Classical music is music conforming to an established form and appealing to critical interest and developed musical taste.

A composer is an author of a piece of music. A famous composer is a well known and well respected person known for his or her piece of classical music.

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Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Einsach in the year 1685. He was born as the youngest son into a dynasty of musicians - his father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was a good violinist and trumpeter - having the post of court trumpeter and director of town music in Einsach and his mother, Elisabeth Lämmerhirt, also grew up in a musical family

At the age of ten, with both his parents being dead, his brother, Christoph, adopted him.

It was his brother who gave him his first formal keyboard lesson. However, given the Bach family traditions and Johann Sebastian's talent, it is likely that he already was quite a musician at the age when he entered Johann Christoph's household. His brother also introduced him to the technique needed in music copying.

Sebastian, additionally, gained practical influence experience in organ-building and at the age of fifteen, Bach, began his auspicious career in music as an organ mechanic and tuner, moving from town to town.

He was quickly regarded as a talented technician, and all through his life continued to service his large collection of musical instruments. He was, too, a master of the church organ, harpsichord, and an accomplished violinist.

Sometime after his first marriage to his beloved second cousin, Maria Barbara Bach, he developed an interest in composing vocal church music. His wife died on the 7th July, in 1720. He remarried in 1721 to Anna Magdalena Wilcke.

He had twenty children from the two marriages and died at the age of 65 on the 28th of July in 1750.

He was known for his famous pieces such as "Air in g minor", "Ave Maria", "Minuet in g", "St. Mathew Passion" among many others. He is best known for his church and organ music.

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Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, in the year 1770 on the 17th of December. Like most composers, he was born into a musically inclined family. His father was a singer and instrumentalist and his grandfather was a musician.

It was Beethoven's father who gave him his first lessons in music but his father was a rough man, an alcoholic and was determined to use the young boy's musical gifts. He forced the child to practice many long hours each day.

At the age of six, Beethoven began public performances and by the time he was 13 years of age he left school to tour full-time.

When Beethoven was eighteen, his father died, leaving him the responsibility of providing for himself and two younger brothers.

He accepted a position playing the viola in the orchestra to provide the household income. In 1792, Franz Joseph Haydn passed through Bonn and recognized the brilliant talent of young Beethoven, not only as a performer but as a composer. Haydn insisted that Beethoven accompany him to Vienna.

His music was passionate and dramatic, leading into a more emotional period of music known as the Classical Era. Beethoven was described to be very emotional and thus composed music from innermost feelings. An example of this was seen when Beethoven dedicated the piece "Moonlight Sonata" for his love, Countess Giulietta. It was said that he had proposed to her but was dejected.

About 1800, he discovered that he was slowly becoming deaf. By 1820, when he was almost totally deaf, Beethoven composed his greatest works including the famous piece "Ode to Joy"

It was here that Beethoven showed the unbelieveable ability to overcome his inability to hear and still produce mind blowing classical pieces. He showed a fortified strength and is definitely a role model.

In the fall of 1826 Beethoven caught a serious cold, which developed into pneumonmia. He died at the age of 57 on March 26, 1827.

He was known for all nine of his symphonies including "Eroica", his one oprea piece "Fidelio" and for his famous "Ode to Joy" He is best known for his passionate and powerful pieces and performances.

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Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms was born on May the 7th, 1833 in Germany. He first studied music with his father, a double-bass player for the Hamburg opera; after that, he studied composition with Eduard Marxsen. Brahms was a talented pianist, giving his first public recital at the age of 14, and making a living by playing in dance halls.

He met the important musicians Clara Schumann and her husband Robert Schumann when he was on a tour of Europe. Robert Schumann and Beethoven were strong influences on Johannes Brahms. His first published work, a piano sonata in C major, combined Schumann's tender works with Beethoven's overwhelming energy. So inspired was he by Beethoven's symphonies that it took Brahms more than 10 years to write his first. It was instantly hailed as Beethoven's Tenth."

As more time passed, Brahms music became more refined and distinctly stylized from other composers. He was a composer of numerous waltzes : No.1, No.2, No.3, No.4, No.5.

Another famous Brahms composition is Intermezzo Op. 117 No. 1 in Eb Major, and No. 2 in Bb Major. The most dramatic of Brahms' works was the Cantata Rinaldo. After this, he never attempted to compose another opera. His later works are characterized by their warmth and colour. He died at the age of 64 on the 3rd of April, 1897

Johannes Brahms, a well known Romantic composer of four symphonies, four concertos, and many songs, piano pieces, and chamber works is best known for his music composed for voice and piano and also for his choral music.

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Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin

Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, was born on the 22nd of February 1810 in Poland.

He had three sisters, Ludwika, Izabela and Emilia, and was the second of the four children. Several months after his birth, his father, Mikolaj Chopin and his mother, Tekla Justyna Krzyzanowska, along with his sisters moved to Warsaw, where Mikolaj Chopin was offered the post of French language and literature lecturer in the Warsaw Lyceum.

At the age of 7, Fryderyk was the author of two polonaises (in G minor and B flat major). The prodigy was featured in the Warsaw newspapers, and "little Chopin" became the attraction and ornament of receptions given in the aristocratic salons of the capital. He also began giving public charity concerts.

His first professional piano lessons, given to him by Wojciech Zywny, lasted from 1816 to 1822, when the pupil's skills surpassed his own. At the age of 15 he published his first composition.

From 1823 to 1826, Fryderyk attended the Warsaw Lyceum where his father was one of the professors. In the autumn of 1826, Chopin began studying the theory of music and composition at the Warsaw High School of Music, with its head Józef Elsner, the composer. Chopin ended his education at the High School in 1829, and after the third year of his studies Elsner wrote in a report: "Chopin, Fryderyk, third year student, amazing talent, musical genius".

By the late 1820s, Chopin had won a great reputation as a piano virtuoso and composer of piano pieces. He toured Europe, giving concert performances acclaimed by audiences and critics. In 1831 he arrived in Paris where he became well known as a pianist, teacher and composer.

In 1838 Chopin began to suffer from tuberculosis. He died in Paris on the 17th of October 1849 at the age of just 39.

Chopin's music has many references to his Polish origin. His music is lyrical and romantic, very original with harmony. Chopin is one of the few greatest composers to be known primarily for his work for a solo instrument.

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George Frideric Handel

Gerorge Frideric Handel was born in Germany on the 23rd of February, 1685. Unlike most composers, Handel was not born into a musical family, but his gifts were so obvious that his barber-surgeon father reluctantly allowed him to take lessons from the director of music at the principal church in Handel's native town.

Before his tenth birthday he began to receive, from a local organist, the only formal musical instruction he would ever have. He became an accomplished organist, harpsichordist, and studied violin and oboe by the age of eleven.

Drawn to the theater from an early age, Handel went to Hamburg in 1703 and began composing Italian operas and in 1704, he composed his own first opera, Almira, which achieved great success the following year.

He moved to Italy, the birthplace of operas and composed many opera. He ended his Italian tour with the spectacular success of his fifth opera, Agrippina (1709), in Venice.

The famous “Water Party” was held on July 17th, 1717. For this Handel wrote his “Water Music”. After Italy, Handel then went to Britain.

Handel's London years were occupied primarily with the writing of Italian operas. There, he and other composers opened the Royal Academy. The academy unfortunately didn’t make any profit, and closed in 1728.

In the early 1740’s, Handel composed the still-famous Messiah. Though it was not accepted at first, popularity began to rise after a free performance at a hospital.

In 1751, Handel began having trouble with his eyes. He endured three operations on his eyes at the hands of the same surgeon who had unsuccessfully operated on Johann Sebastian Bach, and the results were the same -- complete blindness. Handel kept performing though, and died a week after suffering a collapse following a performance of Messiah in 1759.

He died on Saturday, April 14, 1759, at eight a.m. Three thousand people attended the funeral at Westminister Abbey.He was 74 when he died. He is well known for his Water-music, Fireworks-music, Messiah and the Hallelujah Chorus. He is best known for his famous operas.

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Franz Joseph Haydn

Franz Joseph Haydn was born on the 31st of March, 1732 in Austria as the second of twelve children. His father was a wheelwright by trade but was very musical. On Sundays, the Haydn family often gave private concerts. Haydn's father played the harp while Haydn and his mother sang.

Haydn was known to have a wonderful singing voice. He was sent to Hamburg for school where he learned how to play the clavier, and the violin.

At St. Stephens Cathedral in Vienna, George Reutal, a choirmaster, noticed his great singing. There he learned many more musical elements and a general education but when his voice broke in 1749, he was dissmissed.

In 1760 he married Maria Ann Keller but the marriage was an unhappy one.

His first great symphonies were written in about 1762 they were: Symphonies No. 6,7, and 8.

Music students valued his knowledge and skill and considered it an honor to learn from him. One such musician was Mozart. In 1792 he also gave Beethoven composition lessons. However, because of their differences of personality they did not get along. Haydn said later that Beethoven was very talented.

When the prince for whom Haydn had served most of his career died, Haydn packed his bags and traveled to London where he was employed by the entrepreneur J.P Salomon to compose symphonies. The demand for new music was incredible. Even at the age of sixty, Haydn produced perhaps his greatest work. Of these were the famous "London Symphonies."

When he returned to Austria, Haydn wrote "The Creation" and "The Seasons," both tributes to his love of nature and God.

He died at the age of 77 on the 31st of May, 1809. He is known as the Father of Symphonies since he wrote 104 symphonies.

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Felix Bartholdy Mendelssohn

Felix Bartholdy Mendelssohn was born on the 3rd of February, 1809 in Germany. His father, Abraham, was a banker and his mother, Leah Salomon, was an amateur musician who aided in his cultural and artistic development. He was one of four children with his siblings being Fanny, Rebekka, and Paul.

He was a child genius when it came to music such that at the age of nine he gave his first piano concert, composed from the age of ten, and was ready to conduct the Sunday morning musicals by age thirteen. At age seventeen, he composed one of his well known works, The Midsummer Night's Dream. One part of this work was the "Nocturne."

He was very much inspired by the music of Bach. Mendelssohn arranged for a performance of Bach's Passion According to St. Matthew, which had not been performed in the eighty years since Bach's death. This performance brought about a revival in the works of Bach. Mendelssohn continually promoted Bach throughout his lifetime and is party responsible for the formation of the Bach Society.

Mendehlssohn went on to complete the Scotch and Italian Symphonies. One of his most famous works is Elijah, which he composed and conducted. Mendelssohn also composed two other well known pieces, Fingals Cave Overture and the Wedding March. Later in life he became the director of the first German Conservatory of Music in Leipzig, where he also taught. Mendelhssohn's music is marked by a delicacy, sparkle, seamless flow, and clarity.

He died on the 4th of November, 1847 at the age of 38 as a result of a paralytic stroke.

Of his five symphonies, the Scottish (1842), Italian (1833), and Reformation (1832) are best known. Frequently performed are his Violin Concerto in E Minor (1845); The Hebrides Overture or Fingal's Cave (1832); and two oratorios, St. Paul (1836) and Elijah (1846). Outstanding piano works include the Variations sérieuses (1841) and eight sets of Songs without Words (1832-45). He also composed chamber music, songs, choral music, and six organ sonatas.

He became one of Germany's famous composers.

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on the 27th of January, 1756 in Austria. Mozart was the second child of Leopold Mozart and his wife, Anna Maria Pertl. Leopold was a successful composer, violinist and assistant concertmaster at the Salzburg court.

Mozart began composing minuets at the age of 5 and symphonies at 9. In mid 1763, when he was 6, he and his older sister, Maria Anna, along with the family, set out on a tour that took them to Paris and London, visiting numerous courts.

In 1777 the Mozarts, seeing limited opportunity in his hometown for a composer so hugely gifted, resolved to seek a post elsewhere for Wolfgang. He was sent, with his mother, to Munich and to Mannheim, but was offered no position, though he stayed over four months at Mannheim, composing for piano and flute and falling in love with Aloysia Weber.

On the 19th of June, 1778, he returned slowly and alone; his mother had died in Paris. The years 1779 to 1780 were spent at home, playing in the cathedral and at court, composing sacred works, symphonies and dramatic music. But opera remained at the centre of his ambitions, and an opportunity came with a commission for a serious opera for Munich.

He always earned, by musicians' standards, a good income, and had a carriage and servants; through lavish spending and poor management he suffered times of financial difficulty and had to borrow. In 1782 he married Constanze Weber, Aloysia's younger sister.

In his hometown the Kyrie and Gloria of Mozart's great Mass in C Minor which he composed in Vienna, but never finished, were performed. Mozart's greatest success was Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) in 1786, composed for the Vienna Opera. This was dedicated to his dear friend Josef Haydn.

Mozart's fame began to disappear after Figaro. He sank into debt and was assisted by a brother Freemason, Michael Puchberg.

Mozart had joined the Masons in 1784 and remained an outspoken member until his death, which resulted from rheumatic fever, on the 5th of December 1791at the age of 35.

He is known "The Magic Flute", "Greenslaves", "Marriage of Figaro", and "Fantasia in d minor" among many other symphonies. He is thought to be one of the world's greatest composers.

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Franz Schubert

Franz Schubert was born on the 31st of January 1797 in Vienna as the youngest son of four children. His father was a schoolmaster. He showed an extraordinary childhood ability in music, studying the piano, violin, organ, singing and harmony. He was taught to play the violin by his father and the piano by his brother. The choirmaster at his church trained his voice. At age eleven, he was sent to a private music school in Vienna.

When his voice changed, he left school and became a teacher in his father's school. After doing this for three years he quit and focused on composing full time. Always living on the brink of starvation, yet always composing, Franz Schubert would spend the rest of his life in Vienna.

Schubert was eighteen when he wrote the masterpiece song Der Erlkonig. It wasn't accepted right away however, today it is considered one of the greatest songs ever composed.

His last work was his Unfinished Symphony which is comprised of only the first and second movements.

His final years were clouded by illness, as the result of a syphilitic infection, and he died on the 19th of November in 1828 at the young age of 31, leaving much unfinished.

Schubert wrote more music for piano four hands more than any other composer - at least fifty-six. Some other very well known works of Franz Schubert are Die Forelle, and Ave Maria. He composed over six hundred songs; in 1815 alone, he wrote 144 songs. He has been quoted as saying "I complete one song only to begin another."

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Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann was born on the 8th of June, 1810 in Germany. He was the son of August Schumann, a bookseller, and Johanna Schumann. He was the youngest of five children, and partially because of this, he was spoiled and known as a "handsome child."

At the age of six, Schumann Robert proved to be quite a scholar. He began to show early signs of one of his dominant characteristics, ambition at grammar-school

Schumann began receiving general musical and piano instruction the next year and immediately developed a love of music and made attempts at creating musical compositions himself. Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, his pieces were regarded as very admirable for his age.

When not playing music, Robert enjoyed poring through the books in his father’s bookstore. As he grew older, he began to favor romantic literature. Robert also enjoyed expressing his creativity through writing.

When Schumann's father died in 1826, he bent to his mother’s wishes and reluctantly studied law. While there, Schumann neglected his law studies in favor of musical pursuits. By 1830, Schumann decided to drop the study of law and devote his time to music.

Concentrating on music, Robert took lessons from Friedrich Wieck, a teacher that he had been studying under at various periods during his time at the university. However due to an unfortunate accident, he injured his finger and was forced to abandon the career of a pianist. He then turned to composition and writing about music.

Schumann founded a music journal with a circle of young intellectuals and was the journal’s editor and leading writer for ten years. His articles in the journal was evidence of his talent as a musical critic.

Around 1835, Schumann fell in love with Wieck’s daughter Clara. Within a few years, they wanted to marry, but Wieck, Clara's father, was against this. This brought about periods of deep depression and joyfulness connected with the tribulations of their relationship. Finally, they married in 1840, despite Wieck’s continued objection to marriage. 1840 was the year of the song and because of his love for Clara he wrote over 130 songs in that year alone.

Around 1854 signs of mental illness which had been afflicting him since adolescence became advanced. Schumann had always feared insanity, and his hallucinations served to further provoke that fear. As a response to this, Schumann unsuccessfully attempted suicide in 1854. Later that year, he entered an asylum, where he died on July 29th , 1856 at the age of 46.

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Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky

Peter Tchaikovsky was born on May 7th, 1840 in Russians the second of five sons. He was the son of a mining engineer.

As a child he was attracted to music and revealed an above average musical ability. His parents however did not recognize his musical talents and had no intention of preparing him for a career in music.

He was sent to the School of Jurisprudence as a youth, and reluctantly studied law. At the age of nineteen he became a petty clerk at the Ministry of Justice. Nevertheless he continued his piano lessons, dabbled a little in composition, and joined a choral class.

In his early twenties he rebelled, and against his family's wishes, had the courage to throw himself into the study of music at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1862.

The period from 1876 to 1890 was a period of great productivity for Tchaikovsky. It was during this period that he was under the patronage of Madam Nadejda von Meck, a wealthy widow, whose enthusiasm for the composer's music led her to give him an annual allowance. To this time, belong to many famous operas like Eugene Onegin in 1878; the ballets Swan Lake in 1876 and The Sleeping Beauty in 1889; "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies"; and numerous songs.

It was during this time on the 18th of July, 1877, that Tchaikovsky married Antonina Milyukova, a music student at the Moscow Conservatory. This marriage was a disaster and ended nine weeks later.

It was after 1890 that the famous Nutcraker was composed and the sixth symphony, having been begun in 1891 but abandoned, was completed in 1893.

He died on the 6th of November, 1893, at the age of 53 from cholera. He is best known for his ballet pieces.

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Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Vivaldi was born on the 4th of March, 1678 in Italy. Vivaldi received his early training from his father, a violinist at St. Mark's, Venice, and later studied with Giovanni Legrenzi. Though ordained a priest in 1703, within a year of being ordained, Vivaldi no longer wished to celebrate mass because of physical complaints of "tightness of the chest.", according to his own account. It is also possible that Vivaldi was faking illness - there is a story that he sometimes left the altar in order to quickly jot down a musical idea in the sacristy.

Vivaldi spent most of his life after 1709 in Venice, teaching and playing the violin and writing music for the Pietà, one of Venice's four music conservatories for orphaned girls.

Vivaldi's style is characterized by driving rhythm, clarity, and lyrical melody. He helped standardize the three-movement concerto form later used by Bach and others. Vivaldi's brilliant and impassioned slow movements were greatly admired by Bach, who arranged 10 of the solo concertos for other instruments.

Vivaldi died on the 28th July, 1741at the age of 63. He is known as the famous italian composer. He was the greatest master of Italian baroque, particularly of violin music and the concerto grosso. Although he produced quantities of vocal music (including 46 operas), he is remembered chiefly for his instrumental music. His most famous work is undoubtedly the Four seasons, but his flute concerto La Notte is also well-known.

After Vivaldi's death his music was forgotten, but in the early 20th century his works were rediscovered.