When one thinks of composers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the names Mozart and Beethoven are likely to come to mind. A little more thought brings Franz Joseph Haydn into the picture. Haydn was not a child prodigy, but he was a true musical genius. Recognition came later, and it is said [...]

Igor Stravinsky is said to be the greatest composer of the early twentieth century. He also is thought to have had the greatest influence on musical development during this time. Why is it then that his music has never gained the level of acceptance and popularity as that of the great composers of the nineteenth [...]

Johann Sebastian Bach Is the best known of the composers from the Baroque period (1600-1750). Among these are Vivaldi, Telemann, Handel and Albinoni. And he was greatest of them all, so great that he is consider first among the three greats: Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. To many, his music is considered the foundation on which [...]

From Zwickau, Germany, the mother of Robert Schumann sent him off to Leipzig to matriculate into law school. He was not interested and did not make much of an effort toward becoming a lawyer. To his mother’s great disappointment, but to the everlasting benefit of the music world, Robert Schumann was interested only in music. [...]

Franz Liszt ranks number thirteen on Phil G. Goulding’s list of the fifty greatest composers. In his day, Hungarian Liszt was better known for his virtuoso playing than as a composer. He started serious composing relatively late in his career, but his public performing began quite early. He is considered by many to have been [...]

Sergei Prokofiev was born in 1891 in a rural community in Ukraine called Sontsovka. Because they could not afford to operate their own farm, his parents agreed to manage the farm of a friend for their livelihood. Prokofiev was an only child upon whom the parents, especially his mother, doted. He was spoiled. But he [...]

Ludwig van Beethoven was one of three composers that Phil Goulding, in “Great Composers,” placed in his “Immortal” category. The other two are J.S. Bach and Mozart. Beethoven chronologically was the third of this trio of musical gods. In some respects, he is considered greatest of the three. His impact on musical development is without [...]

Achille-Claude Debussy was born in 1862 to Manuel and Victorine Debussy. His family was considered respectable, but definitely not wealthy. Sometimes it was difficult to keep ahead of the bill collectors, so that, for example, they moved four times by the time Achille-Claude was five years old. The musical son would succeed in spite of [...]