Composers with last names beginning with M, N, O, P, Q, or R listed here include:
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
A very fortunate soul, a composer who never went through financial struggles as his contemporaries and predecessors did. Felix Mendelssohn born to a wealthy Hamburg family in the year 1809 took up piano at an early age. When he was still quite young, Felix has already started composing chamber works. Young Mendelssohn was lucky to have the chance of letting the ensembles who play at his home play his very own pieces.
Not long then Mendelssohn was already composing quartets , trios and operettas.
Felix's first public performance on the keyboard was at the age of nine.
At the young age of 17 Mendelssohn was already gaining popularity, and his unmistakable talent for music was spreading fast. That same year, he made his first masterpiece---overture to Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream".
In 1825 Mendelssohn made a quite brilliant production, "octet for strings".
Mendelssohn revived J.S. Bach's music for he thought that the public had misjudged the master's works. Therefore in 1829 Mendelssohn made a full scale performance of Bach's work. It was an overwhelming success.
In late 1833 Mendelssohn was given the post of Music Director
of the town of Dusseldorf.
In 1835, he was made conducter to the Gewundhaus Orchestra. The he had started to write symphonies, one piano concerto and a superb oratorio---"St. Paul".
Later he was given a post at Berlin's Academy of Arts.
After 1843, Mendelssohn made more works, symphonies, violin concerto "Wedding March".
His health started to decline in 1846, and this slowly headed to the death of the master when Mendelssohn's depression was increased by his sister's death.
In the year 1847, we mark another passing of a stunningly talented German composition master-- Felix Mendelssohn.
Back To The Top
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
One of the best-known composers of classical music is Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART. He was born on 27th January, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria. Mozart's father, Leopold, was himself a musician and composer, and played an influential role in his son's life.
Young Wolfgang, at the age of three, already showed an astounding memory for melody and harmony. He also could play the piano, and was composing at the age of four. Leopold was convinced that his son was a genius. He thus decided to take his son on a concert tour of Europe in 1762, to perform for the Empress Maria Theresa and her daughter.
The following year Mozart's father planed an even more ambitious tour: Germany, Holland, France and England. Wolfgang and his sister Nannerl played before royal families in Paris and London. At this time Mozart began to compose in earnest - primarily sonatas for the keyboard and the violin.
During his young years, he wrote countless sonatas, concertos and quartets.
In 1782, Mozart married Constanze Weber, the younger sister of his first love. The young couple settled in Vienna where Mozart gave concerts, music lessons and received money for his published works. However he had no understanding of financial matters. He suffered from a lack of money, no matter how much he made.
To make matters worse, he began to lost his health. He suffered from a kidney ailment, which steadily weakened him. In 1791 he was working feverishly on one of his most famous operas, The Magic Flute and also the Requiem. He was, however, close to death. On 5th December 1791 he died at the age of thirty-five. He was buried in a pauper's grave. When the hearse carrying his body left for the cemetery, no one followed the coffin.
Back To The Top
Modeste Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881)
A talented Russian composer struck by poverty. Mussorgsky was born in the 1839. He was a child of exceptional music talent.With a bit of guidance ,at the age of eleven, Mussorgsky could already perform a John Field piano concerto. When Mussorgsky was ten his family moved to St. Petersburg. there he signed up for military training and was moved into the Preobrajensky regiment.
Mussorgsky was coached by Balakirev in composing.
Mussorgsky later decided to leave the army and carry on his music career. He was an outstanding one at his time and his style was something of an exception from the conventional.
Unfortunately toward the later years of his life, Mussorgsky was struck by poverty. Mussorgsky then drank heavily and this heavy drinking led to his death in the year 1881.
Many of his works were left halfway through.
Back To The Top
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
A musician of extreme harmonic talent, Henry Purcell was born on 7th March in
the year 1659 in London. Both Purcell's father and uncle were men of the
Chapel Royal.
At the age of eight, Henry wrote the three-part song "Sweet Tyranness".
Henry Purcell became a chorister to the Chapel Royal through the influence of
his father and uncle.
Purcell's voice broke in the year 1673. He became organist in Westminster Abbey in 1670.
When Purcell was 21, he made his first song and theater music. Purcell
developed successfully as master in both fields. In 1682 Purcell was given the post of organist of Chapel Royal where he once was a chorister.
The next year Purcell made his first publication, 12 sonatas.
In 1689 the peak of his career, Purcell made his masterpiece his opera "Dido and Aeneas". Purcell's other theatre pieces includes "Dioclesian", "King Arthur", "The
Fairy Queen", "the Indian Queen".
Henry Purcell the English musician passed away in his own home in London on
the 21st November 1695.
Back To The Top
Gioacchinno Rossini (1792 -1868)
A opera genius, exceptionally bright composer, universally praised and adored, Gioacchinno Rossini was born on the 29th February in the year 1729. Both parents of Rossini's were musicians, his father was a horn playwe and his mother a singer. The Rossini family lived in Bologna where Gioacchinno learned the horn and singing and sang operas.The young Rossini studied in Bologna and began his life of composition there. At the age of 18 he made a first one-act comedy for Venice. This first piece led to other commissions in different places, Ferrara, Venice, Milan, etc..A successful example of Rossini's works abroad was the "La pietra del paragone" performed at La Scala in 1812.
His first pieces to be internationally applaused were the serious "Tancredi and the farcically comic "L'italiana in Algeri" both came form 1813.
In 1815 Rossini went to Naples as musical and artistic director of the Teatro San Carlo. Then he concentrated more on serious opera. During that time when he was still a director at the Teatro San Carlo he was allowed to compose for other theatres.
During that time, Rossini made his 2 most notable and outstanding comedies , Il barbiere di Siviglia and La Cenerentola, both operas for Rome and from 1816. These compositions of Rossini attracted even the admiration of the 2 masters of the art: Beethoven and Verdi.
From 1816 onwards, Rossini mainly concentrated on operas for Naples.
In 1822 Rossini married leading Soprano Isabella Colbran. Then in the same year he and his wife went back to Bologna. In the following year, the couple left for London and Paris. In Paris, Rossini took up the post of director at the Theatre-Italien.
At the age of 37 Rossini retired as a opera writer. He left for Italy and there he suffered from a prolonged illness and pain. In 1845 Isabella died and he remarried the next year. His second wife Olympe Pelissier looked after Rossini's ill health for 15 years.
In 1855 Rossini returned to Paris and regained his good health and he took up composing once more. In 1863 he made the "Petite messe solennelle" .
On 13th November 1868 in Passy, the master of such exquisite talent in operas, such wit and humour , passed away, honoured in every way.
Back To The Top
Composers: A-F
Composers: G-L
Composers: S-Z