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Greatest composers (all time)

A ranking of composers of any type (such as classical music composers, film composers, video game music composers, etc.).

Person:
Gender:
Loc:
Age:
Benjamin Britten
39

Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British classical music, with a range of works including opera, o...
8
8
as classical music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Erik Satie
39

Erik Satie
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie (17 May 1866 – 1 July 1925) – he signed his name Erik Satie after 1884 – was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde. His work was a precu...
8
8
as classical music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
François Couperin
39

François Couperin
François Couperin (10 November 1668 – 11 September 1733) was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as Couperin le Grand ("Couperin the Great") to distinguish him from other members of the musically t...
8
8
as classical music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Aaron Copland
39

Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland (November 14, 1900 – December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. Instrumental in forging a distinctly American sty...
8
8
as classical music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [multi]
Harry Gregson-Williams
39

Harry Gregson-Williams
Harry Gregson-Williams (born 13 December 1961) is a British composer, orchestrator, conductor, and music producer. He has regularly written for television and films, such as The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wa...
8
8
as video game music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [multi]
Paul Hindemith
39

Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith (16 November 1895 – 28 December 1963) was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher and conductor. Notable compositions include his song cycle Das Marienleben (1923) and opera Mathis der Maler (1938). Hindemith...
8
8
as classical music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Charles Ives
39

Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives (October 20, 1874 – May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though his music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his wor...
8
8
as classical music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Arnold Schoenberg
39

Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 1874 – 13 July 1951) was an Austrian composer and painter. He was associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School. With the...
8
8
as classical music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Modest Mussorgsky
39

Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (Russian: Модест Петрович Мусоргский; 21 March 1839 – 28 March 1881) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five". He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period. He strove...
8
8
as classical music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Ralph Vaughan Williams
39

Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams (12 October 1872 – 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written...
8
8
as classical music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Maurice Ravel
39

Maurice Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (French: [ʒɔzɛf mɔʁis ʁavɛl]; 7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although...
8
8
as classical music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Daniel Pemberton
39

Daniel Pemberton
Daniel Pemberton (born 3 November 1977) is an English Ivor Novello winning and multi BAFTA nominated composer.
8
8
as film music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [multi]
Ryuichi Sakamoto
39

Ryuichi Sakamoto
Ryuichi Sakamoto (坂本 龍一 Sakamoto Ryūichi, born January 17, 1952) (Japanese pronunciation: [sakamoto ɽju͍ːitɕi]) is a Japanese musician, activist, composer, record producer, writer, singer, pianist, and actor based in Tokyo and New...
8
8
as film music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Russell Brower
39

Russell Brower
Russell Brower is an American music composer and three-time Emmy Award-winning sound designer who has created sounds for Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs and Batman: The Animated Series, and video game music for games including Jo...
8
8
as video game music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Philip Glass
39

Philip Glass
Philip Morris Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer.
8
8
as film music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Trent Reznor
39

Trent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965), known professionally as Trent Reznor, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and film score composer. As a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, he has led the industrial rock pr...
8
8
as film music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Richard Strauss
39

Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss (11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier, Elektra, Die Frau ohne Schatten and Salome; his...
8
8
as classical music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Alan Silvestri
39

Alan Silvestri
Alan Anthony Silvestri (born March 26, 1950) is an American composer and conductor who works primarily in film and television. He is known inter alia for his frequent collaboration with director Robert Zemeckis, including composin...
8
8
as film music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Dmitri Shostakovich
39

Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (Russian: Дми́трий Дми́триевич Шостако́вич; 25 September 1906 – 9 August 1975) was a Soviet composer and pianist, and a prominent figure of 20th-century music. Shostakovich achieved fame in the Sov...
8
8
as classical music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Michael Stearns
39

Michael Stearns
Michael Stearns (born 1948) is a United States musician and composer of ambient music. He is also known as a film composer, sound designer and soundtrack producer for large format films, theatrical films, documentaries, commercial...
8
8
as film music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Béla Bartók
39

Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók (March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945) was a Hungarian composer and pianist. Through his collection and analytical study of folk music, he was one of the founders of comparative musicology, which later beca...
8
8
as classical music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Jean Sibelius
39

Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius (born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius (8 December 1865 – 20 September 1957), was a Finnish composer and violinist of the late Romantic and early-modern periods.
8
8
as classical music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi
39

Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi
Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (15 May 1567 (baptized) – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, gambist, singer and Roman Catholic priest. Monteverdi's work marked the change from the Renaissance style of music to that of...
8
8
as classical music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
39

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525 – 2 February 1594) was an Italian Renaissance composer of sacred music and the best-known 16th-century representative of the Roman School of musical composition.
8
8
as classical music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Anton Bruckner
39

Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner (4 September 1824 – 11 October 1896) was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets.
8
8
as classical music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Antonio Vivaldi
76

Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher and cleric. Born in Venice, he is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his l...
7.8
7.8
as classical music composer
from 9 votes
Discuss [-]
Klaus Badelt
77

Klaus Badelt
Klaus Badelt (born 12 June 1967) is a German composer, best known for composing film scores. Badelt was born in Frankfurt, West Germany. He started his musical career composing for movies and commercials in his homeland. In 1998,...
7.5
7.5
as film music composer
from 2 votes
Discuss [-]
Yasunori Mitsuda
77

Yasunori Mitsuda
Yasunori Mitsuda (光田 康典, born January 21, 1972) is a Japanese composer, musician, and sound producer noted for his score work for video games. He has composed music for or worked on over 40 games, and has contributed to many other...
7.5
7.5
as video game music composer
from 2 votes
Discuss [-]
Igor Stravinsky
79

Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (sometimes spelled Strawinski, Strawinsky, or Stravinskii, 17 June 1882 – 6 April 1971) was a Russian (and later, a naturalized French and American) composer, pianist and conductor. He first achieved in...
7
7
as classical music composer
from 4 votes
Discuss [1]
Carter Burwell
80

Carter Burwell
Carter Benedict Burwell (born November 18, 1955) is an American composer of film scores. He is best known as a regular collaborator of the Coen brothers, having scored many of their films, among them Raising Arizona (1987), Barton...
7
7
as film music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Basil Poledouris
80

Basil Poledouris
Basil Poledouris (August 21, 1945 – November 8, 2006) was an American music composer who concentrated on the scores for films and television shows. Poledouris won the Emmy Award for Best Musical Score for work on part four of the...
7
7
as film music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Sion Sono
80

Sion Sono
Sion Sono (born December 18, 1961) is a Japanese filmmaker, author and poet.
7
7
as film music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Ramin Djawadi
80

Ramin Djawadi
Ramin Djawadi (Persian: رامین جوادی‎‎; born July 19, 1974) is a German composer of Iranian origin. Djawadi is best known for his Grammy-nominated, guitar-heavy score for the 2008 Marvel film Iron Man and for the theme of HBO's pop...
7
7
as video game music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [multi]
Tan Dun
80

Tan Dun
Tan Dun (simplified Chinese: 谭盾; traditional Chinese: 譚盾; pinyin: Tán Dùn; born 1957, Changsha, Hunan) is a Chinese contemporary classical composer and conductor, most widely known for his scores for the movies Crouching Tiger, Hi...
7
7
as film music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [multi]
Soyo Oka
80

Soyo Oka
Soyo Oka (岡 素世, born April 9, 1964) (also known as DJ Alice) is a Japanese composer, musician, and author, formerly employed by Nintendo. She is best recognized for her video game soundtracks during the 1980s and 1990s...
7
7
as video game music composer
from 1 vote
Discuss [-]
Info: The persons listed below are officially not in the ranking; they're candidates that don't have the minimum number of votes (1) to officially be in yet. They're listed by the number of votes, not by the rating. Click any item to cast your vote.
Charlie Chaplin
candidate

Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE (16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the silent era. His career spanned more than 75 years, from childhood in the Vic...
0
0
as film music composer
from 0 votes
Discuss [-]
Bedřich Smetana
candidate

Bedřich Smetana
Bedřich Smetana (2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is perhaps best known f...
0
0
as classical music composer
from 0 votes
Discuss [-]
John Carpenter
candidate

John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor and composer. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror and science...
0
0
as film music composer
from 0 votes
Discuss [-]
George Martin
candidate

George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin (born 3 January 1926) is an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, audio engineer, and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle" in reference to his extensive involvement...
0
0
as film music composer
from 0 votes
Discuss [-]
Leonardo da Vinci
candidate

Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, more commonly Leonardo da Vinci, (15 April 1452 – 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath. He was a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, carto...
0
0
as classical music composer
from 0 votes
Discuss [-]
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