1.

Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805)

Italian and Spanish composer,
Luigi Boccherini, was considered
one of Europe’s greatest cellists,
and a champion for the dignified
instrument.

2.Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

The Classical era was dominated
by Haydn and Mozart, who both
worked in Vienna, the older
(Haydn) for a while teaching the
younger (Mozart).
3.Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-
1787)
Gluck blazed the trail for 19th-
century opera. Frustrated by
Baroque opera, its lengthy
moments of vocal indulgence and
lean plot lines, Gluck wanted to
compose arias that would
enhance the plot or title
character.

4.Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach (1714-

1788)
CPE Bach was the second
surviving son of Johann Sebastian
Bach, the patriarch of Western
music’s unstoppable dynasty.

5.Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)

Rossini was an Italian composer
and champion of the bel canto
style, that would fade in
popularity towards the second
half of the 19th century but was
beloved in Rossini’s time.

6.Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

(1756-1791)
As far as we’re concerned, all things elegant in classical music
– small ‘c’ and big ‘C’ – come back to Mozart.
7.Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de
Saint-Georges (1745-1799)
Joseph Boulogne, or the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, was an
extraordinary composer dubbed by former US president
John Adams as “the most accomplished man in Europe”.

8.Marianna Martines (1744-1812)

Marianna Martines was one of the most accomplished
composers and musicians of the 18th century, who also took
keyboard lessons from none other than Joseph Haydn (that
‘Papa Haydn’ title was well-earned!).

9.Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-

1827)
In the last years of the 18th century came Beethoven, who
started writing music in the style inherited from Mozart and
Haydn, and completely transformed it.

Moving into the 19th century, Beethoven’s music was getting

increasingly ambitious in its use of melody, harmony and
instrumentation. In 1804 he wrote his Third Symphony,
known as the ‘Eroica’, which went on to redefine the
symphony as a genre. 20 years later, his ‘Choral’ Symphony
marked the first time a composer had used choral voices in a
major symphony, paving the way for Romantic composers
like Mahler and Berlioz.

10.Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Schubert is celebrated as one of
the four great pillars of 18th-
century music, along with Mozart,
Haydn and Beethoven, and a key
figure in bridging the Classical and
Romantic periods. Some believe
his music stands perfect between
the two eras, being Classical in
form but Romantic in spirit.