From Bach to Mozart and Vivaldi, the Greatest Classic Composers of All Time

When it comes to classic composers, the conversation regarding “the greatest of all time” will always be contested.
While it’s difficult to just give a single, definitive answer, it’s much easier to make a list of some of the best.
As many compositions from this era have non-descriptive titles, or offering only the symphony and movement numbers, this left much of the music up to personal interpretation.
So, despite hearing the same thing as the person sitting next to you, you could have both “seen” something completely different when being moved by the melodies.
Read on and get to know ten heavyweights of music, of whom painted entire worlds in your mind’s eye, sometimes without uttering a single word.
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750)
Johann Sebastian Bach. Credit: Elias Gottlob Haussmann/Wikimedia Commons
Born in Eisenach, Germany, Johann Sebastian Bach was the son of Johann Ambrosius, the director of the town’s musicians.
Bach’s uncles were also all professional musicians, and it is speculated that his father was the one who taught him violin and the basic theory of music.
Both of his parents died by the time he was ten, so he moved in with his eldest brother, Johann Christoph, who was an organist at a church.
Bach studied and copied everything he could get his hands on through his brother, as well as being exposed to the great composers of the day.
Music quickly became his entire life and Bach impressed audiences and his contemporaries alike.
Active during the Baroque period (1580-1750), he built the foundations for a lot of the classical period (1750-1820) that followed it.
His “Toccata And Fugue In D Minor” can be heard in so many pieces of music since he composed it. It would be tough to argue against it being his most influential piece.
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Credit: Otto Erich Deutsch/Wikimedia Commons
Composing from the age of five, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart became a king of the classical period.
Born in Salzburg, Austria, Mozart travelled around Europe with his father, Leopold (also a composer) and absorbed the different styles of music he heard.
As a kid in London, Mozart met and enjoyed the music of Johann Cristian, Bach’s youngest son. This meeting, among many others, filled the youngster’s mind with inspiration.
Mozart mastered the violin, piano and harpsichord before many could tie their own shoes. He could reproduce just about any style of music, while updating it with his own flavour too.
From Mozart’s catalogue of over 600 compositions, his own “Requiem” is perhaps his most impactful. After all, he wrote the awe-striking piece on his deathbed, and it had to be finished once he’d passed away.
LUDVIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)

Johann Sebastian Bach. Credit: Elias Gottlob Haussmann/Wikimedia Commons
Ludvig Van Beethoven began composing in the classical period, which ended in 1820. However, his works span the transition from the classical to the romantic period, which began in 1800, causing these two genres to intermingle frequently.
Beethoven’s knack for music was obvious at a young age.
Beethoven escaped his dysfunctional home in Bonn, Germany, with the family of Helene Von Breuning, whose children, he befriended and taught piano. He moved to Vienna at the age of 21 and studied composition alongside Joseph Haydn.
In the latter part of his life, Beethoven became increasingly deaf in his left ear. He struggled with thoughts about suicide over the potential full loss of his hearing, but he persevered and continued composing and teaching.
Some of Beethoven’s greatest works came during his final ten years, including, but not limited to “Symphony No 9 In D Minor”.
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Credit: BG-Gallery.ru/Wikimedia Commons
Russia’s first composer to make an international impression, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, is still one of the most popular musicians of the romantic period.
Held in high regard by his home nation, Tchaikovsky’s birthplace in Votkinsk is now a museum.
The young Tchaikovsky was schooled in the styles of French, German, Italian and Russian music, after which his private teacher said he didn’t see the boy having a future as a composer or performer.
Tchaikovsky became a civil servant for three years and then joined the relatively new Russian Musical Society in 1861. Here, he learned music theory and then enrolled at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory.
The Saint Petersburg Conservatory gave Tchaikovsky the tools to become a professional composer, making way for him to write nearly 170 compositions.
From his ballets to his symphonies, and between his operas and concertos, Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” is a whirlwind piece with an unforgettable climax.
FREDERIC CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Frédéric Chopin. Credit: wydarzenia.o.pl/Wikimedia Commons
Another revered romantic period composer is the French-Polish pianist Frederic Chopin.
Not wanting to spread himself too thinly, Chopin was one of the few legendary composers to focus all his energy on playing a single instrument – the piano.
It’s not that this limited his productivity or his success in any way, as Chopin was often praised for his devotion, resourcefulness, and innovation with his fingering and pedalling skills.
Although he primarily composed for piano, he also wrote music for other instruments and even some songs set to Polish lyrics.
Chopin’s beautiful “Nocturne Op 9 No 2” has likely moved more people in the world than anything else in his library.
His legacy still lives on today, especially in Poland, as they host the annual International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.
RICHARD WAGNER (1813-1883)
Richard Wagner. Credit: Pierre Petit/Wikimedia Commons
Born in Leipzig, German composer Richard Wagner was also a theatre director, polemicist and conductor in his day.
Mainly known for his operas, Wagner’s introduction to music came at the hand of his stepfather, who was an actor. As such, his initial ambition in life was to become a playwright.
Having experienced the deaths of both his biological father (six months after his birth), and later on in life, his stepfather, it’s no surprise Wagner started writing tragedies.
Due to Adolf Hitler using pieces of Wagner’s work at events, dragging his cohorts to Wagner’s operas, and the alleged association of Wagner with Nazism in general, he is seen as a controversial figure in music and the debate around his ideas is still ongoing today.
With this in mind, you’ll still struggle to find orchestras that would miss an opportunity to perform Wagner’s “Ride Of The Valkyries” if given the chance.
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Johannes Brahms. Credit: New York Public Library Archives/Wikimedia Commons
Despite the romantic period being home to the works of Johannes Brahms, the Hamburg-born German composer, pianist and conductor was a disciple of the classical period through and through.
He was heralded as a traditionalist and an innovator by his peers and writers, leaving behind a body of work that would inspire a generation of composers… and then some.
Brahms learned how to play the piano, violin and cello at an early age.
Against his family’s will, Brahms pursued a career in music. He accepted any performance work he could get, before finding the time to write his own material.
His compositions covered a wide range of genres. Piano works, concerti, symphonies, chamber music and even choral compositions make up his works.
Brahm’s “Hungarian Dance No 5” is an emotional epic that few people can resist submitting to.
ANTONIO LUCIO VIVALDI (1678-1741)
Antonio Vivaldi. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Venice’s very own Antonio Lucio Vivaldi is most famously known for being the greatest Baroque composer to come out of Italy.
However, he didn’t just write masterfully technical pieces for others to perform, as he was also an incredibly proficient violinist.
Vivaldi learned the instrument from his father, Giovanni Battista, a barber turned professional violist and one of the founders of an association of musicians called the Sovvegno Dei Musicisti Di Santa Cecilia.
Vivaldi studied to become a priest and was ordained in 1703, the same year he got a job as maestro di violino at an orphanage. It was there where he began teaching and later composed music for operas, small ensembles, whole orchestras and solo instruments.
With over 50 operas and around 500 concerti under his belt, Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” stands atop his life’s work. The four-part violin concerto takes the listener on a round-the-year journey of sound and sensation.
JOSEPH HAYDN (1732-1809)
Joseph Haydn. Credit: Thomas Hardy/Wikimedia Commons
Classical Austrian composer Joseph Haydn’s parents could see they had a little musical prodigy on their hands, but they knew the village of Rohrau had very little to offer him. So, at the age of six, he was sent off to live with his relative Johann Matthias Frankh, the schoolmaster and choirmaster in Hainburg.
Young Haydn became Frankh’s apprentice to train as a musician, and he never lived with his parents again.
After some time struggling as a freelance musician, Haydn became the Kapellmeister (music director) under Count Morzin, and then for the wealthy Esterhazy family.
He began writing music like a machine and produced wondrous works such as his playful “Trumpet Concerto”, which transformed the perception of the then-militant instrument.
Despite becoming a celebrity, tutor of Beethoven and even a friend and mentor of Mozart, Haydn spent much of his later life in isolation, away from other influences so he could be “forced to become original”.
CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
Claude Debussy. Credit: Otto Wegener/Wikimedia Commons
Last, but certainly not least is the French composer who is regarded as the father of modern classical music, Claude Debussy.
Born to a modest family with little cultural involvement, Debussy proved his musical talent at the age of ten and was accepted by France’s best music college, the Conservatoire De Paris.
Initially, he studied the piano but soon discovered that composition was where he wanted to be.
Although Debussy had an early start working towards a career in music, it took him quite a while to find his feet and for his style to mature. It wasn’t until he was nearly 40 that his popularity exploded and he became internationally adored.
He had his one and only completed opera “Pelleas Et Melisande” to thank for that, and the rest of his works proved he wasn’t just a one-hit wonder.
Often referred to as the first impressionist composer, a title which he fiercely rejected, Debussy lit the fuse for the modern era of classical music and composers.
Listen to some of the best tunes by the greatest composers here.
Cover Credit: Freepik, Eva Bronzini/Pexels, Hoang Le/Pexels
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Writer | DB Damage
DB Damage is a freelance content writer passionate about creative subjects like music, film, and video games. He studied I.T. and music technology at college and has a background in managing and promoting local bands.
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