THE 20 MOST IMPORTANT CLASSICAL MUSICIANS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The great musicians of classicism in the West developed in the period between 1730 and 1820. The term classical music, however, is used in colloquial terms as a synonym for different musical styles included between the Middle Ages and the present, especially among the 17th and 19th centuries.

We will speak next, however, of the historical period known in music as classicism. This period is chronologically between the Baroque and Romantic periods.

Classical music definitely has a lighter and clearer texture than baroque music. It is less complex, basically homophonic, by making use of a clear melodic line above a subordinate chord accompaniment.

He also made use of a gallant style that emphasized light elegance in contrast to the dignified seriousness and impressive bombast of the Baroque. The variety and contrast within the same piece were accentuated more than in the previous period and the orchestras increased in size, range and power.

The piano replaced the harpsichord as the main keyboard instrument. Unlike the harpsichord, which operates by striking strings using feathers, the piano relies on the striking of leather-covered hammers when the keys are pressed. This allowed performers to play louder or softer and achieve a wider range of expressions in performance.

In contrast, the force with which a keyboard player plays the harpsichord does not alter the resulting sound. Instrumental music was considered of great importance among the classical composers. The main types of instrumental music were the sonata, the trio, the string quartet, the symphony, and the solo concert.

Vocal music, for example songs for singer and piano (a Schubert hallmark), choral works and operas, were also important during the period.

During the classical period, there was a movement called the First Viennese School. This name was used to refer to the three main composers of the classical period in the late 18th century in Vienna: Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven.

Who were the greatest classical composers? Here is a list.

Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)

He was a prolific Austrian composer of the classical period. It was a cornerstone in the development of chamber music, such as the piano trio. His contributions to musical form have earned him epithets such as "the father of the symphony" or "the father of the string quartet."

He spent much of his career as a musician serving the court of the powerful Estherházy family, on their distant estate. For many years he was isolated from other composers and musical trends, which, in his own words, "forced him to become an original."

Despite this, his music circulated widely and throughout his career he was the most celebrated composer in Europe. He was a close friend and mentor of Mozart, Beethoven's teacher, and older brother of composer Michael Haydn.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)

Baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theopohilus Mozart, he was a prolific and influential classical composer. He was born in Salzburg and displayed prodigious abilities from early childhood. By the age of five he was already skilled at the keyboard and the violin. Since then he has composed and performed his works in front of European royalty.

When he was seventeen he was recruited as a musician at the Salzburg court, which kept him unhappy and led him to travel to seek a better position.

While visiting Vienna in 1781, he was downplayed by the position he held at the Salzburg court. Even so, Mozart decided to stay in the Austrian capital, where he finally achieved fame, but without financial benefits.

It was during this time in Vienna that he composed most of his best-known symphonies, concerts, and operas. He also began the composition of his Requiem, which was left unfinished after his death.

He composed more than 600 works, considered the pinnacle of symphonic music. The circumstances of his early death generate great controversy and a mythology has been created around him. He was survived by his wife Constanza and two children.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

Famous German composer and pianist, he was a transcendental figure in the transition between the classical and romantic periods in Western music. He is, in short, one of the most famous and influential composers in history.

His works include nine symphonies, five piano concertos, a violin concerto, thirty-two piano sonatas, sixteen string quartets, a solemn mass, and an opera, Fidelio.

His hearing deteriorated considerably before the age of thirty and he spent the last part of his life practically deaf. Many of his most admired works were admirably composed during this same period.

Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828)

Austrian composer who produced a large number of works during a short period of life, as he died early at thirty-two years of age.

His work was little appreciated during his lifetime, however it was taken up after his death by many other artists, including Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt, and Brahms. Today he is considered one of the greatest composers of late classicism and the incipient stage of romanticism.

Rodolfo Luigi Boccherini (1743 - 1805)

Italian composer of the classical era and skilled cello player. His music maintained a gallant and courteous style despite having developed somewhat away from the great European musical centers.

He is famous for one minuet in particular, his Quintet for Strings in E as well as his Concerto for Cello in B major.

Muzio Clementi (1752 - 1832)

Composer born in Italy, naturalized English. He was a pianist, educator, conductor, editor, and piano maker. Driven to music by his father, he received patronage from Sir Peter Beckford, which led him to England to continue his studies.

Based in London, he undertook a piano competition with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1781. He produced and promoted his own brand of pianos and was a notable publisher of musical scores. It enjoyed great popularity during its lifetime, however its reputation declined during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Antonio Salieri (1750 - 1825)

Italian composer, conductor and teacher, born in Legnano south of Verona. He spent most of his adult life and his musical career in the service of the Habsburg monarchy. Salieri was one of the central figures in the development of 18th century opera. He was a cosmpolite composer, he composed operas in three languages.

He helped shape many of the characteristics of the vocabulary of operatic composition and his music was a determining influence on many of the composers of his time.

Today he is best known for his largely fictional rivalry with Mozart, beginning with the publication of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus in 1979.

Leopold Mozart (1719 - 1787)

German composer, conductor, teacher and violinist. He is best known for being the father of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He wrote the violin text Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule.

He discovered that his children had prodigious abilities for music in 1759 and he devoted himself to teaching them from an early age. Leopold began touring music for the aristocracy and nobility with his sons throughout Europe.

Johann Christian Bach (1735 - 1782)

Classical composer, youngest son among eleven of Johann Sebastian Bach. He is sometimes referred to as “London Bach” or “English Bach” due to the time he spent living in the English capital, where he was known as John Bach. His influence on Mozart's concert style is notorious.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714 - 1788)

Fifth surviving son of Johann Sebastian and Maria Barbara Bach, he was a German classical composer.

He was an influential composer who developed in the transition period between the baroque style that distinguished his father and the classical and romantic periods that followed. To distinguish him from his brother Johann Christian, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was nicknamed "the Barch of Berlin."

Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714 - 1787)

German composer of Italian and French operas of the early classical period. It generated importance in the Viennese court of Habsburg. He wrote eight operas for the Parisian stages. One of his last operas, Efigenia en Tauride, enjoyed great success and is popularly considered his main work.

Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778 - 1837)

Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist, his music is a reflection of the transition between the classical and romantic periods.

His work is focused mainly on the piano, an instrument that he dominated and in which he stood out as a performer. He wrote eight piano concertos, ten sonatas, eight trios, a quartet, and a quintet.

Luigi Cherubini (1760 - 1842)

Italian composer who spent most of his musical career in France. His most representative works are operas and sacred music. Beethoven considered Cherubini as one of the greatest composers of his era.

Carl Maria von Weber (1786 - 1826)

He was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist, and music critic. His operas greatly influenced the development of romantic opera in Germany. Being a great pianist, he composed four sonatas and two concertos that influenced other composers such as Chopin and Mendelssohn.

Giovanni Porta (1675 - 1755)

Italian opera composer, born in Venice. One of the masters of the early 18th century and one of the leading Venetian musicians. His opera Numitore was performed in 1720 by the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Giuseppe Maria Orlandini (1676 - 1760)

Italian composer, particularly known for his more than 40 operas. Along with Vivaldi, he is considered one of the creators of a new operatic style that dominated the second decade of the 18th century.

Manuel de Zumaya (1678 - 1755)

He was perhaps the most famous Mexican composer of the colonial period in New Spain. He was the first person in the Western Hemisphere to compose an opera in Italian, called Partenope. It is to this day lost.

Johann Mattheson (1681 - 1764)

German composer, singer, writer, diplomat, and music theorist. He was born and died in Hamburg. A close friend of George Frideric Handel, he wrote eight operas and numerous oratorios and cantatas.

Most of his works were lost after the Second World War. Some of his manuscripts are today in the library of the University of Hamburg.

Giuseppe Valentini (1681 - 1753)

Nicknamed Starccioncino, he was an Italian violinist, painter, poet, and composer of inventive instrumental music. He was Corelli's successor as conductor of the concertmaster of San Luigi del Francesi between 1710 and 1741.

During his lifetime, his work was overshadowed by the achievements of Corelli, Vivaldi, and Locatelli, although his contribution to Italian music is notable and many of his works were published throughout Europe.

Francesco Saverio Geminiani (1687 - 1762)

He is an Italian composer and violinist born in the city of Lucca. He was educated in music by Alessandro Scarlatti and Arcangelo Corelli. He conducted the Naples Opera from 1771, which originally brought him closer to Scarlatti.

He lived by teaching music and composition. It is believed that he was one of the best violin players of his time, nicknamed Il Furibondo by his students, due to his expressive rhythms.