Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791), an Austrian composer of the Classical Era. He was a popular composer during his lifetime and his genius is still recognized worldwide today with over 600 pieces of music composed. In fact, if you played Mozart's music back to back, it would take 202 hours total!
Read MoreJoseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, 1745-1799, was a composer, musician, athlete, and military man in during the classical period. Born in Guadaloupe, he lived in France, he was music teacher to Marie Antonette before joining to fight in the French Revolution. Bologne was said to be one of the greatest swordsman along with a great swimmer, marksman, and rider. He was a violin virtuoso and composed concertos, symphonies, and operas.
Read MoreFranz Joseph Haydn, 1732 - 1809, was an Austrian composer of the Baroque Era. He is called the Father of the Symphony. Some of his most famous symphonies include the Farewell Symphony and the Surprise Symphony. Haydn was a cheerful, humorous man who loved God and cared for fellow musicians, including Mozart, who called him Papa Haydn.
Read MoreJohann Sebastian Bach, 1685 - 1750, was a German composer of the Baroque era. His genius is on display in a wide variety of music - sadness in the St. Matthew Passion, happiness of Brandenburg Concerto, calmness of Chorale Preludes, inventiveness of the Art of the Fugue (which could be played upside down and backwards). Bach was happily married two times, had lots of friends and was an excellent teacher and loved food and coffee. But he didn't always get along with everyone, he could fight with employers, once to the point he was put in jail (house arrest) because his boss didn't want to let Bach go work somewhere else.
Read MoreHenry Purcell, 1659 - 1695, was a British composer of the Baroque time period. He is one of the greatest English composers of all time. He wrote music for the courts and eventually wrote for theater as well. His last work was the funeral music for Queen Mary, he died a few weeks later and his last composition was played at his own funeral.
Read MoreFrancesca Caccini (1587 - 1645) was an Italian female composer and music teacher. She came from a strong msuical family, worked for the highly influential Medici family, and even composed a song for the artist/poet Michaelangelo the Younger (the grand nephew of the famous Michealangelo). She was the first woman to have written and published an Opera, La Liberazione di Ruggiero.
Read MoreClaude Guodimel (1514 - 1572), a French composer who arranged four part harmonies for all 150 of the psalms. The arrangements were simple and popular enough that people would often sing the psalms at home rather than just in church.
Read MoreGuido d'Arezzo (991 - 1033) was a Benedictine monk who created the still used system for written music. Prior to Guido, music was passed on through hearing and memorizing. After Guido's system of written notes on lines and spaces, music was able to spread around the world and beyond the present.
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