Great Composers in Music History

Joseph Maurice Ravel

• He was born in French Pays Basque and died in Paris.
• His mother was Basque.
• He played the piano.
• He attended the Paris Conservatory.
• Ravel was amazed by Asian music that he listened to during the Universal Exposition in 1889.
• Ravel's most well-known piece is the Bolero.

Ludwig van Beethoven

• He was born in Bonn, Germany.
• Beethoven played the piano.
• Ludwig lost three of his siblings and his mother.
• Beethoven suffered from deafness.
• He studied with Haydn and Salieri.
• Beethoven's most well-known piece is the Ninth Symphony.

Frédéric Chopin

• Frederick Chopin was a Polish composer.
• He fled Poland and went to Paris, where he died.
• He was a virtuosic piano player.
• He died at 39.
• Chopin's heart was taken from his corpse and sent back to his home country.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

• Mozart was an Austrian composer.
• His sister was named Nannerl, and she also was a virtuosic musician.
• He played the harpsichord, piano, and violin.
• Mozart and Nannerl did various tours through Europe.
• He was very good at improvising music.
• Mozart married and had six children, but only two survived.
• He died at the young age of 35.
• He most probably died from trichinosis.

Igor Stravinsky

• Stravinsky was a Russian composer.
• He ended up living in the U.S. after living in Paris.
• He composed some exceptional ballets.
• The Rite of Spring's premiere was a huge scandal.
• He had a love affair with Coco Chanel.
• His music appears in the Fantasia film by Walt Disney.

Other Notable Composers

• Tomás Luis de Victoria, Spain, Renaissance
• Maurice Ravel, France, Impressionism
• William Byrd, England, Renaissance
• George Frideric Handel, Germany, Baroque
• Ludwig van Beethoven, Germany, Romantic
• Johann Sebastian Bach, Germany, Baroque
• Richard Wagner, Germany, Romantic
• Antonio Vivaldi, Italy, Baroque
• Claudio Monteverdi, Italy, Renaissance
• Giuseppe Verdi, Italy, Romantic
• Franz Joseph Haydn, Austria, Classical
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austria, Classical
• Frédéric Chopin, Poland, Romantic
• Igor Stravinsky, Russia, 20th Century