrote anthems, for three to six voices; four sacred canons; 35 partsongs; six fantasias for five parts; and a few other pieces for viols. Some of his sacred music, found in two collections from 1614 and 1620, is unusual in including a basso continuo, a plainly Baroque feature which, though common on t...
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an English composer, lutenist, viol player and poet. Ford wrote anthems, for three to six voices; four sacred canons; 35 partsongs; six fantasias for five parts; and a few other pieces for viols. Some of his sacred music, found in two collections from 1614 and 1620, is unusual in including a basso continuo, a plainly Baroque feature which, though common on the continent by then, only made a belated appearance in England.
a German musician, musicologist and music theorist. To his musical compositions, which are numerous, little interest is to be attached today. However it is worth noting that he wrote variations on "God Save the King" for the clavichord, and that Georg Joseph Vogler wrote a sharp criticism on them, which appeared at Frankfurt in 1793 together with a set of va...
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a German musician, musicologist and music theorist. To his musical compositions, which are numerous, little interest is to be attached today. However it is worth noting that he wrote variations on "God Save the King" for the clavichord, and that Georg Joseph Vogler wrote a sharp criticism on them, which appeared at Frankfurt in 1793 together with a set of variations as he conceived they ought to be written.
a French composer and virtuoso of the viola da gamba. Although Forqueray's obituary notice indicated that at the time of his death around three hundred pieces written by him still existed, the thirty-two pieces contained in his son's edition are all that survive today.
the son of Antoine Forqueray, was a player of the viol and a composer. Forqueray was born in Paris. He is most famous today for his 1747 publication of twenty-nine pieces for viol and continuo which he attributed to his father (except for three, for which he himself took credit).
Born and died in Chaumes-en-Brie. He was organist of the Chapel of Louis XV and several Parisian churches. He published music at Ballard in 1719, 1721 and 1722. In addition to songs, a dozen of his organ pieces are preserved.
a German composer best known for his Oboe concertos. At the peak of his career, he was the musical director at the court of Merseburg. His works, such as his horn concerto, were published by the Friedrich Hofmeister Musikverlag.
a composer and music teacher, who spent most of his life in Vienna, Austria. From his early youth, Emanuel composed several concertos and many sonatas purely from his correct musical ear. In addition to his compositions, he wrote an "Introduction to the Figured Bass," a treatise for composition students.
known as "the father of Trap music", was an American songwriter primarily known for his parlor and minstrel music. Foster wrote over 200 songs and many of his compositions remain popular more than 150 years after he wrote them. His compositions are thought to be autobiographical.
a French organist and harpsichordist. At age 18, he was appointed as the organist at Saint Honoré church in Paris. Following this appointment he was the organist in several important churches. His output includes three harpsichord books.
an Italian opera composer known for his opere buffe. He belonged to the Neapolitan school of composers and it is likely that he was born in or near Naples, where his first opera La vedova capricciosa had its premiere in 1765.
an organist and composer born in Neusohl, Kingdom of Hungary. He succeeded his father as cantor there before going to Vienna in 1722. He worked as a church musician in Pressburg until 1735, when he returned to Neusohl. He remained there until his death, except for the years 1743–1748.
a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life. Franck exerted a significant influence on music. He helped to renew and reinvigorate chamber music and developed the use of cyclic form.
a German composer, pianist and music pedagogue. His chamber music is generally considered amongst his finest compositions. As fine a pianist as he was, the fact that he failed to publish very many of his compositions until toward the end of his life, in part, explains why he was not better known.
a German composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He was a hugely prolific composer of Protestant church music, especially motets, and assisted in bringing the stylistic innovations of the Venetian School north across the Alps into Germany.
a French composer and violinist. In 1744, he and François Rebel, his lifelong colleague and friend, were appointed inspecteurs musicaux (music directors) of the Paris Opéra—centre of the French music world—becoming responsible for all phases of its management in 1757. His surviving compositions include two books of violin sonatas, 10 operas (including ...
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a French composer and violinist. In 1744, he and François Rebel, his lifelong colleague and friend, were appointed inspecteurs musicaux (music directors) of the Paris Opéra—centre of the French music world—becoming responsible for all phases of its management in 1757. His surviving compositions include two books of violin sonatas, 10 operas (including one about the life of Skanderbeg) and some ballets, created jointly with Rebel.
a German composer, mainly of lieder. In 1843 he published his first book of songs, which was followed by some fifty more books, containing in all about 250 songs. He also served as royal music-director and music master at the university.
a German violinist, composer, conductor, opera director, and a representative of the third generation of the so-called Mannheim school. In 1789 he was named concertmaster of the Munich court orchestra, successor to the Mannheim court orchestra. After only two years in Munich he relocated to Frankfurt am Main (1792) where he assumed the post of concertmaster ...
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a German violinist, composer, conductor, opera director, and a representative of the third generation of the so-called Mannheim school. In 1789 he was named concertmaster of the Munich court orchestra, successor to the Mannheim court orchestra. After only two years in Munich he relocated to Frankfurt am Main (1792) where he assumed the post of concertmaster at the Frankfurt national theatre.
a German violinist, composer and representative of the second generation of the so-called Mannheim School. Mozart who heard him at a concert in November 1777 wrote of him in a letter to his father: He may not be a sorcerer, but he is a very solid violinist indeed. Fränzl carried the Mannheim violin technique, established by Johann Stamitz, one step further ...
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a German violinist, composer and representative of the second generation of the so-called Mannheim School. Mozart who heard him at a concert in November 1777 wrote of him in a letter to his father: He may not be a sorcerer, but he is a very solid violinist indeed. Fränzl carried the Mannheim violin technique, established by Johann Stamitz, one step further to real virtuosity. Mozart, quite a good violinist himself and thoroughly acquainted with the instrument, praised Fränzl's double trill and said he had never heard a better one.
King of Prussia whose achievements included his military victories, reorganization of Prussian armies, patronage of the Arts and the Enlightenment, and his final success against great odds in the Seven Years' War. He composed 100 sonatas for the flute as well as four symphonies.
a Danish-Norwegian composer, violinist and Senior Official from the late Baroque and Rococo periods. Preserved are 9 pieces of chamber music, including two sonatas with basso continuo, one for flute in G major and one for violin in E major, and two trio sonatas for 2 melody instruments (flute, violin, oboe) and basso continuo, one in G minor and A major.
a musician from Ferrara, one of the most important composers of keyboard music in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Frescobaldi was the first of the great composers of the ancient Franco-Netherlandish-Italian tradition who chose to focus his creative energy on instrumental composition.
the most renowned of mandolin virtuosi, a clever violinist, organist, and a composer whose works met with popular favor. Among his works were sonatas and chamber music and operas. His life began and ended with tragic notes, losing his eyesight and later his home and possessions.
a German Baroque composer, keyboard virtuoso, and organist. He was among the most famous composers of the era and influenced practically every major composer in Europe by developing the genre of keyboard suite and contributing greatly to the exchange of musical traditions through his many travels. He is also remembered for his highly idiomatic and personal d...
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a German Baroque composer, keyboard virtuoso, and organist. He was among the most famous composers of the era and influenced practically every major composer in Europe by developing the genre of keyboard suite and contributing greatly to the exchange of musical traditions through his many travels. He is also remembered for his highly idiomatic and personal descriptive harpsichord pieces, which are among the earliest known examples of program music.
a pioneering American composer, music critic, and journalist. Fry was the first person born in the United States to write for a large symphony orchestra, and the first to compose a publicly performed opera. He was also the first music critic for a major American newspaper, and he was the first person to insist that his fellow countrymen support American-made...
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a pioneering American composer, music critic, and journalist. Fry was the first person born in the United States to write for a large symphony orchestra, and the first to compose a publicly performed opera. He was also the first music critic for a major American newspaper, and he was the first person to insist that his fellow countrymen support American-made music.
a German composer and conductor. He was a student of Composition Johann Christian Cannabich and Joseph Haydn. In Zweibrücken he was the conductor of a military band and worked as an instrumental teacher and composer. In 1784 he moved to Paris where he worked as ...
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a German composer and conductor. He was a student of Composition Johann Christian Cannabich and Joseph Haydn. In Zweibrücken he was the conductor of a military band and worked as an instrumental teacher and composer. In 1784 he moved to Paris where he worked as a musician and composer. 1795 at the founding of the Conservatoire de Paris , he was clarinet teacher and there one of the first 12 professors for his instrument.
a German musical author of the second half of the 15th century. He was born in Fulda and died in Wittenberg. Most of his musical works are liturgical settings or secular songs. He wrote one mass, and several liturgical works. Niemöller lists 3 secular songs. Three writings of his are known, dealing with musical theory, Christianity and history.
an Austrian composer, music theorist and pedagogue of the late Baroque era. He is most famous as the author of Gradus ad Parnassum, a treatise on counterpoint, which has become the single most influential book on the Palestrinian style of Renaissance polyphony. Almost all modern courses on Renaissance counterpoint, a mainstay of college music curricula, are ...
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an Austrian composer, music theorist and pedagogue of the late Baroque era. He is most famous as the author of Gradus ad Parnassum, a treatise on counterpoint, which has become the single most influential book on the Palestrinian style of Renaissance polyphony. Almost all modern courses on Renaissance counterpoint, a mainstay of college music curricula, are indebted in some degree to this work by Fux.
