Classical canon
From Medieval and Renaissance polyphony through Contemporary minimalism — composers tagged by OpenOpus as essential or popular, grouped by era of peak activity.
Medieval (–1400) 3 composers
Renaissance (1400–1600) 14 composers
Dufay
1400–1474
ess
Ockeghem
1420–1496
ess
Des Prez
1450–1521
ess
Obrecht
1450–1505
ess
Janequin
1485–1558
ess
Taverner
1490–1545
ess
Tallis
1505–1585
ess
Palestrina
1525–1594
ess
Lassus
1532–1594
ess
Byrd
1540–1623
ess
Victoria
1549–1611
ess
Gesualdo
1561–1613
ess
Sweelinck
1562–1621
ess
Dowland
1563–1626
ess
Baroque (1600–1750) 28 composers
Vivaldi
1678–1741
ess
pop
Bach
1685–1750
ess
pop
Handel
1685–1759
ess
pop
Monteverdi
1567–1643
ess
Praetorius
1571–1621
ess
Frescobaldi
1583–1643
ess
Gibbons
1583–1625
ess
Schütz
1585–1672
ess
Lully
1632–1687
ess
Charpentier
1636–1704
ess
Buxtehude
1637–1707
ess
Biber
1644–1704
ess
Corelli
1653–1713
ess
Pachelbel
1653–1706
ess
Marais
1656–1728
ess
Purcell
1659–1695
ess
Scarlatti, A.
1660–1725
ess
Couperin
1668–1733
ess
Albinoni
1671–1751
ess
Telemann
1681–1767
ess
Rameau
1683–1764
ess
Marcello, A.
1684–1750
ess
Scarlatti
1685–1757
ess
Marcello
1686–1739
ess
Tartini
1692–1770
ess
Pergolesi
1710–1736
ess
Bach, C.P.E.
1714–1788
ess
Gluck
1714–1787
ess
Classical (1750–1820) 14 composers
Haydn
1732–1809
ess
pop
Mozart
1756–1791
ess
pop
Beethoven
1770–1827
ess
pop
Bach, J.C.
1735–1782
ess
Dittersdorf
1739–1799
ess
Boccherini
1743–1805
ess
Stamitz
1745–1801
ess
Salieri
1750–1825
ess
Cherubini
1760–1842
ess
Hummel
1778–1837
ess
Sor
1778–1839
ess
Field
1782–1837
ess
Paganini
1782–1840
ess
Spohr
1784–1859
ess
Early Romantic (1820–1860) 20 composers
Schubert
1797–1828
ess
pop
Mendelssohn
1809–1847
ess
pop
Chopin
1810–1849
ess
pop
Schumann
1810–1856
ess
pop
Liszt
1811–1886
ess
pop
Verdi
1813–1901
ess
pop
Wagner
1813–1883
ess
pop
Weber
1786–1826
ess
Rossini
1792–1868
ess
Berwald
1796–1868
ess
Donizetti
1797–1848
ess
Bellini
1801–1835
ess
Berlioz
1803–1869
ess
Glinka
1804–1857
ess
Gounod
1818–1893
ess
Offenbach
1819–1880
ess
Franck
1822–1890
ess
Lalo
1823–1892
ess
Bruckner
1824–1896
ess
Smetana
1824–1884
ess
Romantic (1860–1900) 37 composers
Strauss Jr
1825–1899
ess
pop
Brahms
1833–1897
ess
pop
Tchaikovsky
1840–1893
ess
pop
Dvořák
1841–1904
ess
pop
Puccini
1858–1924
ess
pop
Mahler
1860–1911
ess
pop
Debussy
1862–1918
ess
pop
Goldmark
1830–1915
ess
Borodin
1833–1887
ess
Cui
1835–1918
ess
Saint-Saëns
1835–1921
ess
Delibes
1836–1891
ess
Gomes
1836–1896
ess
Balakirev
1837–1910
ess
Bizet
1838–1875
ess
Bruch
1838–1920
ess
Mussorgsky
1839–1881
ess
Chabrier
1841–1894
ess
Massenet
1842–1912
ess
Grieg
1843–1907
ess
Rimsky-Korsakov
1844–1908
ess
Widor
1844–1937
ess
Fauré
1845–1924
ess
d'Indy
1851–1931
ess
Humperdinck
1854–1921
ess
Janacek
1854–1928
ess
Chausson
1855–1899
ess
Elgar
1857–1934
ess
Leoncavallo
1857–1919
ess
Ysaÿe
1858–1931
ess
Herbert
1859–1924
ess
Albéniz
1860–1909
ess
MacDowell
1860–1908
ess
Wolf
1860–1903
ess
Delius
1862–1934
ess
Mascagni
1863–1945
ess
Strauss
1864–1949
ess
20th Century (1900–1945) 67 composers
Ravel
1875–1937
ess
pop
Stravinsky
1882–1971
ess
pop
Gershwin
1898–1937
ess
pop
Dukas
1865–1935
ess
Glazunov
1865–1936
ess
Nielsen
1865–1931
ess
Sibelius
1865–1957
ess
Busoni
1866–1924
ess
Satie
1866–1925
ess
Granados
1867–1916
ess
Joplin
1868–1917
ess
Roussel
1869–1937
ess
Stenhammar
1871–1927
ess
Zemlinsky
1871–1942
ess
Scriabin
1872–1915
ess
Vaughan Williams
1872–1958
ess
Rachmaninoff
1873–1943
ess
Reger
1873–1916
ess
Holst
1874–1934
ess
Ives
1874–1954
ess
Schmidt
1874–1939
ess
Schoenberg
1874–1951
ess
Suk
1874–1935
ess
Glière
1875–1956
ess
Falla
1876–1946
ess
Dohnányi
1877–1960
ess
Respighi
1879–1936
ess
Bloch
1880–1959
ess
Bartók
1881–1945
ess
Enescu
1881–1955
ess
Grainger
1882–1961
ess
Kodály
1882–1967
ess
Szymanowski
1882–1937
ess
Bax
1883–1953
ess
Varèse
1883–1965
ess
Webern
1883–1945
ess
Berg
1885–1935
ess
Villa-Lobos
1887–1959
ess
Ibert
1890–1962
ess
Martinů
1890–1959
ess
Prokofiev
1891–1953
ess
Honegger
1892–1955
ess
Milhaud
1892–1974
ess
Moeran
1894–1950
ess
Hindemith
1895–1963
ess
Orff
1895–1982
ess
Hanson
1896–1981
ess
Korngold
1897–1957
ess
Mignone
1897–1986
ess
Harris
1898–1979
ess
Chávez
1899–1978
ess
Poulenc
1899–1963
ess
Antheil
1900–1959
ess
Copland
1900–1990
ess
Weill
1900–1950
ess
Rodrigo
1901–1999
ess
Duruflé
1902–1986
ess
Walton
1902–1983
ess
Khachaturian
1903–1978
ess
Kabalevsky
1904–1987
ess
Tippett
1905–1998
ess
Lopes-Graça
1906–1994
ess
Shostakovich
1906–1975
ess
Camargo Guarnieri
1907–1993
ess
Carter
1908–2012
ess
Messiaen
1908–1992
ess
Holmboe
1909–1996
ess
Post-War (1945–1985) 34 composers
Barber
1910–1981
ess
Schuman
1910–1992
ess
Cage
1912–1992
ess
Britten
1913–1976
ess
Gould
1913–1996
ess
Lutoslawski
1913–1994
ess
Babbitt
1916–2011
ess
Dutilleux
1916–2013
ess
Ginastera
1916–1983
ess
Bernstein
1918–1990
ess
Arnold
1921–2006
ess
Piazzolla
1921–1992
ess
Xenakis
1922–2001
ess
Ligeti
1923–2006
ess
Rorem
1923–
ess
Braga Santos
1924–1988
ess
Nono
1924–1990
ess
Berio
1925–2003
ess
Boulez
1925–2016
ess
Henze
1926–2012
ess
Rautavaara
1928–2016
ess
Stockhausen
1928–2007
ess
Crumb
1929–2022
ess
Takemitsu
1930–1996
ess
Gubaidulina
1931–
ess
Górecki
1933–2010
ess
Penderecki
1933–2020
ess
Birtwistle
1934–
ess
Schnittke
1934–1998
ess
Pärt
1935–
ess
Reich
1936–
ess
Glass
1937–
ess
Corigliano
1938–
ess
Adams
1947–
ess