Archives: Composers

Gustav Theodore Holst, originally named Gustavus Theodore von Holst, was an English composer, arranger, and teacher born on September 21, 1874, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. He passed away on May 25, 1934, in London1. Holst is best known for his orchestral suite The Planets, but he composed many other works across a range of genres,…

After a few years playing the piano and violin, Douglas Johnson (b.1966) switched to the double bass and earned a bachelors’ degree in music performance from Northwestern University while studying with Jeff Bradetich. During his college years, Douglas was a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Institute and the Bach Aria Festival. Upon graduation, he became…

Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857) is recognized as the father of the Russian national school and was a great influence on several generations of composers including Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, Borodin, and Tchaikovsky. His first opera, A Life for the Tsar (1836), established him as the leading composer of the day, and its national character and folk influences…

Czech bassist-composer František Gregora (1819-1887) was Bottesini’s almost exact contemporary, albeit two years older and, although he was a respected soloist and composer his music has, on the whole, been largely forgotten. Born in Netolice, Bohemia on 9 January 1819, he showed early musical talent playing organ, piano, violin, flute and clarinet before transferring to…

Ludvig Hegner (1851-1923) studied theory and composition with Niels Gade and in 1884 became a member of the Danish Royal Theatre Orchestra, promoted two months later to the position of Principal Bass. Alongside his orchestral duties, Hegner also gave many solo performances, often playing his own works or those of his fellow bassist-composers such as…

Eric Funk (b.1949) has composed 170 major works, one third of which were commissioned, including nine symphonies, four operas, nineteen concertos, six string quartets, numerous large and small choral works and chamber works. His music has been recorded and performed by Warsaw Philharmonic, Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Moscow String Quartet, Moyzes…

Billy Joel, born William Martin Joel on May 9, 1949, is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and pianist1. He is often referred to as the “Piano Man” after his hit song of the same name. Joel’s music career spans several decades, and he has been a prominent figure in the pop and rock music scenes since…

William Byrd was an English organist and composer of the Shakespearean age, born in 1539/40 in London, England. He passed away on July 4, 1623, in Stondon Massey, Essex, England. Byrd is best known for his development of the English madrigal and for his significant contributions to keyboard and organ music, which elevated the English…

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was a British composer and conductor, born on August 15, 1875, in Holborn, London, England, and he passed away on September 1, 1912, in Croydon, Surrey, England1. Of mixed-race descent, he achieved such success that he was referred to by white musicians in New York City as the “African Mahler” during his three…

Clément Philibert Léo Delibes was a French Romantic composer, born on February 21, 1836, in Saint-Germain-du-Val, France, and passed away on January 16, 1891, in Paris. He is best known for his ballets and operas, including the ballets Coppélia (1870) and Sylvia (1876), as well as the opera Lakmé (1883), which features the famous “Flower…