One hundred composers,
a thousand years of music
Come and meet
the great musicians!
From Hildegard von Bingen’s chant to Steve Reich’s pulses: timelines to place each life, freely licensed excerpts to listen to, full biographies to understand.
Choose an era
Ten broad periods to find your way: tap an era to filter the list, or search for a name, a work or an instrument.
1098 – 1179Middle AgesHildegard von Bingen
Abbess, thinker and composer, she combined spiritual poetry with expansive melodic lines.
c. 1135 – c. 1201Middle AgesLéonin
Associated with Notre-Dame in Paris, he is a foundational figure of polyphonic organum.
c. 1160 – c. 1230Middle AgesPérotin
At Notre-Dame in Paris, he developed polyphony by combining independent vocal lines.
1291 – 1361Middle AgesPhilippe de Vitry
Bishop, poet and theorist, he is associated with the fourteenth-century Ars nova.
c. 1300 – 1377Middle AgesGuillaume de Machaut
A poet and musician, he joined courtly song with sophisticated polyphonic writing.
c. 1390 – 1453RenaissanceJohn Dunstaple
His English music helped spread a new harmonic language across Europe.
c. 1397 – 1474RenaissanceGuillaume Dufay
Working between France and Italy, he bridged medieval traditions and Renaissance style.
c. 1410 – 1497RenaissanceJohannes Ockeghem
A Franco-Flemish singer and composer, he developed remarkably sophisticated vocal counterpoint.
c. 1450 – 1521RenaissanceJosquin des Prez
His music lets voices converse with striking expressive clarity.
c. 1457 – 1505RenaissanceJacob Obrecht
A Franco-Flemish composer celebrated for inventive polyphonic masses.
c. 1525 – 1594RenaissanceGiovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
He epitomized balanced vocal polyphony in Renaissance sacred music.
1532 – 1594RenaissanceOrlando di Lasso
A cosmopolitan musician based in Munich, he wrote in many languages and genres.
c. 1540 – 1623RenaissanceWilliam Byrd
An English Catholic composer, he wrote deeply expressive music amid religious tensions.
c. 1548 – 1611RenaissanceTomás Luis de Victoria
A Spanish priest and composer, he brought remarkable expressive intensity to sacred polyphony.
1567 – 1643BaroqueClaudio Monteverdi
Bridging Renaissance and Baroque, he made dramatic emotion central to music.
1583 – 1643BaroqueGirolamo Frescobaldi
A Roman organist who transformed keyboard writing and the art of variation.
1585 – 1672BaroqueHeinrich Schütz
He brought Italian expressive innovations to German sacred music.
1587 – c. 1641BaroqueFrancesca Caccini
A Medici court musician, she was a pioneer of early Italian musical theatre.
1619 – 1677BaroqueBarbara Strozzi
A Venetian singer and composer who published extensive vocal collections under her own name.
1632 – 1687BaroqueJean-Baptiste Lully
At Louis XIV's court, he shaped French opera and ballet music.
1643 – 1704BaroqueMarc-Antoine Charpentier
A French composer of sacred and theatre music, he mastered Italian style.
1653 – 1706BaroqueJohann Pachelbel
A German organist who influenced the south German keyboard tradition.
1656 – 1728BaroqueMarin Marais
A court musician under Louis XIV, he elevated the viola da gamba as a solo instrument.
1659 – 1695BaroqueHenry Purcell
His stage music blends melodic subtlety and emotional force.
1668 – 1733BaroqueFrançois Couperin
A French court harpsichordist, he blended French elegance and Italian influences.
1678 – 1741BaroqueAntonio Vivaldi
A Venetian violinist and priest, he reshaped the concerto through contrast and virtuosity.
1681 – 1767BaroqueGeorg Philipp Telemann
A prolific composer, he led Hamburg's musical life and combined European styles.
1683 – 1764BaroqueJean-Philippe Rameau
A harmony theorist and man of the theatre, he brought bold colors to French orchestration.
1685 – 1759BaroqueGeorg Friedrich Haendel
Born in Germany and active in London, he excelled in oratorio and public spectacle.
1685 – 1750BaroqueJohann Sebastian Bach
An organist and master of counterpoint, he built musical structures of exceptional depth.
1710 – 1736BaroqueJean-Baptiste Pergolèse
An Italian composer who died young and shaped comic opera and sacred music.
1714 – 1788ClassicalCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Son of J. S. Bach, he helped shape an expressive transitional style.
1714 – 1787ClassicalChristoph Willibald Gluck
He reformed opera by prioritizing drama over vocal display.
1732 – 1809ClassicalJoseph Haydn
A major figure in symphony and quartet, he combined invention, humor and balance.
1743 – 1805ClassicalLuigi Boccherini
A virtuoso cellist who greatly expanded classical chamber music.
1752 – 1832ClassicalMuzio Clementi
Pianist, publisher and piano maker, he shaped modern piano technique.
1756 – 1791ClassicalWolfgang Amadeus Mozart
A child prodigy who mastered opera and symphony, he combined grace with emotional depth.
1770 – 1827Classical to RomanticLudwig van Beethoven
He expanded classical forms and made music a powerful personal dramatic statement.
1778 – 1837Classical to RomanticJohann Nepomuk Hummel
A pianist and composer bridging Viennese classicism and Romantic virtuosity.
1782 – 1840Classical to RomanticNiccolò Paganini
A virtuoso violinist who transformed instrumental technique and the soloist's public image.
1797 – 1828RomanticFranz Schubert
His songs transform poetry into intimate and expressive musical storytelling.
1803 – 1869RomanticHector Berlioz
He imagined spectacular orchestras and told stories through instrumental colors.
1804 – 1875RomanticLouise Farrenc
A pianist, composer and Paris Conservatoire professor, she championed instrumental music.
1805 – 1847RomanticFanny Mendelssohn
A composer and pianist who wrote hundreds of works despite social constraints.
1809 – 1847RomanticFelix Mendelssohn
A conductor and composer who revived Bach and wrote music of great clarity.
1810 – 1849RomanticFrédéric Chopin
At the piano, he combined virtuosity, poetry and memories of Polish dance.
1810 – 1856RomanticRobert Schumann
A composer and critic, he explored psychological contrasts in piano music.
1811 – 1886RomanticFranz Liszt
A star pianist, he invented new forms and developed the symphonic poem.
1813 – 1901RomanticGiuseppe Verdi
His operas give unforgettable voice to human passions and conflicts.
1813 – 1883RomanticRichard Wagner
He envisioned music drama as a unity of orchestra, poetry and stagecraft.
1818 – 1893RomanticCharles Gounod
A French composer who shaped Romantic opera and sacred music.
1819 – 1896RomanticClara Schumann
An internationally renowned pianist and composer, she also championed contemporary music.
1822 – 1890RomanticCésar Franck
An organist and teacher who developed cyclic forms in French music.
1824 – 1884RomanticBedřich Smetana
A leading Czech composer who joined opera, symphonic poetry and national identity.
1833 – 1887RomanticAlexandre Borodine
A chemist and composer who combined scientific research and musical creativity.
1833 – 1897RomanticJohannes Brahms
He reinvented classical forms with Romantic intensity and dense thematic craft.
1838 – 1875RomanticGeorges Bizet
His opera Carmen, initially controversial, became a landmark of musical theatre.
1839 – 1881RomanticModeste Moussorgski
A member of The Five, he sought an original dramatic and vocal language.
1840 – 1893RomanticPiotr Ilitch Tchaïkovski
His ballets and symphonies unite memorable melodies and dramatic emotion.
1841 – 1904RomanticAntonín Dvořák
He blended symphonic tradition with Czech and American folk inspirations.
1843 – 1907RomanticEdvard Grieg
He created evocative soundscapes inspired by Norwegian traditions.
1844 – 1908Late RomanticNikolaï Rimski-Korsakov
A brilliant orchestrator whose sound palette influenced generations.
1857 – 1934Late RomanticEdward Elgar
An English composer combining orchestral grandeur and intimate lyricism.
1860 – 1911Late RomanticGustav Mahler
His vast symphonies confront nature, irony, love and existential questions.
1862 – 1918Impressionism and modernityClaude Debussy
He transformed harmony and orchestral color through suggestion rather than direct narrative.
1864 – 1949Late RomanticRichard Strauss
He pushed Romantic orchestration toward extraordinary richness and contrast.
1865 – 1957Late RomanticJean Sibelius
He composed organic forms inspired by Finnish landscapes and culture.
1866 – 1925Impressionism and modernityErik Satie
With spare pieces and wit, he challenged Romantic grandiosity.
1867 – 1944Late RomanticAmy Beach
An American pianist and composer who excelled in symphonic and chamber music.
1872 – 1915Impressionism and modernityAlexandre Scriabine
A pianist and mystic who explored chromatic harmony and multisensory projects.
1872 – 1958Late RomanticRalph Vaughan Williams
An English composer inspired by folk songs and choral tradition.
1873 – 1943Late RomanticSergueï Rachmaninov
A virtuoso pianist, he carried Russian lyric Romanticism into the twentieth century.
1874 – 1951ModernismArnold Schönberg
A pioneer of atonality and twelve-tone composition who redefined musical structure.
1874 – 1954ModernismCharles Ives
An experimental American composer who layered hymns, marches and tonalities.
1875 – 1937Impressionism and modernityMaurice Ravel
A meticulous orchestrator, he combined precision, dance and instrumental color.
1881 – 1945ModernismBéla Bartók
A researcher of folk music, he transformed rhythms and modes into a modern language.
1882 – 1971ModernismIgor Stravinsky
His rhythmic disruptions and stylistic reinventions shaped twentieth-century music.
1883 – 1945ModernismAnton Webern
An Austrian composer who distilled ideas into brief, precise forms.
1885 – 1935ModernismAlban Berg
A pupil of Schoenberg, he combined modern techniques with dramatic intensity.
1887 – 1953ModernismFlorence Price
The first Black woman to have a symphony performed by a major US orchestra, she blended classical and African American traditions.
1887 – 197920th century and todayNadia Boulanger
A teacher and conductor who influenced generations of musicians.
1891 – 1953ModernismSerge Prokofiev
His angular melodies, sharp rhythms and theatrical flair appeal to all ages.
1892 – 198320th century and todayGermaine Tailleferre
The only woman in Les Six, she wrote inventive, clear music for stage and concert.
1893 – 1918ModernismLili Boulanger
The first woman to win the premier Grand Prix de Rome in composition, she left an intense body of work.
1898 – 193720th century and todayGeorge Gershwin
An American composer who bridged jazz, Broadway and concert music.
1899 – 196320th century and todayFrancis Poulenc
A member of Les Six, he combined wit with profound spiritual expression.
1900 – 199020th century and todayAaron Copland
He developed an open American sound drawing on dance and folk traditions.
1906 – 1975ModernismDmitri Chostakovitch
He composed under Soviet political pressure, balancing irony, tragedy and ambiguity.
1910 – 198120th century and todaySamuel Barber
A lyrical American composer who wrote for voice, strings and orchestra.
1912 – 199220th century and todayJohn Cage
A radical experimenter who questioned chance, silence and the act of listening.
1913 – 197620th century and todayBenjamin Britten
He revitalized English opera and wrote accessible yet sophisticated music.
1918 – 199020th century and todayLeonard Bernstein
Conductor, educator and composer, he connected classical music, jazz and musical theatre.
1923 – 200620th century and todayGyörgy Ligeti
He created shifting sonic textures that blur the boundary between melody and sound mass.
1931 – 202520th century and todaySofia Goubaïdoulina
A Tatarstan-born composer who explored spirituality, timbre and unusual instruments.
1935 –20th century and todayArvo Pärt
His tintinnabuli style seeks simplicity and spiritual resonance.
1935 –20th century and todayTerry Riley
An American minimalist composer who explored repetition and improvisation.
1936 –20th century and todaySteve Reich
He explores rhythmic phasing, repetition and connections between speech and music.
1937 –20th century and todayPhilip Glass
His repeated and evolving patterns helped popularize minimalist music.
1952 – 202320th century and todayKaija Saariaho
A Finnish composer who sculpted timbre and texture with exceptional subtlety.
1961 –20th century and todayUnsuk Chin
A South Korean composer known for virtuosic and imaginative writing.
The timeline of centuries
All hundred lives on a single line of time, with the great events of world history.
Listen legally
195 excerpts of freely licensed recordings, credited and sourced on Wikimedia Commons.
Play with music
Quizzes, listening games, instrument puzzles, magic piano, memory… for children (and grown-ups).