List of Romantic composers


The Romantic era of Western Classical music spanned the 19th century to the early 20th century, encompassing a variety of musical styles and techniques. Part of the broader Romanticism movement of Europe, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Gaspare Spontini, Niccolò Paganini, Gioachino Rossini and Franz Schubert are often seen as the dominant transitional figures composers from the preceding Classical era. Many composers began to channel nationalistic themes, such as Mikhail Glinka, The Five and Belyayev circle in Russia; Frédéric Chopin in Poland; Carl Maria von Weber and Heinrich Marschner in Germany; Edvard Grieg in Norway; Jean Sibelius in Finland; Giuseppe Verdi in Italy; Niels Gade and Carl Nielsen in Denmark; Pablo de Sarasate, Isaac Albéniz and Enrique Granados in Spain; Frederick Delius and Edward Elgar in England; Stephen Foster, Edward MacDowell and Horatio Parker in the United States; Mykola Lysenko in Ukraine; and Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák in what is now the Czech Republic.
A European-wide debate took place, particularly in Germany, on what the ideal course of music was, following Beethoven's death. The New German School—primarily Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner—promoted progressive ideas, in opposition to more conservative composers such as Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann.
Note that this list is purely chronological, and includes a substantial number of composers, especially those born after 1860, whose works cannot be conveniently classified as "Romantic", or those whose early compositions did begin in the Romantic style but later developed beyond it in the 20th century.

Late Classical/Proto-Romantic (born 1770–1799)

NameDate bornDate diedNationalityComments
Ludwig van Beethoven17701827Germancomposer and pianist, regarded by many as the first Romantic-era composer, most famous for Symphony No. 5 and Für Elise among others
Ferdinando Carulli17701841Italiancomposer for the guitar, wrote concertos and chamber music
Édouard Du Puy17701822Swisscomposer, singer, director and violinist
Peter Hänsel17701831German-Austriancomposer and violinist
James Hewitt17701827Americancomposer, conductor and music publisher
Anton Reicha17701836Czech-Frenchcomposer who experimented with irregular time signatures in his keyboard fugues, composed a large number of significant works for wind quintet
Christian Heinrich Rinck17701846GermanImage:Christian Heinrich Rinck.jpg|thumb|130px|Christian Heinrich Rinckcomposer and organist
Jan August Vitásek17701839Bohemiancomposer
Friedrich Witt17701836Germancomposer and cellist
Johann Baptist Cramer17711858Englishmusician of German origin
Ferdinando Paer17711839Italiancomposer
Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia17721806German member of the Prussian royal family, soldier, and composer. At the time of his premature death in the Battle of Saalfeld, he left behind 13 published works, many of which are imbued with a greater expressive depth than the Classical style which was then still prevalent
Maria Frances Parke17721822Englishcomposer, pianist and soprano
François-Louis Perne17721832Frenchcomposer and musicographer
Josef Triebensee17721846Bohemiancomposer and oboist
Johann Wilhelm Wilms17721847Dutch-GermanImage:Johann Wilhelm Wilms 1.jpg|thumb|130px|Johann Wilhelm Wilmscomposer, best known for writing Wien Neêrlands Bloed, which served as the Dutch national anthem from 1815 to 1932
Sophie Bawr17731860Frenchcomposer, writer and playwright
Pietro Generali17731832Italiancomposer of operas and vocal music
Wenzel Thomas Matiegka17731830Czechcomposer
Bartolomeo Bortolazzi17731820Italianmandolin and guitar virtuoso and composer
Pierre Rode17741830Frenchcomposer and violinist
Gaspare Spontini17741851Italianopera composer and conductor, famous for La vestale
Václav Tomášek17741850CzechImage:V J Tomášek, by Antonín Machek.jpg|right|thumb|130px|Václav Tomášekcomposer and music teacher
Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse17741842DanishImage:Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse.jpg|thumb|130px|Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weysecomposer in the Danish Golden Age
Johann Anton André17751842Germancomposer and music publisher
François-Adrien Boieldieu17751834Frenchcomposer
João Domingos Bomtempo17751842Portuguesecomposer, pianist and pedagogue
Bernhard Crusell17751838Finnishcomposer and clarinet player
Sophia Dussek17751831Scottishcomposer of Italian descent, singer, pianist and harpist
François de Fossa17751849Frenchcomposer and guitarist
Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann17761822Germancomposer, author of fantasy and horror, jurist, music critic, draftsman and caricaturist
Joseph Küffner17761856Germancomposer and musician
Philipp Jakob Riotte17761856Germancomposer
Ignaz von Seyfried17761841Austriancomposer, musician and conductor
Ludwig Berger17771839Germancomposer, pianist and piano teacher
Pauline Duchambge17781858Frenchcomposer and pianist
Johann Nepomuk Hummel17781837Austriancomposer and pianist, his music bridged the Classical era of music and Romantic era of music
Sigismund von Neukomm17781858Austriancomposer and pianist
Fernando Sor17781839Spanishcomposer for the classical guitar who is credited with elevating the guitar to the level of concert instrument
Rochus Dedler17791822Germancomposer
William Knyvett17791856Britishcomposer and singer
Louise Reichardt17791826Germancomposer and songwriter
Luigi Antonio Calegari17801849Italianopera composer
Conradin Kreutzer17801849Germancomposer and conductor
Louis François Dauprat17811868Frenchcomposer, horn player and music professor at the Conservatoire de Paris
Anton Diabelli17811858Austriancomposer, music publisher and editor
Mauro Giuliani17811828Italiancomposer and virtuoso guitarist
Anthony Heinrich17811861Americancomposer
Sophie Lebrun17811863Germancomposer and pianist
François-Joseph Naderman17811835Frenchcomposer, harpist and teacher
Daniel Auber17821871Frenchopera composer, noted for La muette de Portici
Carlo Coccia17821873Italianopera composer
John Field17821837IrishImage:John Field - restoration1.jpg|right|thumb|130px|John Fieldcomposer and pianist, notable for cultivating the nocturne
Niccolò Paganini17821840Italiancomposer and virtuoso violinist, wrote the 24 Caprices for violin, five concerti for violin, string quartets and works for violin and guitar
Charlotta Seuerling17821828Swedishcomposer, concert singer, harpsichordist and poet
Friedrich Dotzauer17831860Germancomposer and cellist
Teresa Belloc-Giorgi17841855Italiancomposer and contralto
Martin-Joseph Mengal17841851Belgiancomposer and instructor
Francesco Morlacchi17841841Italiancomposer
George Onslow17841853Anglo-FrenchImage:George Onslow.jpg|right|thumb|130px|George Onslowcomposer
Ferdinand Ries17841838GermanImage:Ferdinand Ries by Mayer.jpg|right|thumb|130px|Ferdinand Riescomposer, friend and pupil of Ludwig van Beethoven
Louis Spohr17841859Germancomposer, violinist and conductor, renowned for chamber music and compositions for violin and harp
Bettina von Arnim17851859Germancomposer, writer and novelist
Marie Bigot17851820Frenchcomposer and piano teacher
Alexandre Pierre François Boëly17851858Frenchcomposer, organist and pianist
Isabella Colbran17851845Spanishcomposer and opera singer
Catherina Cibbini-Kozeluch17851858Austriancomposer of Bohemian ancestry and pianist
Friedrich Kalkbrenner17851849GermanImage:Friedrich Kalkbrenner 1829.jpg|right|thumb|130px|Friedrich Kalkbrennercomposer, pianist and piano teacher
Karol Kurpiński17851857Polishcomposer, conductor and pedagogue
Henry Bishop17861855Englishcomposer
Friedrich Kuhlau17861832German-DanishImage:Friedrich Kuhlau.gif|right|thumb|130px|Friedrich Kuhlaucomposer
Pietro Raimondi17861853Italiancomposer
Friedrich Schneider17861853GermanImage:Friedrich Schneider.jpg|right|thumb|130px|Friedrich Schneidercomposer, pianist, organist and conductor
Carl Maria von Weber17861826Germancomposer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant Romantic opera composers
Alexander Alyabyev17871851Russiancomposer, conductor and pianist
Franz Xaver Gruber17871863Austrianschool teacher, church organist and composer, best known for his Christmas carol, Silent Night
Michele Carafa17871872Italianopera composer
Johann Peter Pixis17881874Germancomposer and pianist
Simon Sechter17881867Austrianprolific composer, renowned music theorist, teacher, organist and conductor
Elena Asachi17891877Romaniancomposer of Austrian birth, pianist and singer
Nicolas-Charles Bochsa17891856Frenchcomposer and musician
Friedrich Ernst Fesca17891826Germancomposer of instrumental music and violinist
Maria Szymanowska17891831Polishcomposer and virtuoso pianist
Harriet Browne17901858Englishcomposer and writer
Isaac Nathan17901864Englishcomposer, musicologist, journalist and self-publicist known as "the father of Australian music"
Carl Czerny17911857AustrianImage:Czerny 2.jpg|right|thumb|130px|Carl Czernycomposer, teacher and pianist
Ferdinand Hérold17911833FrenchImage:Louis-Joseph-Ferdinand-Hérold-Auguste-Lemoine.jpg|right|thumb|130px|Ferdinand Héroldoperatic composer
Giacomo Meyerbeer17911864Germancomposer for grand opera
Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart17911844Austrian composer, pianist, conductor, teacher and the youngest child of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Carlo Evasio Soliva17911853Swiss-Italiancomposer
Jan Václav Voříšek17911825Czechcomposer, pianist and organist
Francis Johnson17921844Americancomposer, bugler and violinist
Gioachino Rossini17921868Italianprolific opera composer, best known for The Barber of Seville among other operas
Hedda Wrangel17921833Swedishcomposer
Cipriani Potter17921871Englishcomposer, teacher and pianist
Gertrude van den Bergh17931840Dutchcomposer and pianist
Bernhard Klein17931832Germancomposer
Caroline Ridderstolpe17931878Swedishcomposer and singer
Princess Amalie of Saxony17941870Germancomposer
Ignaz Moscheles17941870CzechImage:Ignaz Moscheles 1860.jpg|right|thumb|130px|Ignaz Moschelescomposer and piano virtuoso, head of the Leipzig Conservatory after Felix Mendelssohn
Heinrich Marschner17951861GermanImage:Heinrich Marschner 1.jpg|right|thumb|130px|Heinrich Marschnercomposer, considered to be the most important composer of German opera between Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner
Saverio Mercadante17951870Italiancomposer
Nikolaos Mantzaros17951872Italian-Greekcomposer
Helene Liebmann17951835Germancomposer and pianist
Franz Berwald17961868Swedishcomposer, little known in his lifetime, but his works, including his four symphonies are better known today
Carl Loewe17961869Germancomposer, baritone singer and conductor
Mathilda d'Orozco17961863Swedishcomposer, noble, salonist, poet, writer, singer, amateur actress and harpsichordist
Giovanni Pacini17961867Italiancomposer
Emilie Zumsteeg17961857Germancomposer, pianist, songwriter and choir conductor
Luigi Castellacci17971845Italianvirtuoso on the mandolin and guitar, instrumental composer and author of popular French romances with guitar and piano accompaniments
Gaetano Donizetti17971848ItalianImage:Francesco Coghetti, Ritratto di Gaetano Donizetti.JPG|right|thumb|130px|Gaetano Donizettiopera composer, known for Lucia di Lammermoor and L'elisir d'amore among others
Franz Schubert17971828Austriancomposer, best known for his more than 600 lieder, chamber music, piano works and symphonies
Annette von Droste-Hülshoff17971848Germancomposer and writer
Peter IV of Portugal17981834Portugueseking of Portugal and Emperor of Brazil who was also a composer
Antonio Rolla17981837Italiancomposer and violin and viola virtuoso
Olivia Buckley17991847Englishcomposer, harpist and organist
Marie von Stedingk17991868Swedishcomposer and courtier
Fromental Halévy17991862Frenchcomposer
Oscar I of Sweden17991859Swedishcomposer and king of Sweden and Norway
Alexey Verstovsky17991862Russian composer, musical bureaucrat and rival of Mikhail Glinka

Repertoire key: B=In Classical Net's basic Timeline of Major Composers 1600–present