Library / English Dictionary

COMPOSER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone who composes music as a profession

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("composer" is a kind of...):

musician (artist who composes or conducts music as a profession)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "composer"):

contrapuntist (a composer who specializes in counterpoint)

psalmist (a composer of sacred songs)

ballad maker; songster; songwriter (a composer of words or music for popular songs)

symphonist (a composer of symphonies)

Instance hyponyms:

Ambrose; Saint Ambrose; St. Ambrose ((Roman Catholic Church) Roman priest who became bishop of Milan; the first Church Father born and raised in the Christian faith; composer of hymns; imposed orthodoxy on the early Christian church and built up its secular power; a saint and Doctor of the Church (340?-397))

Bach; Johann Sebastian Bach (German baroque organist and contrapuntist; composed mostly keyboard music; one of the greatest creators of western music (1685-1750))

Barber; Samuel Barber (United States composer (1910-1981))

Bartok; Bela Bartok (Hungarian composer and pianist who collected Hungarian folk music; in 1940 he moved to the United States (1881-1945))

Beethoven; Ludwig van Beethoven; van Beethoven (German composer of instrumental music (especially symphonic and chamber music); continued to compose after he lost his hearing (1770-1827))

Bellini; Vincenzo Bellini (Italian composer of operas (1801-1835))

Alban Berg; Berg (Austrian composer in Schoenberg's twelve-tone music system (1885-1935))

Berlioz; Hector Berlioz; Louis-Hector Berlioz (French composer of romantic works (1803-1869))

Bernstein; Leonard Bernstein (United States conductor and composer (1918-1990))

Bizet; Georges Bizet (French composer best known for his operas (1838-1875))

Blitzstein; Marc Blitzstein (United States pianist and composer of operas and musical plays (1905-1964))

Bloch; Ernest Bloch (United States composer (born in Switzerland) who composed symphonies and chamber music and choral music and a piano sonata and an opera (1880-1959))

Aleksandr Borodin; Aleksandr Porfirevich Borodin; Borodin (Russian composer (1833-1887))

Boulez; Pierre Boulez (French composer of serial music (born in 1925))

Brahms; Johannes Brahms (German composer who developed the romantic style of both lyrical and classical music (1833-1897))

Benjamin Britten; Britten; Edward Benjamin Britten; Lord Britten of Aldeburgh (major English composer of the 20th century; noted for his operas (1913-1976))

Bruch; Max Bruch (German composer (1838-1920))

Anton Bruckner; Bruckner (Austrian organist and composer of romantic music (1824-1896))

Byrd; William Byrd (English organist and composer of church music; master of 16th century polyphony; was granted a monopoly in music printing with Thomas Tallis (1543-1623))

Cage; John Cage; John Milton Cage Jr. (United States composer of avant-garde music (1912-1992))

Carlos Chavez; Chavez (Mexican composer of nationalistic works using themes from Indian folk music (1899-1978))

Cherubini; Luigi Cherubini; Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Cherubini (Italian composer of church music and operas (1760-1842))

Chopin; Frederic Francois Chopin (French composer (born in Poland) and pianist of the romantic school (1810-1849))

Aaron Copland; Copland (United States composer who developed a distinctly American music (1900-1990))

Arcangelo Corelli; Corelli (Italian violinist and composer of violin concertos (1653-1713))

Couperin; Francois Couperin (French composer of music for organ and a member of a family of distinguished organists (1668-1733))

Coward; Noel Coward; Sir Noel Pierce Coward (English dramatist and actor and composer noted for his witty and sophisticated comedies (1899-1973))

Czerny; Karl Czerny (Austrian virtuoso pianist and composer of many works for the piano; studied with Beethoven and was a teacher of Liszt (1791-1857))

Claude Achille Debussy; Claude Debussy; Debussy (French composer who is said to have created Impressionism in music (1862-1918))

Clement Philibert Leo Delibes; Delibes; Leo Delibes (French composer of operas (1836-1891))

Delius; Frederick Delius (English composer of orchestral works (1862-1934))

Donizetti; Gaetano Donizetti (Italian composer of operas (1797-1848))

Dowland; John Dowland (English lutenist and composer of songs for the lute (1563-1626))

Dukas; Paul Dukas (French composer (1865-1935))

Antonin Dvorak; Dvorak (Czech composer who combined folk elements with traditional forms (1841-1904))

Elgar; Sir Edward Elgar; Sir Edward William Elgar (British composer of choral and orchestral works including two symphonies as well as songs and chamber music and music for brass band (1857-1934))

Enesco; George Enescu; Georges Enesco (Romanian violinist and composer (1881-1955))

Falla; Manuel de Falla (Spanish composer and pianist (1876-1946))

Cesar Franck; Franck (French composer and teacher who influenced a generation of composers (1822-1890))

George Gershwin; Gershwin (United States composer who incorporated jazz into classical forms and composed scores for musical comedies (1898-1937))

Glinka; Mikhail Glinka; Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (Russian composer (1804-1857))

Christoph Willibald von Gluck; Gluck (German composer of more than 100 operas (1714-1787))

Charles Francois Gounod; Gounod (French composer best remembered for his operas (1818-1893))

George Percy Aldridge Grainger; Grainger; Percy Aldridge Grainger; Percy Grainger (United States composer (born in Australia) who lived in London and collected English folk songs (1882-1961))

Edvard Grieg; Edvard Hagerup Grieg; Grieg (Norwegian composer whose work was often inspired by Norwegian folk music (1843-1907))

Fromental Halevy; Halevy; Jacques Francois Fromental Elie Halevy (French operatic composer (1799-1862))

Georg Friedrich Handel; George Frederick Handel; George Frideric Handel; Handel (a prolific British baroque composer (born in Germany) remembered best for his oratorio Messiah (1685-1759))

Handy; W. C. Handy; William Christopher Handy (United States blues musician who transcribed and published traditional blues music (1873-1958))

Franz Joseph Haydn; Haydn; Joseph Haydn (prolific Austrian composer who influenced the classical form of the symphony (1732-1809))

Hindemith; Paul Hindemith (German neoclassical composer and conductor who believed that music should have a social purpose (1895-1963))

Arthur Honegger; Honegger (Swiss composer (born in France) who was the founding member of a group in Paris that included Erik Satie and Darius Milhaud and Francis Poulenc and Jean Cocteau (1892-1955))

Engelbert Humperdinck; Humperdinck (German composer of six operas and other incidental music (1854-1921))

Ibert; Jacques Francois Antoine Ibert (French composer (1890-1962))

Charles Edward Ives; Ives (United States composer noted for his innovative use of polytonality (1874-1954))

Joachim; Joseph Joachim (Hungarian violinist and composer (1831-1907))

Joplin; Scott Joplin (United States composer who was the first creator of ragtime to write down his compositions (1868-1917))

Aram Kachaturian; Kachaturian (Armenian composer who incorporated oriental folk music (1903-1978))

Jerome David Kern; Jerome Kern; Kern (United States composer of musical comedies (1885-1945))

Aram Ilich Khachaturian; Aram Khachaturian; Khachaturian (Russian composer (born in Armenia) whose works are romantic and reflect his interest in folk music (1903-1978))

Constant Lambert; Lambert; Leonard Constant Lambert (English composer and conductor (1905-1951))

Lasso; Orlando di Lasso; Roland de Lassus (Belgian composer (1532-1594))

Huddie Leadbetter; Leadbelly; Ledbetter (United States folk singer and composer (1885-1949))

Franz Lehar; Lehar (Hungarian composer of light operas (1870-1948))

Franz Liszt; Liszt (Hungarian composer and piano virtuoso (1811-1886))

Andrew Lloyd Webber; Baron Lloyd Webber of Sydmonton; Lloyd Webber (English composer of many successful musicals (some in collaboration with Sir Tim Rice) (born in 1948))

Frederick Loewe; Loewe (United States composer (born in Austria) who collaborated with Lerner on several musicals (1901-1987))

Giambattista Lulli; Jean Baptiste Lully; Lulli; Lully (French composer (born in Italy) who was the court composer to Louis XIV and founded the national French opera (1632-1687))

Edward MacDowell; MacDowell (United States composer best remembered as a composer of works for the piano (1860-1908))

Gustav Mahler; Mahler (Austrian composer and conductor (1860-1911))

Jules Emile Frederic Massenet; Massenet (French composer best remembered for his pop operas (1842-1912))

Felix Mendelssohn; Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy; Mendelssohn (German musician and romantic composer of orchestral and choral works (1809-1847))

Gian Carlo Menotti; Menotti (United States composer (born in Italy) of operas (born in 1911))

Giacomo Meyerbeer; Jakob Liebmann Beer; Meyerbeer (German composer of operas in a style that influenced Richard Wagner (1791-1864))

Darius Milhaud; Milhaud (French composer of works that combine jazz and polytonality and Brazilian music (1892-1974))

Claudio Monteverdi; Monteverdi (Italian composer (1567-1643))

Douglas Moore; Moore (United States composer of works noted for their use of the American vernacular (1893-1969))

Mozart; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (prolific Austrian composer and child prodigy; master of the classical style in all its forms of his time (1756-1791))

Modest Moussorgsky; Modest Mussorgsky; Modest Petrovich Moussorgsky; Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky; Moussorgsky; Mussorgsky (Russian composer of operas and orchestral works (1839-1881))

Carl August Nielsen; Carl Nielsen; Nielsen (Danish composer (1865-1931))

Jacques Offenbach; Offenbach (French composer of many operettas and an opera (1819-1880))

Orbison; Roy Orbison (United States composer and rockabilly tenor popular in the 1950s (1936-1988))

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina; Palestrina (Italian composer (1526-1594))

Piston; Walter Piston (United States neoclassical composer (1894-1976))

Cole Albert Porter; Cole Porter; Porter (United States composer and lyricist of musical comedies (1891-1946))

Francis Poulenc; Poulenc (French pianist and composer (1899-1963))

Prokofiev; Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Russian composer of ballets and symphonies and operas (1891-1953))

Giacomo Puccini; Puccini (Italian operatic composer noted for the dramatic realism of his operas (1858-1924))

Henry Purcell; Purcell (English organist at Westminster Abbey and composer of many theatrical pieces (1659-1695))

Rachmaninoff; Rachmaninov; Sergei Rachmaninoff; Sergei Rachmaninov; Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff; Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninov (composer and piano virtuoso born in Russia (1873-1943))

Jean-Philippe Rameau; Rameau (French composer of operas whose writings laid the foundation for the modern theory of harmony (1683-1764))

Maurice Ravel; Ravel (French composer and exponent of Impressionism (1875-1937))

Reich; Stephen Michael Reich; Steve Reich (United States composer (born in 1936))

Ottorino Respighi; Respighi (Italian composer remembered for his symphonic poems (1879-1936))

Nikolai Andreyevich Rimski-Korsakov; Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov; Rimski-Korsakov; Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian composer of operas and orchestral works; often used themes from folk music (1844-1908))

Richard Rodgers; Rodgers (United States composer of musical comedies (especially in collaboration with Oscar Hammerstein II and with Lorenz Hart) (1902-1979))

Romberg; Sigmund Romberg (United States composer (born in Hungary) who composed operettas (1887-1951))

Giloacchino Antonio Rossini; Rossini (Italian composer remembered for his operas (1792-1868))

Anton Gregor Rubinstein; Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein; Anton Rubenstein; Rubinstein (Russian composer and pianist (1829-1894))

Charles Camille Saint-Saens; Saint-Saens (French pianist and composer (1835-1921))

Erik Alfred Leslie Satie; Erik Satie; Satie (French composer noted for his experimentalism and rejection of Romanticism (1866-1925))

Artur Schnabel; Schnabel (United States composer (born in Austria) and pianist noted for his interpretations of the works of Mozart and Beethoven and Schubert (1882-1951))

Arnold Schoenberg; Arnold Schonberg; Schoenberg; Schonberg (United States composer and musical theorist (born in Austria) who developed atonal composition (1874-1951))

Franz Peter Schubert; Franz Schubert; Franz Seraph Peter Schubert; Schubert (Austrian composer known for his compositions for voice and piano (1797-1828))

Robert Alexander Schumann; Robert Schumann; Schumann (German romantic composer known for piano music and songs (1810-1856))

Clara Josephine Schumann; Schumann (German pianist and composer of piano music; renowned for her interpretation of music, especially the music of her husband Robert Schumann (1819-1896))

Aleksandr Nikolayevich Scriabin; Aleksandr Scriabin; Scriabin (Russian composer of orchestral and piano music (1872-1915))

Andres Segovia; Segovia (Spanish guitarist who made classical guitar a concert instrument (1893-1987))

Roger Huntington Sessions; Roger Sessions; Sessions (United States composer who promoted 20th century music (1896-1985))

Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich; Dmitri Shostakovich; Shostakovich (Russian composer best known for his fifteen symphonies (1906-1975))

Jean Sibelius; Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; Sibelius (Finnish composer (1865-1957))

Bedrich Smetana; Smetana (Czech composer (1824-1884))

Sondheim; Stephen Sondheim (United States composer of musicals (born in 1930))

John Philip Sousa; March King; Sousa (a United States bandmaster and composer of military marches (1854-1932))

Johann Strauss; Strauss; Strauss the Elder (Austrian composer of waltzes (1804-1849))

Johann Strauss; Strauss; Strauss the Younger (Austrian composer and son of Strauss the Elder; composed many famous waltzes and became known as the 'waltz king' (1825-1899))

Richard Strauss; Strauss (German composer of many operas; collaborated with librettist Hugo von Hoffmannsthal to produce several operas (1864-1949))

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky; Igor Stravinsky; Stravinsky (composer who was born in Russia but lived in the United States after 1939 (1882-1971))

Arthur Seymour Sullivan; Arthur Sullivan; Sir Arthur Sullivan; Sullivan (English composer of operettas who collaborated with the librettist William Gilbert (1842-1900))

Tallis; Thomas Tallis (English organist and composer of church and secular music; was granted a monopoly in music printing with William Byrd (1505-1585))

Deems Taylor; Joseph Deems Taylor; Taylor (United States composer and music critic (1885-1966))

Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky; Peter Tchaikovsky; Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky; Pyotr Tchaikovsky; Tchaikovsky (important Russian composer whose works are noted for their expressive melodies (1840-1893))

Georg Philipp Telemann; Telemann (German baroque composer (1681-1767))

Thomson; Virgil Garnett Thomson; Virgil Thomson (United States composer who collaborated with Gertrude Stein (1896-1989))

Edgar Varese; Varese (United States composer (born in France) whose music combines dissonance with complex rhythms and the use of electronic techniques (1883-1965))

Ralph Vaughan Williams; Vaughan Williams (English composer influenced by folk tunes and music of the Tudor period (1872-1958))

Giuseppe Verdi; Guiseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi; Verdi (Italian operatic composer (1813-1901))

Heitor Villa-Lobos; Villa-Lobos (Brazilian composer (1887-1959))

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi; Antonio Vivaldi; Vivaldi (Italian baroque composer and violinist (1675-1741))

Richard Wagner; Wagner; Wilhelm Richard Wagner (German composer of operas and inventor of the musical drama in which drama and spectacle and music are fused (1813-1883))

Sir William Turner Walton; Sir William Walton; Walton; William Walton (English composer (1902-1983))

Baron Karl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber; Carl Maria von Weber; Weber (German conductor and composer of romantic operas (1786-1826))

Kurt Weill; Weill (German composer; collaborated with Bertolt Brecht (1900-1950))

Hugo Wolf; Wolf (Austrian composer (1860-1903))

Derivation:

compose (write music)

Credits